Spotlight on Arts – Stephen Fox’s Seventeen Years of Colour, Commitment and Community
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The sound of hammering carries through Studio 17 as the final preparations are made for a major retrospective of work by Leicestershire artist Stephen Fox.
Curator Paul Dexter is arranging paintings in the Tangent Gallery at Albert Street Artist Studios in Loughborough. Selecting work for the exhibition has meant looking back through an unusually large and varied archive.
Stephen has been a member of Studio 17 for 17 years, producing hundreds of paintings during that time. His work includes watercolours, oils, acrylics, abstract pieces, landscapes and still lifes. For Paul, the process of assembling the exhibition has revealed several unexpected highlights.
“We have uncovered some real gems,” he says.
Flowers feature prominently, particularly sunflowers, lilies and roses. There are also butterflies, village scenes, roads, trees and landscapes inspired by photographs, magazines and Stephen’s surroundings.
Rather than reproducing every detail precisely, Stephen simplifies the images he sees. The resulting paintings are bold, direct and highly distinctive, often using colour in unexpected ways.
Stephen describes blue, red and green as particular favourites. He allows colours and shapes to develop as he works, sometimes drawing from photographs and sometimes constructing the composition more freely.
“I make it up as I go along,” he explains. “All the different colours sort of appear on the palette.”
A return to the gallery
Although Stephen has exhibited before, this retrospective marked his first major solo exhibition for many years.
His previous shows included an exhibition in 2011 and a display of oil landscapes at Hermitage FM in Coalville in 2012. The Studio 17 retrospective brought together both recent paintings and pieces produced throughout his long association with the group.
Looking through the collection has reminded Stephen just how prolific he has been.
“I just can’t believe how much work I’ve got,” he says. “I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of pieces of work.”
Much of it has been stored in a bedroom at home, alongside work produced through life-drawing sessions, Workers’ Educational Association classes and other art courses.
The volume of work reflects a sustained commitment to making art. Stephen travels around 15 miles from Newbold Verdon to Loughborough and attends the studio almost every day.
Colour, shape and everyday subjects
Stephen is particularly drawn to landscapes and still life. When choosing a subject, he looks first at its colours and shapes.
Flowers provide a recurring challenge and source of inspiration. Roses, he admits, are especially difficult to paint because of their complex structure, although he is usually able to find the colours he wants.
His more unusual interpretations include blue sunflowers, an image that has proved popular enough to be reproduced as prints.
Visitors and collectors have also responded strongly to his village scenes, with their combinations of houses, roads, trees and figures. Several of his watercolours have sold over the years, including a Spanish landscape bought by the father of fellow artist Joe Gibbs.
Yet the significance of Stephen’s work cannot be measured only through exhibitions or sales. It is also rooted in the routine of returning to the studio, working alongside other artists and contributing to the life of the organisation.
“It means the world to me”
When asked what Albert Street Artist Studios means to him, Stephen’s answer is immediate.
“It means the world to me.”
He contributes not only as an artist but as an active member of the group, helping with sales, subscriptions and the practical work required to sustain the studio.
That commitment is strongly recognised by the people around him.
Vicky, who helped clean, frame and prepare work for the exhibition, describes Stephen’s paintings as joyful, immediate and quirky.
Ellie, another friend helping to install the show, recalls opening drawers and discovering dozens of previously unseen works.
“He seems to be able to open a drawer and there’ll be 40 more,” she says. “He’s a very productive artist.”
For Ellie, Stephen’s value to Studio 17 goes well beyond his own creative practice.
“Steven probably supports everyone more than he could ever understand or know,” she says. “He’s like a ray of sunshine.”
Why studios like this matter
The episode also offers a wider portrait of life inside a shared community arts space.
Vicky describes Studio 17 as mutually supportive: a place where people bring their skills, encourage one another and create together.
“It’s a vibe that’s really vibrant, supportive, encouraging and fun.”
The retrospective is therefore not simply an exhibition of one artist’s output. It is also the record of a long relationship between an artist and a creative community.
Across 17 years, Stephen Fox has built a body of work characterised by vivid colour, familiar subjects, experimentation and persistence. At the same time, his daily presence has helped shape the atmosphere of Studio 17 itself.
The paintings tell one part of that story. The voices in this edition of Spotlight on Arts tell the rest.
Listen to the podcast to hear Stephen, curator Paul Dexter and members of the Studio 17 community discuss the exhibition, the work and the importance of supportive spaces for local artists.
Stephen Fox can be found on Instagram at @StevenFox760, on Facebook at Steven Fox Art, and through his website, StevenFoxArt-collections.com.
