Steve Justice: Oddly Familiar

February 13 - March 15, 2025

Studio Kroner presented "Oddly Familiar," a solo exhibition by Cincinnati-based artist Steve Justice. Known for his unique blend of cultural storytelling and bold design, Justice's work inspires and engages viewers.

Drawing inspiration from figures like Thomas Hart Benton and MAD Magazine, he uses art to educate and entertain. “Art reflects the familiar while challenging us to see the world anew,” Justice said.

With a strong background in design from the University of Cincinnati, he brings both precision and a playful spirit to his creations. Oddly Familiar invited visitors to embrace the unexpected and rethink the ordinary.

Steve Justice was born in the steel town of Homestead, in Pittsburgh, in 1956 (Monkey/ Gemini) during a period of labor unrest for both his mother and for Homestead. His father was a mighty steel engineer -- he once carved a working locomotive from a single ingot of steel, using only a hacksaw and a bastard file. Justice’s mother was 100% Finnish, with a literary bend and some artistic aptitude. Justice subsequently grew up using both hemispheres of his brain.

He learned how to apply this laterization with years of study at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Institute, under the tutelage of Joseph C. Fitzpatrick (Warhol’s teacher and mentor). This was followed by Industrial Design training (with some Art History and fine art electives) at the University of Cincinnati, where he made the Dean’s list 10 times and won a scholarship. This led Justice to a successful and gratifying career as a product designer around the Rust Belt and beyond, designing products for consumer and commercial customers (Coca-Cola drinkware, 2002 Olympic torch, etc.), while creating thousands of manufacturing jobs. But he craved a bigger beauty.

Steve began oil painting in 1985, at first part-time, then eventually full-time, and he has stayed that course ever since. Making that transition led him to more than 183 exhibitions (17 solo), awards, and dozens of sales. His art may be free-wheeling and eccentric, but Justice has absorbed a lot of professionalism from his design days, and he’s very well aware of an artist’s position of responsibility.

Steve now lives in Cincinnati with his wife, the internationally recognized design educator, Dr. Lorraine Justice, following stops in Rochester NY, Hong Kong, Atlanta, Columbus, and NE Ohio.

I love cartoons. I always have. They are my earliest memories, and I hope they will be my last someday. Cartoons are universal, but they weren’t always that way. I knew a Swiss man who saw his first cartoon at nine and concluded that animals in America can talk. I didn’t draw that conclusion until I was in my late twenties. I create art because I can and I love it. The impulse becomes a drive, “To get it off my back,” as Nina Simone said. “With great power comes great responsibility,” many of Stan Lee’s characters have added. Such responsibility is wasted without mindful action.

I read a lot, and much of what I read winds up on my canvas, usually in combination with other things I’ve read, seen, heard, and experienced. My style is influenced by the art of Thomas Hart Benton, Rick Geary, MAD Magazine, Underground Comix, psychedelic poster art, Orthodox icons, Michelangelo, fashion photography, etc. I use a “cultural color wheel” of my device, which includes International Orange, Coke Red, Hershey Brown, Conrail Blue, School-bus Yellow, John Deere Green, and other colors a viewer may feel oddly or overtly familiar with.

My early paintings began with simple quotations and readings on creativity by practitioners of every discipline, but my inspirations and their interpretations have expanded over time. I sometimes have flashes of insight while doing mundane things such as walking the dog, meditating, or milking a cow (which I have never done). In Latin, this is called “Solvitur ambulando” (“It is solved by walking”). What I want to do is Educate, Enlighten and Entertain. (my 3 E’s)

I paint on canvas and wood panels, and I use oil paint because I like the look, feel, and smell. It’s exciting to do novel things with ancient materials. If I don’t have fun, the viewer won’t, and if the viewer doesn’t, I won’t. May that circle be unbroken.

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