Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1980 Bauman's family soon after that relocated to Miami, Florida where he followed his older brother into the world of Graffi ti. His early exposure to this art – the constant presence of paints and sketchbooks in his childhood home and frequent trips to local walls and warehouses– provided the younger Bauman with a strong foundation of the basics of design and drawing. But it was the years he spent from 2003 to 2009 studying and later teaching at the Florence Academy of Art, which enabled him to make a tremendous leap as an artist. His instructors taught him to look at the human figure, to see beauty in its proportions– to not, for example, draw the eyes and nose as distinct elements of the face, but to study the structures and anatomy of the head, to draw the atmosphere around the model, they taught him to see all over again. Once graduated, Bauman continued to grow as an artist- closely examining the works of artists he most admired: Dagnan Bouveret, Jules Bastien- Lepage, and Andrew Wyeth, among others.
Today Stephens work focuses on the human figure, expressing its mood and depth through color, line, texture, and the unique qualities of the mediums he utilizes- oil paint, watercolor, graphite and charcoal. In 2016, after a decade of studying and teaching in Europe he returned to the United States upon the invitation of The Florence Academy of Art to teach and paint at their U.S. branch in Jersey City, NJ where he is currently the Director of the Anatomy and Ecorche programs as well as continuing to teach drawing and painting in the core program. He is currently represented by, Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, NY, and Hersh Fine Art in Glen Cove, NY.
Sometimes quiet and contemplative, other times striking and full of color, these paintings appeal to the senses as well as to the mind. They can be both decorative and narrative, infusing the images a sense of more that just what we can see.
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Skill in drawing is fundamental, and among the most important assets a painter can possess. In my years as a student I worked to understand the relationship of drawing to painting in the same way my teachers at the Academy understood it. Now I am taking that skill to it’s expressive ends.
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As an instructor in the Intensive Drawing Program since 2007 and the Painting Program since 2009, teaching the principles of drawing and painting as they were handed down to me I feel that I have learned as much as I have taught, and hope to transmit the same to students.
2016: Bauman & Hernes. FAA gallery at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ.
2016: Selected Works. Hersh Fine in Glen Cove, NY.
2015: Scandinavian Artists. FAA gallery at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ.
2014: Selected Works. Hersh Fine in Glen Cove, NY.
2013: Figuratively speaking. Jäger & Jansson Galleri in Lund, Sweden.
2012: Beauty Revisited. At Hersh Fine Art in Glen Cove, N.Y.
2012: Florence Academy of Art, Sixth Annual Alumni Exhibition. The palace of Prince and Princess Corsini in Florence, Italy.
2010: Florence Academy of Art, Fifth Annual Alumni Exhibition. At the palace of Prince and Princess Corsini in Florence, Italy.
2010: Immortal Works. At Galleri Scandinavia in Göteborg, Sweden.
2010: The Lure of Florence. At Jack Meier Gallery in Houston, Texas.
2010: The New Britain Museum of American Artʼs Spring Gala. In New Britain, Connecticut.
2009: Florence Academy of Art, Fourth Annual Alumni Exhibition. At the palace of Prince and Princess Corsini in Florence, Italy.
2009: Two man show, Stephen Bauman and Anthony Ackrill. At the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, N.Y. USA
2008: 10th anniversary show. At the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, N.Y.
2007: Florence Academy of Art, Third Annual Alumni Exhibition. The palace of Prince and Princess Corsini in Florence, Italy.
2006: Gems of the Grenning Gallery. At the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, N.Y.
2001: Graduate Exhibition in the Main Gallery at the Florida School of the Arts. Palatka, Florida
2000: 2 man show, Love the Four Letter Word, Artwork by Stephen Bauman and Shaun Thurston. At the Larimer Arts Center in Palatka, Florida.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2008-Present: Principle Instructor, Drawing and Painting Program at the Florence Academy of Art
2008 through 2012: Florence Academy of Art, Summer Session Figure Painting Course at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy (2008 and 2009) and at the Florence Academy of Art in Mölndal, Sweden (2010 through 2012)
EDUCATION AND ARTISTIC TRAINING
2004-2008: Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy
1999-2001: Florida School of the Arts in Palatka, Florida
