Sharon Stone traveled the world a lot as a model in the 1970s and then as one of the world's biggest movie stars, but she travels now for an entirely different reason: to exhibit her work in galleries around the world.
“I feel like the only thing my paintings bring is some kind of feeling of joy,” she told Travel & Leisure magazine recently over Zoom.
This isn't just a hobby she started: the Pennsylvania native grew up learning to paint from her aunt, then studied painting at Pennsylvania Western University in Edinboro before moving to New York to begin her career as a model. She returned to college in 2016 to earn a degree in fine arts and art history, but found the time to pursue painting during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Now the Oscar nominee has two new exhibitions on show at Galerie Deschler Berlin in Berlin, through June 22, and at Gallery 181 at 181 Residences in San Francisco, through August 31. She'll also show work at Gallery 33 in Los Angeles in 2023, followed by a solo exhibition at C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Sharon Stone attended the pre-opening of an art show in Berlin.
Eva Ortwig/SCHROEWIG, Galerie Deschler
Stone's portfolio currently includes meditative landscapes and colorful abstracts, and she cites Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miro and Claude Monet as major sources of inspiration. Her work is full of emotion, influenced by everything from travels to Jerusalem, France and Africa, to thoughts on climate change and dealing with personal challenges such as a stroke she had in 2001, which she says changed her perception of color.
Her exhibition at San Francisco's iconic Gallery 181 titled “My Eternal Failure” features a series of 18 never-before-seen paintings that serve as an ode to the six years she spent living there, and while she has mixed feelings about the city, she says sharing them has been therapeutic.
“It took me a year and a half to paint, to face reality, to fully confront myself, to have the courage to put it on canvas and put it on the wall,” she said. “I'm so happy that people feel comfortable and happy in the space with the painting, and they stay there and they stay. And now that's the greatest joy, it's healing and coming home.”
The Berlin show, titled “Sharon Stone: Totem,” also holds a special place in her heart as it marks the European premiere of her work and her return to the city she loved since her days as a model.
“I wanted to do a show in Berlin,” she told T+L, “I lived in Paris as a model when I was younger, but I worked in Germany all the time. I always had to go back to Paris, so I wanted to come over to Germany for a night.”
Stone has a strong interest in Spain, not just as a European destination for shows but also for finding more creative inspiration.
“I have this obsession with having to go there,” she said, noting that she has a similar fondness for France: Her 8-foot-wide painting, “Giverny,” was inspired by a visit to Monet's gardens.
Stone told T+L that in addition to her art career, she's also considering returning to modeling.
“I'm going to take over for Carmen. [Dell’Orefice] “She was the oldest model and I want to continue like her,” she said.
But in between, there's always Bora Bora, one of her favorite travel destinations.
“It really is like the pictures you see in travel magazines,” she says, “and then you go there and you think, 'I've never seen anything like it in my life.'”
