At its best the art world can seem as capricious as pop journalism, following the antics of Miley Cyrus or the Kardashians. At its worst it can be downright absurd in its quest to ascribe meaning to a post dada world, or so I thought. The truth is that there is no one gauge by which we can determine the talent or worth of any particular form of expression. A recent article by the well-known critic
Jerry Saltz describes how he rekindled his love affair with the MOMA, backtracking after a popular tweet of him burning his MOMA press pass. David Hockney also decried the “lessening” of art and the shift to conceptual art as a lamentable development of his lifetime. Living in Berlin and having recently put on a show by the relative new comer Steve Lyons, I too was worried about the reception I would receive but surprisingly even those belonging to the über-hip art scene were able to find something that drew them in. For those that took the time to peruse each painting something amazing happened. Upon a more thorough inspection of the subtle nuance of color or the naturalness of the lines their faces to lit up with delight as if they had discovered the image in a 3-D poster. For others their eyes narrowed and faces scrunched up in deep concentration as if trying to identify a past lover’s scent, or recalling a reoccurring childhood dream long since forgotten. For some it was the more abstract works that drew their eye, for others the landscapes, simultaneously peaceful yet turbulent, wild and soothing. What was immediately apparent to all, even upon a first casual glace is how Steve Lyons has mastered the classic technique of impasto, using thick layering of paint to create hidden sculptures within the painting itself, bringing some to dub his style “sculptural painting”. This gives his paintings a unique sense of depth, engulfing the observer in not only color but contour. Steve Lyons was recently brought to the forefront of the European art scene in 2013 when he won a prize in Sylt, Germany. Last year he began working at the Heckmann Hofe in Berlin creating pieces for his European debut in Freising, Bavaria. Unfortunately it was during this creative time where he was approached by Joachim Perez, who promised to promote Steve and his works for a percentage of paintings sold. It was in March 2015 only a few days after the exhibition was due to open that Steve discovered Mr. Perez had taken the almost 8,000 Euro he was given for expenses, as well as 21 paintings and disappeared. As Steve was in America at the time he called me and asked if I could go to his studio in Berlin and see what was happening. After discovering the theft of the paintings and filing a report with the police I took the remaining works, packed them in a van, drove them down to Freising and attempted to salvage what was left of Steve’s exhibition. It was only after coming back to Berlin that I found out Mr. Perez was attempting to sue Steve, the Heckmann Hofe and myself for taking Steve’s paintings which he claimed were his property. This is when things went from bizarre to surreal. After hiring a lawyer we discovered that Mr. Perez was claiming he was owed money for all the work he did for Steve and since he claimed he was owed money, according to German law he had the right to confiscate Steve’s paintings in lieu of payment. We of course demanded to know what work he felt he was owed money for since it was clear from the email correspondence that Mr. Perez was to be paid a commission on any paintings sold and he had not sent any bills for any work he had done other than his expenses for Freising. I asked our lawyer if Mr. Perez could show us any proof of payment he was owed but the lawyer informed us that this would be a matter for the Civil Courts and a second court case. In the meantime since Mr. Perez had been hired by Steve originally to manage and sell his paintings, the court would most likely return the stolen paintings to Mr Perez. In an attempt to find a way out of this Kafkaesque maze of German law and what is clearly a scam perpetrated by Mr. Perez and his legal counsel I am asking all of you who have read this far, to please spread the word. If anyone has contacts to media outlets or legal resources it would be great if we could stop this guy and make sure no other artists get taken in by similar scams.
