PRATTSVILLE – For artist Tony Bluestone, painting offers a way to examine contradictions: the distance between present reality and what exists in the mind, the tension between illusion and material, and the ways images and technology shape human experience.
Bluestone, who lives in Prattsville, began painting at age 15 while coping with his father’s Parkinson’s disease and the stress the illness placed on his family. Painting became something he could do independently. “What started to become fun was to consider the way reality was full of contradictions," Bluestone recalled. He did not consider becoming a professional artist, however, until college, where he was able to experiment with his interests.
Quiet remains important to Bluestone’s process because it allows him to tune in to what inspires him. He is interested in the space between the present and what is in his mind. “When I was making work more representationally, the images were the projections and the paint itself was the reality," Bluestone explained.
Recurring themes include how people frame experiences through image-making, photography and technology, as well as grief, loss and impermanence. Bluestone also considers the physical and societal structures that shape how people understand themselves.
When approaching new work, Bluestone starts with the materials. He makes smaller studies and experiments to see what the materials can create organically. “These studies help create a structure that helps relax my mind when painting," Bluestone said.
Reading, listening to music, watching movies and visiting art shows also inform his work. Politics and history help him understand life within larger systemic structures. Meditation and silent retreats give him time to examine his mind and consciousness and develop confidence in the themes he sets in motion.
Those interests shaped “The Passenger," an exhibition presented at Freight + Volume Gallery in 2022. Inspired by the chaos of lockdown, life continuing through screens and the desire to connect with the world, the works portrayed scenes through screens, stages, pictures and paintings. “I was interested in how these framing devices were shifting the way all parts of the painting related to each other," Bluestone explained. The pieces explored how technology can reframe and disorient experience.
Bluestone continued to consider asynchronous experience in “Jetlag," presented in Seoul, South Korea, in 2023. “Jetlag creates a feeling that one’s physical awareness has not caught up to the time of a new setting," Bluestone said. The paintings hold two realities, with experiences occupying multiple realms on one canvas. In one painting, a figure sits in a bubble bath, but the bubbles are made from bubble wrap, with plastic standing in for water. “It is an illusion within a painting which is also an illusion," Bluestone explained.
Bluestone said his work changed dramatically when he obtained his own studio in Grand Gorge. Having dedicated time and space allowed him to consider the structures shaping the work, while presenting exhibitions publicly changed how he thought about each piece.
Teaching also influenced his practice. “They have taught me to see how many possibilities there are within any art-marking process. Through listening to them [the students], I have learned that my work is here to teach me about art as much as I am there to make it," Bluestone said.
Bluestone taught at Cooper Union, Rhode Island School of Design, Hunter College, SUNY Purchase, and the Bard Prison Initiative.
One of the most difficult moments in Bluestone’s career came after graduate school, when he was rejected from 35 opportunities. He rented a studio for two months and directed his frustration into 12 paintings. After he photographed the work, more opportunities followed. The experience became both a challenge and a reward because he spent the summer devoting every spare moment to his art.
His advice to emerging artists is direct: “Make all your ideas, especially the ones that feel stupid or obvious. Connect with people, find your people, and make DIY shows together. Make yourself vulnerable by asking for advice." Bluestone also recommends that young artists connect with the people around them, even when they have reservations.
This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Lab, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.
