Description

“Ocean Drive, Hazard Ave” is a sculptural wall-hanging by Steven Aten conceptualized and created 2017-2020. The piece, constructed with resilient polyurethane rope, wiring, wood, and steel measures 33″ wide and 49” long. The piece is a surprisingly contemporary object memorializing Newport’s coastal cultural landscape. Elegantly featuring remnants of old boats, drift-wood, lures, and nails exposed from wind and water-swept planks, Aten’s fails not at placing the viewer squarely in the squall. Conceptualized as a process from harvest, rendering, use, abandonment, and decay to fine-art, Aten’s pieces describe in their form the life-process of finding balance in vulnerability and reaching redemption. Surprisingly modern and lovingly assembled, these wonderful balance-acts endows any space with a graceful stopping- or thinking- point.

Steven Aten is an artists who has worked and operated out of Newport for most of his life. With a deep appreciation for the sea and its power Aten has through a life-time of scouring rough-terrain gained a deep aesthetic acuteness for form and balance in the ocean’s discards. These pieces, endowed with a past-life and etched with time’s mark, speak for themselves. Aten does not keep a virtual presence.

This piece has an artist-set value of $190. The artist has generously decided that 100% of the proceeds generated in the transfer of “Ocean Drive, Hazard Ave” from their collection to yours be allocated to Newport Art House as a tax-deductible donation. Support Aten’s efforts to support other artists in our network by purchasing this piece!

Newport Art House is a 501 c 3 organization with a mission to nurture, showcase, and promote the contemporary arts of Newport County, RI. This Virtual Auction is part of our 2020 Covid-19 response fund-raiser for the 2020 fiscal year. All donations go towards our mission.