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Steven Mack studied Economics for one year at the University of Alberta from 1983-1984. Fours years later in 1988, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a specialization in painting from the University of Alberta. In the years following, Mack had the opportunity to continue studying in France and Hungary. In 1990, he completed a course on French Civilization, at Sorbonne in Paris, and from 1990-1991 he completed graduate work in painting at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Mack received a Masters of Fine Arts in 2000, from the University of Calgary. All of Mack’s paintings have a very distinct style, as he preferred to utilize bold brush-stokes. This stylistic choice encourages blocks of slightly different color, to be overlain, resulting in minimal blending of color. Mack’s collection was significantly influenced by Sir Kenneth Clark, Director of the National Gallery in London from 1933-1945. Clark enjoyed viewing a painting from afar and then walking towards the piece so that it becomes a blur of identifiable objects, then he would get so close to the painting that all objects disappear, and the work was a sea of brushstrokes.
Mack’s collection seems to reference the moment when objects become brushstrokes, and brushstrokes become identifiable objects. Mack’s preferred subject matter was nudes and still life objects. Mack was frequently a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary from 2000-2008. He primarily taught introductory and intermediate drawing and painting classes. He also coached students in engineering design and communication classes. Mack occasionally taught at Mount Royal College, and the Alberta College of Art & Design. Mack passed away on August 26, 2009 at the age of 46.
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