Paintings
75 works
Eric Stefanski Show's Over For Sale
Eric Stefanski
Show's Over, 2023
Charcoal on heavyweight paper
11 x 14 in 27.9 x 35.5 cm
Edition
Unique
About this work
Eric Stefanski's "Show's Over" presents the titular phrase rendered in charcoal on heavyweight paper, a departure from his signature acrylic on canvas yet entirely consistent with his exploration of language as emotional artifact. The words emerge from the paper's surface with the smudged, atmospheric quality particular to charcoal—edges softening into gray halos, the letters carrying the weight of something extinguished rather than simply concluded. The intimate scale of eleven by fourteen inches draws viewers into close conversation with the piece, demanding the kind of proximity usually reserved for reading handwritten notes or private correspondence. The phrase itself operates on multiple registers. There's the theatrical announcement, the finality of curtains drawn and house lights raised. But Stefanski's treatment suggests something more personal—the exhaustion after performance, the silence that follows sustained effort, the moment when pretense becomes impossible to maintain. His text-based practice has always treated words not as declarations but as residue, the linguistic traces left behind after experience has passed through. Here, the charcoal medium reinforces this sense of aftermath, as if the words themselves are slowly dispersing, caught in the act of fading. Within Stefanski's broader body of work, "Show's Over" functions as both statement and surrender, the kind of quiet admission that becomes possible only when the audience has left. The piece exemplifies his ability to transform common phrases into sites of unexpected emotional depth, where recognition and revelation occur simultaneously. For acquisition inquiries regarding this work, please contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.
Price on Application
Edition & Provenance
- Year
- 2023
- Medium
- Charcoal on heavyweight paper
- Edition
- Unique
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About Eric Stefanski
Eric Stefanski is a Chicago based artist known for large scale abstract paintings that incorporate bold, handwritten text. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned his MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2015.
Stefanski's work merges expressive mark making with direct, often humorous or self-deprecating phrases, using language as a way into larger themes around vulnerability, failure, and the pressures of maintaining a creative practice. His large-scale canvases favor vibrant color and bold lettering, with text functioning less as slogan and more as fragments of internal dialogue, blending humor with genuine emotional weight. Through this approach, Stefanski examines what it means to sustain a life as a working artist, treating uncertainty and contradiction as part of the process rather than something to resolve.
His work has been shown extensively in Chicago and Boston, along with solo exhibitions in cities including Tokyo and Madrid, and has continued to expand into galleries and institutions internationally.
He continues to live and work in Chicago.
Guy Hepner works with collectors seeking Eric Stefanski's bold, text-driven abstract paintings. Contact us to discuss available inventory or to inquire about upcoming releases.