I Use Materials From The Subject’s World To Create Their Likeness

In my series "The Kings and Queens of Late Night," I paint collage portraits of an all-star cast of network and cable comics and pundits. Included in the "Late Night" series are familiar faces like Bill Maher, Jay Leno, Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert and many more.

My collage work began in the 1990s. With a strong background in rigorous life drawing, my early collages were self-portraits and portraits of friends. In 2009, I began a series of portraits of characters involved in the credit crunch. The series entitled Irrational Exuberance featured portraits of Bernie Madoff, Ben Bernanke and others. In my latest series, Kings and Queens of Late Night, I continue my use of collage material on a framework of drawing and explores the relationship between portraiture, abstraction and pop culture.

I utilize collage as a formal element. It provides a way of putting down a tone or erasing previous marks. There is a randomness in collage; the secondary meaning in the text or image becomes an important part of the finished work. Collage allows me to layer multiple images over the scaffolding of a drawing. I use materials from the subject’s world to create their likeness. This is a modern take on the renaissance trope of putting objects into a portrait to illustrate the attributes of the subject, for example, books to show the subject was educated. Instead of illustrating the attributes of the subject with a symbol, as a Renaissance-era painter would, I collage the portraits with materials and text from the subject's world.

For Jon Stewart, I used collage material from the 9/11 Responders’ act he championed, Amy Schumer was done with her cousin Senator Chuck Schumer’s Gun Control bill, Jimmy Fallon was done with thank you cards to reference his Thank You Notes segment, and John Oliver was done with USA Today and the London Tube Map, because he’s so British.

In addition to my MFA from The Slade School of Fine Art, 2007, and a certificate in painting from The New York Studio School, 2004, I have a law degree from Albany Law School, 1986, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College, 1982.

More info: geoffreystein.com | Instagram