STEPHEN MACKEY “Nocturnal Children”
STEPHEN MACKEY “Nocturnal Children”
Janaury 11 - February 2, 2025
Arcadia Contemporary is proud to present “Nocturnal Children,” a solo exhibition by Stephen Mackey, on view from January 11, 2025, to February 2, 2025. This marks Mackey’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery and will feature 13 new oil paintings that continue his exploration of the surreal and ethereal.
Mackey’s work occupies a liminal space between dream and reality, where beauty and unease intertwine. His fairytale-like scenes seem to emerge from the pages of an ancient, forgotten storybook—with narratives that feel too dark for innocent ears. With a visual language reminiscent of 17th and 18th-century European imagery, Mackey conjures an uncanny world steeped in mystery. “I think the style I use for my painting is inherently otherworldly,” Mackey explains. “I taught myself to paint using the work of 17th and 18th
century painters as a model. Their realism simulates reality rather than recording it like a camera, creating a kind of analogue of the world which, I always think, looks so self-contained that it’s dreamlike and remote.”
Mackey’s process is organic, evolving from a familiar compositional framework to something altogether fantastical. “Conceptually speaking, I almost never work from the top down. I begin with some compositional convention— portrait, figure in a landscape, etc.—and then add things until it begins to suggest a narrative,” says Mackey.
To celebrate the opening of “Nocturnal Children,” Arcadia Contemporary will host an all-day reception on Saturday, January 11, 2025, from 12 to 6 PM. W The exhibition will run through February 2, 2025.
“Nocturnal Children” Oil on Panel 24 x 20 in
“The
World and The House” Oil on Panel 17 x 22 in
“Sleep All Summer” Oil on Panel
16 1/2 x 23 in
Oil
24 x 14 in
“The Sun Queen Dances At Midnight”
on Panel
“A
Winter Girl Dresses For Spring” Oil on Panel
18 x 18 in
“Dressing Up in The Garden of Eden” Oil on Panel 25 x 15 in
“Butterflies at Night”
Oil on Panel
20 x 15 in
20 x 13 1/2 in
“The Mother Tulpa” Oil on Panel
Oil on Panel 20 x 13 in
“Pendulum”
“Do
Not Disturb Emily Bronte” Oil on Panel 19 x 13 in
Oil on Panel 19 x 12 in
“The Servant”
“The
Enclosed Garden” Oil on Panel 17 x 11 in
Oil on Panel 15 x 11 in
“Boucherette”
