Boston, Massachusetts — What better way to welcome the arrival of spring than with the unveiling of Stev’nn Hall’s luminous new collection, Arcadia!
Acclaimed landscape painter Stev’nn Hall references the meaning of Arcadia as “an idealized, pastoral paradise representing rustic innocence, harmony with nature, and simple quiet pleasure.” The word originates from a mountainous Greek region, becoming a central theme in literature and art as an “unspoiled, utopian wilderness inhabited by shepherds.” Hall encapsulates this new collection as a symbol of peace; his work has the ability to lift you into an “Eden-like escape from the complexities of modern life.”
A mixed-media visual artist celebrated for his emotionally resonant, dreamlike landscapes, Hall seamlessly merges photography, painting, and drawing to create richly layered, atmospheric works. His compositions feel at once cinematic and intimate, imbued with a sense of nostalgia and quiet melancholy. Through dramatic skies and radiant horizons, Hall evokes what he describes as a “connection to the unknown,” an internal pilgrimage shaped by childhood memory and the complexities of later life, including the experience of caring for his parents. His work delicately captures the tension between beauty and impermanence.
Having spent the winter months immersed in his studio practice, Hall now presents a striking new body of mixed-media paintings, debuting at DTR Modern Galleries’ Boston location. We invite you to join us for an elegant Opening Reception on Friday, April 24th, as we celebrate both the artist’s latest collection and the spirit of the season.
Please see below for additional details, and preview the collection here.
Please inquire through the button below, or email us at info@dtrmodern.com to be added to the RSVP list.
Raised in rural Ontario, Hall grew up with a 35mm camera in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, an early duality that would eventually define his artistic voice. He studied film, photography, and painting at Concordia University in Montréal, and later channeled his talents into filmmaking, directing indie music videos, and producing award-winning television promos before returning to his first love: painting.
Hall’s process is deeply tactile and rooted in memory. He begins with his own analog photographs, of farmhouses, open roads, vast skies, and pastoral scenes reminiscent of his upbringing, which he reworks through a multi-step transformation. He re-photographs these images through textured glass, crops and overlaps them, and then enlarges them onto birch panels. Over these photographic foundations, he builds layers of oil, acrylic, pastel, and ink. He scrapes, scumbles, scratches, glazes, and repaints the surfaces to create the feeling of aged, time-worn photographs, artifacts shaped by recollection as much as by reality.
