STEVEN CAVALLO 

 

EDUCATION

School of Visual Arts 1975-1979 BA Media Arts

ARTIST STATEMENT

Steve Cavallo is a watercolorist whose work focuses on human rights, human trafficking and more specifically, forced sexual slaves of WWII known as Comfort Women.

Cavallo’s paintings consist of the human figure, most images being a combination of different models, put together in a way to show the underlying beauty of the human figure, and the grotesque images of what mankind has done. Cavallo uses the colors common to bruises in his work; he focuses not on the war years when these women were forced to serve up to 50 Japanese Soldiers a day, but concentrates on the years that follow - the years spent in silence, the years of speaking out and the years of being outcasts of society and now, in recent months, being forsaken by their own government.  Cavallo designed and was instrumental in the placing of the first memorial dedicated to these women, which is in Palisades Park NJ.. Since the Palisades Park memorial was unveiled in 2010, 8 more memorials have been installed throughout the world, with 3 others in progress.

The title of this exhibit, “Darkness at the Break of Noon” is a line borrowed from the 1965 Bob Dylan song “It’s Alright Ma, I’m only Bleeding”. It references the Bible passage of “darkness covering the earth” when Jesus died on the cross, but also hints at sin and the last judgment.

The paintings are large 51” watercolor panels, designed to represent stained glass windows that lined the corridors of churches that Cavallo would see while growing up. Each of these panels, as in the windows of a church, tells a story of life, sin, suffering, repentance and redemption.

 

CAREERS

Pascack Art Association-April 2007

Bergen County Art in the Park Judge-June 2007

Sharon’s Art Center-Fairfield NJ 1999-2007

Art & I- Cresskill NJ 2005-2007

Tappan Music and Art Center 2005-2007

Allendale Art Association: Lecture 2006

Fort Lee Artist Guild-Judge 2002 and 2003

Parson’s School of Design: Lectures1989-1999

Palisades Park Multimedia Center 1996-present

Fort Lee Artists Guild: Lectures 1987, 1994, 2005

Stacey Handler-“THE BODY BURDEN: LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF BARBIE” Interior Illustrations for the Book by Ruth Handler’s (Barbie creator)granddaughter. 1994

Walker Books-Cover Illustration for “Li Lun, Lad of Courage” Newberry award winner-1990

Simon & Schuster-Workbook Illustrations 1990-1991

March of Dimes Int. Annual Christmas Ornament Design. 1987

March of Dimes Int. “MEN HAVE BABIES TOO” illustrations for brochure 1987

Edgewater Annual Outdoor Art Show- Judge 1987

Wall Street Journal-Arts and Leisure Illustrations 1987-1988

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines-Interior Illustrations 1985-2001

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine- Interior Illustrations 1985-2001

Analog Magazine-Interior Illustrations 1985-2001

Asimov Science Fiction Magazine-Interior illustrations 1985-2001

Asian Wall Street Journal- Portraits of Famous Asians 1984-1985

Scholastic Magazine-Illustrations for Scholastic News 1983-1985

Walker Books-Dust Jacket Illustration for “WINTER GRASS” 1983

Hispanic World’s Fair-Subway Poster 1979

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Exhibitions

John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York City, NY February 2015

NJ Council for the Arts - Issues (group show). Rahway, NJ April 2015

Alpha Gallery The Art of Watercolors (group show). New Brunswick, NJ May 2015

Seoul Museum of Art 2015 World Watercolor Triennial group show. Seoul Korea June 2015

Belskie Museum- The Beauty of Watercolor (group show) Closter NJ June 2015

Fullerton Museum-Forgotten Faces (3 person show) Fullerton California September 2015

NABI Museum of the Arts. Teaneck, NJ August 2014

Rutgers University. Newark, NJ November 2014

Gallery 1 & 9 –Come From the Shadows-Korean Comfort Women Group Exhibit, January 2012 Ridgefield NJ

Eunnam Museum- There But For Fortune-Solo exhibit in Gwangju South Korea May 2012

Riverside Gallery-Remembering Beauty Group Exhibit- Hackensack NJ July 2012

Western Gallery-Eulogies-Solo Exhibition Los Angeles California-July 2012

George Mason University, Virginia- Comfort Women: The Untold Story-Group Exhibit November 2012

Yegam Gallery- We Can’t Deny Reality-Group Exhibition, Feb 2011 Flushing Queens NY

Nahrah Gallery-Lamentations Solo Exhibition, Fort Lee NJ November 2011

Kupferberg Holocaust Center- Come From the Shadows Group Exhibition- Bayside Queens NY August 2011

Palisades Park Multimedia Center- Can You Hear Their Voices-Comfort Women Benefit and Art Exhibit-June 2009

Bergen Performing Arts Center NJ- Childhood’s End Group Exhibition- January 2010

Ansan International Art Fair- June 2010 Ansan Art Center, South Korea

Palisades Park Multimedia Center-Come From the Shadows Unveiling of the First U.S. Memorial for Comfort Women. (Plaque Designed by Steve Cavallo) October 2010

Bergen Performing Arts Center NJ- Comfort Women, Solo Exhibition- October 2010

FGS Gallery- Playing Army Solo Exhibition- Englewood NJ February 2009

Maxim Lounge Jazz Club- 32nd Street NYC Group Show January 2008

Atrium Gallery Washington Township NJ-Remembering Jeffrey Rosay-Solo Exhibition June 2008

Brennan Gallery Group Exhibit-Jersey City NJ November 2008

Palisades Park Multimedia Center NJ -Art/Poetry Exhibit December 06

Atrium Gallery, Immigration Series Solo Exhibit- Washington Township NJ/June 2007

Sanmaroo Gallery-Five Corners Group Show Tenafly NJ October 2007

Gallery Oms-Winter Invitational Group Show-Fort Lee NJ November 2007

Korean Central Cultural Center Group Show- Between Memory and Reality- Fort Lee NJ November 2007

Palisades Park Multimedia Center- Art/Poetry Show- December 2007

IDENTIY-Group Show Jersey City Court House 2006

Gallery Oms- Fort Lee NJ Group Show-November 2006

Gallery Oms- Fort Lee NJ Small Works Show-December 2006

Palisades Park Multimedia Center NJ 2004. 2005

Spoon Gallery (group chow) NYC 2001

Palisades Park Multimedia Center-1995

Palisades Park Multimedia Center NJ- January 1995

Maxim Lounge Jazz Club- 32nd Street NYC Group Show

Atrium Gallery- Solo Exhibition Washington Township NJ 1994

Atrium Gallery-Washington Township NJ 1994

Old Church Cultural Center-Demarest NJ 1992

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