Check Out Steven Janssen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Janssen.

Hi Steven, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have been painting and drawing since a very young age and once I was accepted to college at California State University Long Beach, I very much disliked the idea of painting or drawing a certain way, the conformity of it all, and the whole idea of college, but I muscled through and then came the time to get my work in galleries, and that is a whole other story, so I decided, screw this, I am going to open my own gallery. Palm Springs was my calling, I was born and raised in LA, and had grandparents, uncles and aunts who lived in Palm Springs and frequented the desert and always felt like a second home. As a painter, I quickly became aware that the desert offered an inspiration like no other. I gathered information, searched out spaces, and with the help of my husband of 20 years, Stephen Huvane and found a little gallery on Indian Canyon Drive.

In 2006, Janssen Artspace was born. My initial concept was going to be solely my work, but quickly found it to be very one note and wanted to offer the city of Palm Springs, a variety of local and emerging artists to keep the gallery vision fresh and ever-changing. It was great, it exploded, big group shows… then in 2009, everything stopped. The Great Recession hit, and I was forced to close my doors after three exceptional years. I found a cool studio in downtown LA and re-focused on my work and what was to come next. We kept our house in Palm Springs, but it was a very dark time. For the coming years, a number of artist friends and myself would rent out strange but cool spaces for a pop-up one-nighter. Economy improved and cut to 2017 I was driving past an all-glass space designed by renowned architect Donald Wexler on Tahquitz Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. Do I travel down this road again? I couldn’t pass it up. Such a great location, and it needed little work. Now comes the reincarnation of Janssen Artspace, new and improved. Continuing the concept of representing local and emerging artists continued, with well attended openings and events. Success endured! Then Covid Hit. Deja-Vu?

Nobody knew what was going on in 2020, but I knew If I don’t get creative with marketing and ways to sell art in a global pandemic, then we are doomed (again). A lot of galleries in Palm Springs closed, but I stuck it out and in 2021 we had the best year we have ever had. The housing market in PS boomed, everybody moved to the desert, needing art for their new walls, and during this time found a new studio space above the gallery, which the timing couldn’t of been more perfect.

I created like no other time in my career while stepping out of the box to continue the gallery business. Today, we have hit seven years, and I couldn’t be more blessed. We are pretty much back to normal with continuing the cutting-edge group exhibitions and finding the balance of running the gallery and focusing on my own work, most recently my latest series of atmospheric paintings titled Mirage, which opened the season in September.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I majored in Life Painting in college, and began a series of abstract figurative paintings which had a slight erotic quality to them. This became my signature style for many years, but I always dabbled in non-objective abstraction. Moving my studio to Palm Springs inspired me to dive into the abstract, leaving my figurative style behind. My latest series, Mirage, is very sophisticated yet simple, working with a gradation of color with an emphasis on the undercoat. Each piece has a horizon line on the bottom, representing the “Mirage”.

What matters most to you?
Kindness, honesty, and positivity. The age of social media has affected us in many ways, some good and some bad. Let’s get back to the good.

Contact Info:

• Website: janssenartspace.com
• Instagram: Janssenartspace
• Facebook: Janssen Art Space