Steven Bindernagel’s “The Inevitable Yield” (detail), 2010, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches.

By Kendra Hovey

Someone—a stranger to you—sees your work on a gallery wall and wants to take it home, enough to lay down some significant cash. This is a seminal moment for most fine artists. When it first happened for abstract painter Steven Bindernagel (CCAD 2002), he was honored. “That I made something that someone else fell in love with was amazing and humbling,” he says.

The cash was nice, too, but “the money thing” truly sank in as more paintings sold and he realized he could quit his day job. “That’s when I thought, ‘Ok, this is really awesome,’” he recalls now.

The Cleveland native moved to New York in 2004. After earning his Master of Fine Arts in 2006 from the School of Visual Arts, he spent the next four years in the city working 40–50 hours a week as an art handler—plus 40 hours a week in his studio. As he explains, “It was important to me that I spend as much time in my studio as possible. It was also important to me that I eat.”

Bindernagel’s hard work paid off when the CRG Gallery offered to represent him in 2010. He will have his first solo show there this fall. Rebecca Ibel, curator and director of the Pizzuti Collection, calls CRG “an international force in contemporary art.”

It’s also where her boss, Ron Pizzuti, caught sight of his first Bindernagel and bought it that same day. The painting is now one of a number of Bindernagel’s works in the internationally significant Pizzuti Collection—alongside those of such established and respected artists as Shirin Neshat.

A typical day for the 33-year-old artist starts around 8 a.m. in his Greenpoint, Brooklyn apartment. After taking his dog, Baxter, for a quick walk, he heads to his studio in Queens, where he’ll sketch, paint, and draw until sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight.

But on an atypical day, Bindernagel might be back in a gallery packing or hanging art. About this he wants to be clear: While he is happy and incredibly fortunate, there’s no need to romanticize the artistic life. If a month is looking thin, he’ll pick up a freelance art handling gig. Art sales tend to slow in the summer months, and this past summer his costs shot up as he burned through supplies preparing for his solo debut.

But this “ebb and flow,” as he calls it, is a far cry from the cliché of the starving artist. That’s one myth he’s quick to blast. “Say, ‘I am going to move to New York to be a professional artist,’ and people think you’re crazy — they tell you you’re crazy,” says Bindernagel, “but get here and you’ll realize art is a billion-dollar industry with a huge net of available jobs.” From hourly work in galleries, museums, and shipping companies to assisting artists, correcting digital files, and photographing artwork, he says, “there are really a lot of options” to get set up and connected.

Bindernagel’s “Untitled,” 2010, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22 inches.

This is typical of Bindernagel’s realistic, yet positive, take on making it as an artist. It’s not easy, he says, but it is doable. What’s his Number One insight?

Make art. It may sound obvious, but staying focused on this key priority takes more dedication than you might think.

Here are six more:

• Plug into the art world. Bindernagel was making ends meet in retail, but to get the life he wanted he felt he needed a job in the art industry—so he became an art handler. This put him in galleries meeting artists, collectors, and curators and gave him an up-close view of how the system works.

• This was all very helpful with: Get a social support network. “If you are going to make a run of it in New York City you need a net of people who are there for you—who support you, recommend you for group shows or studio visits, and push you.” If Bindernagel took a day or two off of painting, a studiomate would call and say, “Hey, where you at? Get in the studio. You’ve got to put in some hours. And bring beer.”

• Support, of course, is both get and give, which brings us to: Go to your friends’ openings. “Sure, you’re tired, but go anyway,” he says. “You’ve got to support your friends.”

• Get a studio. Bindernagel pays more for his 400 square feet of studio space than for his apartment. “It’s really the most important place to me in the world,” he says, and it’s always been a top priority. It reminds him every day that art is a serious business. Plus, he makes a mess. “I need a certain amount of freedom when I paint,” he says. Also, it’s more professional: “People generally don’t want to come to an apartment for a studio visit.” It’s been great, too, for expanding his social circle and for networking. “It’s a given,” he says, that he and his studiomates will introduce each other to any visiting artists, curators, or collectors. “This sharing and community building has been invaluable to us all, leading to shows, sales, and contacts.”

• Keep your head up. For the first three years in New York, no one showed much interest in Bindernagel’s art. The reality, he says: “Tons of people are not going to be impressed by your work—be persistent and dedicated and resilient.”

• Finally, especially for those still in school: It’s never too early to think about a game plan. Work on writing skills—it’ll help when applying for residencies and grants. Find out exactly what a gallery registrar does, how to store and best maintain your artwork, and how to approach a gallery.

“So many people blindly send a stock note and an elaborate portfolio, but galleries don’t look at those books,” he explains. The key is to be recommended or to build a relationship. “Go to the gallery’s every single opening,” he suggests. “After a few months introduce yourself, tell them you like what they do, offer your card, follow up — it’s kind of like dating.”

Bindernagel found his path during a New York residency through CCAD. “The program was awesome,” he says, “but if you can’t do it, sublet. Spend the summer here. Test it out. See if it’s for you.”

Lastly, he urges, talk to people: “I’ve told you my story; there’s always another artist who’s done it differently. There are many ways to make a living, make art, and be happy.”

Update, 11/15/12: Bindernagel reports that he is “safe and sound” after hurricane Sandy, and his neighborhood escaped the worst. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his studio building in Queens. His sixth-floor space is fine, but at street level the water was knee-deep, and the building is still without heat. Also flooded: the CRG Gallery in Chelsea where his show was to open on Nov. 15 (tentative new date: Jan. 17). Though he feels “very lucky” that his newest work was safe in his studio, some paintings at CRG were lost. “Yes, it’s disappointing,” he says, “but so many people lost so much more.” One bright spot: he has a second show to look forward to—at the Beta Pictoris gallery in Birmingham, Alabama, this summer.

Bindernagel working in his studio

CCAD alumnus Steven Bindernagel (CCAD 2002) is often in his New York City studio for 15 hours a day, six days a week. His intense dedication began at CCAD and has continued to support him as he displays his work in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally.

“CCAD really infused me with a strong work ethic,” Bindernagel said. “I remember staying up for three days straight to finish my freshman year final projects.”

Bindernagel works as a full-time artist and is represented by CRG Gallery in New York City. In the latter half of 2012 the gallery will feature him in a solo exhibition, his first with CRG.

Richard Desroche, one of CRG’s co-owners, describes Bindernagel’s work as “…unabashedly beautiful. Color resonates and explodes off paper and canvas and at the same time a dark, brooding, even stained background is ever-present. For Bindernagel, soft and gentle must always be juxtaposed with harsh and aggressive.”

Bindernagel creates abstract paintings using a variety of techniques. His process is layered and can include pouring paint, glazing, painting out and erasing areas, and reworking the same area several times over.

Bindernagel’s success is no accident. Even in his undergraduate years at CCAD he was realizing the importance art would have in his life—and he was seizing every opportunity to learn, explore, and take risks.

“It was at CCAD that I realized I love making art and I was willing to do everything possible to do it for the rest of my life,” he said.

During his undergraduate years, Bindernagel learned to take criticism and defend his work. He enjoyed the critiques in his classes, learning to better himself and his peers. In particular, Professor Gordon Lee taught him how to defend his work and creative ideas and the importance of helping other artists grow.

“I remember his insights and keen ability to speak simultaneously to the emotional content of a painting as well as to the technical aspects of creating—it was in these classes that I really fell in love with the complexity and nuance of painting,” Bindernagel said.

His color concept and 2D design classes had a profound technical and tactile effect on his art. Today, Bindernagel still loves to use modulated color and semi-sculptural low-relief techniques in his paintings, which can be traced back to those classes.

Bindernagel participated in the New York Studio Residency Program in 2001, while at CCAD. The program allows students to study among art and design professionals in New York City for a semester, and Bindernagel capitalized on every minute of the experience.

"The Inevitable Yield"

“I spent a lot of time working in the studio, where I would spend hours and hours painting, and outside of classes I would try to visit as many gallery and museum shows as possible,” Bindernagel said. “I also spent a good amount of time just wandering around the city. It was an amazing, concentrated, and enlightening experience for me.”

He knew he wanted to return and live in New York following graduation. Bindernagel admits that the amount of time he was able to focus solely on his work during the program directly and positively influenced his last year at CCAD and was a precursor to further his studies.

Bindernagel did return to New York and earned his MFA at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). From his lessons in the studio program and at CCAD he was able to understand intense studio hours prior to grad school and “knew where to buy $1 noodles for lunch in the city.”

The move from Ohio to New York for Bindernagel was not just about attending graduate school; it was also about diving into the arts and culture scene.

“Once here [in New York] I set up a large support network of fellow artists and colleagues, friends, and mentors,” Bindernagel said. “As people know, New York is expensive and somewhat chaotic, and the art world is extremely saturated and competitive, but having a strong network here has been invaluable on countless levels—from help finding work when I needed a job, to swapping studio visits with friends, to devising how to make our goals and dreams a reality.”

Upon graduation from SVA, Bindernagel found himself searching for a full-time job to pay the bills. He had to learn to adapt to a life of balancing a full-time job with up to 40 additional hours a week in the studio.

CRG Gallery began showing Bindernagel’s work in 2010 and eventually offered to represent him. The gallery was founded in 1990 and has exhibited work by artists from the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and China. It  remains committed to providing exposure to emerging artists from around the world.

“I have known everyone at CRG for about five years,” Bindernagel explained. “I admire, respect, and trust them all, so I feel fortunate, and I couldn’t be happier to be working with them so early in my career.”

Bindernagel has been able to quite his job and now works more than 60 hours a week in his studio. But that doesn’t mean he has no free time. On Sundays he makes sure to take the day off to relax, read, and upload the photos of his artwork.

“Being an artist is a lifestyle choice rather than solely a career choice,” Bindernagel explained. “I came to terms [with the fact] that I was in this for the long haul, whether it ever paid off financially or not, because it is what I love to do.”

Since being able to devote himself solely to his artistic pursuits, Bindernagel has followed advice that he received from a professor years ago: as an artist, he needs to focus on making his art practice his primary and unwavering ambition. He understands that financial demands and countless other obligations may come up, but despite all of that he will find a way to stay unconditionally dedicated to his practice. His advice and motto: “Don’t stop creating”

Bindernagel believes possibilities are truly limitless for today’s artists, but times have also drastically changed due to technological advancements.

“Being an independent artist is like running a small business—you need a website, quality jpegs, business cards, etc. This may be common sense now, but in the late 1990s we were still looking at artwork on slides and projectors.”

Bindernagel’s success includes four solo exhibitions and 18 group exhibitions, and yet he still looks back to work completed his freshman year at CCAD.

“When I go home for the holidays and open the box with my work from CCAD, the memories flood back,” Bindernagel admits. “I still remember making every single project and the countless sleepless nights.”

His solo exhibition at CRG will run Nov. 15–Dec. 22, 2012.

Photo courtesy of thearmoryshow.com.

CRG Gallery presents a new series of large-scale works on paper by Fine Arts alumnus Steven Bindernagel (CCAD 2001) during the Armory Art Fair in New York City.

Using watercolor and colored pencil, Bindernagel constructs semi-representational motifs that seem to shift between the architectonic and the completely abstract. Each drawing is constructed layer by layer as the surface is drawn on, painted, erased and reworked several times, so the work’s history (and the artist’s thought process) becomes apparent to the viewer.

Bindernagel is inspired by the urban landscapes of his hometown, Cleveland, OH as well as New York City. He couples the brilliant colors of billboards, neon signs, and glowing lights with the dark and corrosive colors of rust and decay.

The Armory Show is America’s leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its 11 years, the fair has become an international institution. Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week.

Learn more about Bindernagel on his website.