About
Stephen Boocks creates works that combine painting and music, his two lifelong passions. Boocks began to study painting in his mid-teens at about the same time he began playing in rock bands. Although the punk aesthetic of his musical interests aligned with the Neo-Expressionist imagery he was exploring, his music and painting activities remained separate pursuits. At the Corcoran School of Art, Boocks started to work exclusively with objective imagery, though most works would include larger abstract sections as a way of reconciling his interests in both representational and non-objective painting. In 2010, Boocks began integrating his music and painting as a single practice. His use of grids provided both a rigid framework and the openness this non-objective work requires. These pieces translate the compositional structures employed by contemporary composers such as Brian Eno and Steve Reich, and sometimes his paintings literally serve as scores for his own music to accompany the visual elements of the work.
In late 2025, Boocks left his nearly 25 year career in the wine industry and moved to the small town of Roxbury, N.Y. in the heart of the Catskills to focus on painting and music full time. Due to a severe winter, it took nearly 6 months to renovate the large workshop space into the working Pour Les Oiseaux Music and Painting Studio.
In late 2025, Boocks left his nearly 25 year career in the wine industry and moved to the small town of Roxbury, N.Y. in the heart of the Catskills to focus on painting and music full time. Due to a severe winter, it took nearly 6 months to renovate the large workshop space into the working Pour Les Oiseaux Music and Painting Studio.
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Statement
Everyday, it feels like we are being more and more bombarded by "content." Unfortunately, both the content and the way it is delivered continues to get meaner and uglier by the day. While it is perfectly valid to produce narrative work that addresses current times, I decided a while back to attempt to completely remove any referential content in my work. Of course, in today's climate, the decision to remove content from the work is, in itself, content.
First and foremost, my goal is to make paintings I want to see. I am most interested elegant, quiet works such as Agnes Martin's subtle grids, Brice Marden's rich surfaces, or Ellsworth Kelly's elegant arcs. My current work tends to repeat simple forms with minimal, low-contrast colors, attempting to create a space for meditative thought, perhaps seeing things from different perspectives. Or maybe they just feel good.
I consider my work successful if my paintings align with how Brian Eno defined Ambient Music: sounds that create a pleasant background but offer much more if you pay closer attention.
August 2026
First and foremost, my goal is to make paintings I want to see. I am most interested elegant, quiet works such as Agnes Martin's subtle grids, Brice Marden's rich surfaces, or Ellsworth Kelly's elegant arcs. My current work tends to repeat simple forms with minimal, low-contrast colors, attempting to create a space for meditative thought, perhaps seeing things from different perspectives. Or maybe they just feel good.
I consider my work successful if my paintings align with how Brian Eno defined Ambient Music: sounds that create a pleasant background but offer much more if you pay closer attention.
August 2026
