Aaron T Stephan
Aaron T Stephan (born in 1974) is an American artist whose multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, mixed media, performance, and installation art..[1] [2]. Based in Portland, Maine, his work has been included in exhibitions across the US and is held in public and private collections throughout the world [3].
Early life and Education
Stephan holds a BFA from Purchase College (1996) and an MFA from Maine College of Art (2002).[4]. In addition, he studied at Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, SUNY New Paltz, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture [4]. Stephan has completed residencies at Yaddo and Edenfred and was the 2008 Kohler Artist-in-Residence at the JNKAC Arts/Industry program[4]
Career and Work
Stephan's varied work centers on the object: using humor and wit, he explores meaning behind the everyday stuff that surrounds us[5]. As curator Jessica May states in the catalogue for 2015's exhibition To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal[6] at the Portland Museum of Art [7]: “Stephan is interested in objects not as metaphors, but as objects, like facts” [8]. In 2012's An Awkward Meeting Between Painting and Sculpture, (Aucosisco Gallery) what appears to be a large plain white brush stroke is draped over a lushly crafted mahogany and brass saw-horse encompassing an ontological confrontation between structure and facade [9]. 2008's Flat World/Round Map, created while the Artist-in-Residence in the Kohler’s Arts/Industry Program speaks to similar notions as Stephan reproduces Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Map in the round, forming a massive cast iron globe replete with Fuller's signature triangulation [10]
In 2007's Building Houses and Hiding Under Rocks (Whitney Artworks, Quint Gallery, The New Children's Museum, and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido), Stephan used over 40,000 books to fashion a square block-like shelter with a small doorway in one side [11]. Upon entering, one is surrounded by the soft carved interior surface of the stacked books speaking to the demise of the paper book and nodding to continental philosophy's focus on language entanglement [12].
In Cement Houses and How to Build Them (Locust Projects 2017), during a month-long residency in the gallery, Stephan produced hundreds of blocks from scratch using a home-made cement block machine[13]. He then reproduced a life-sized cement block house from plans found in 1909 Sears and Roebuck catalogue inside the gallery [14]. 2019's Intermediate Submittal (Dowling Walsh Gallery) included a series of works that continued these themes including a scale-model of the same home[15]
Art-World iconography is also a strong premise running throughout many of Stephan's works: In 2014 three monumental works were presented in Second-hand Utopias (DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum).[16]. These irreverent sculptures played off of iconic artworks by Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, and Vladamir Tatlin [17] . Each reflected architectural components found onsite and presents a complex dialogue with these artists [17] . 2020's Untitled Monument series (Dowling Walsh Gallery) consists of cyanotype blueprints depicting failed monuments from a Vladimir Lenin statue in mid-topple seemingly pointing to the sky for assistance to Richmond, Virginia’s Stonewall Jackson Monument - suspended in mid-air during a removal by crane in 2020 [3]
Collaborations
Notably, Stephan has collaborated with life-partner Lauren Fensterstock on multiple projects, including a series of performance dinner parties [18]. In 2016 both artists teamed up with Portland chef Masa Miyake on a dinner-themed 9-night production titled “Inside, Outside, Above, Below” combining cooking and eating, architecture and live building, live music and video [19].
Select Solo Exhibitions
- 2021 Untitled Monuments, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
- 2019 Intermediate Submittal, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
- 2017 Cement Houses and How to Build Them, Locust Projects, Miami FL
- Flat World & 30 Columns, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT
- 2016 Book/House, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla CA
- 2014 To Borrow, Cut, Copy and Steal, Portland Museum of Art, Portland ME[20]
- Aaron T Stephan, McIninch Art Gallery, Manchester, NH
- 2013 Second-Hand Utopias, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln MA
- Art Handling, Samsøn, Boston MA
- Paths, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick ME [21]
- 2012 Aggressive Uninterest, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland ME
- 2011 Corporeal, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland ME
- 2009 Taken Out of Context, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME
- Vessels Absent, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor ME
- 2008 Building Houses/Hiding Under Rocks, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla CA
- 2007 The Problem with Ladders, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME
- 2005 Full of Theses, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME
- 2003 Weighing My Options, Space, Portland ME
- 2002 Decisions and Revisions, Hay Gallery, Portland ME
Select Group Exhibitions
2020 Cyanotypes, Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME
Tokens of Appreciation, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
2019 10,000 Hours +, Speedwell Projects, Portland, ME
2018 Land-Sc(r)aping, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK
2017 NADA Miami, w/ Locust Projects, Miami, FL
Materiality, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
Construct, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
The Apartment, Space, Portland, ME
2015 Pulse NY Art Fair, with Sienna Gallery, New York, NY
Me, Mona and Mao, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2014 Untitled Art Fair, with Samsøn, Miami, FL
Self, Engine, Biddeford ME
2012 CMCA Biennial Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME
Covet, Sienna Gallery, Lennox, MA
Portes, Mytilene Public Gallery, Mytilene, Greece
2011 Seeing Is Knowing, Weitz Center at Carlton College, Northfield, MN
Meredyth and Meg Go 3d, Gallery Naga, Boston, MA
2010 4 In Maine, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME
The Imaged Word, Albany Airport Gallery, Albany, NY[22]
The Arch. of Environmental Landscapes, University of New England, Westbrook, ME
2009 Three Decades of Contemporary Art, California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA
Collage: Piecing It Together, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
Aggregate, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
Just Look at Yourself, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2008 The Moment at Hand, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
Aggregate, Troy Arts Center, Troy, NY
2007 Tiny, Whitney Artworks, Portland, ME
The Marriage of True Minds, University of New England, Westbrook, ME
2006 Time, Filament Gallery, Portland, ME
CMCA Biennial Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
Skowhegan At 60, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2004 Home, DUMBO Art Center, Brooklyn, NY
The Persistence of Becoming, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA
3DX4, Icon Gallery, Brunswick, ME
2003 Maine College of Art Alumni Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
Portland Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
Remains, Lamont Gallery, Exeter, NH
Curiosity, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2002 Plow, Space, Portland, ME
Performances/Events
2019 Point of Failure, Portland, ME
2018 Oyster/Block, Athens, GA
2016 I. Make. Stuff., State Theater, Portland, ME
2015 Inside, Outside, Above, Below, Thompson's Point, Portland, ME[23]
2014 Substance, a series of culinary events at the artist's home, Portland, ME
2011 Another Evening of BS With Aaron T Stephan, Space, Portland, ME
2009 Closer, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, ME[24] [25]
2006 Aaron T Stephan Is a Hack, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
2004 Problems and Complexities in Conceptual Art, Space, Portland, ME
What Words Become (coll. w/ Chris Holt), Space, Portland, ME
& Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2003 Revisiting Artist Lecture, Stillhouse Theatre Portland, ME
Select Permanent Commissions
2021 Woven Lines, Altoona, IA
Paths Rising, Tampa International Airport, Tampa, FL
Luminous Bound, Montana RTS Far East Transfer Center, El Paso, TX
2020 Luminous Remembrance, Lubbock Tornado Memorial, Lubbock, TX
2019 Luminous Arbor, City of Portland, Portland, ME
2018 Paths Woven, San Diego International Airport, San Diego, CA[26]
2016 Gold Pour, RTD Gold Strike Station, Arvada, CO
Point of View, Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT[27] [28]
2015 Variations, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Accumulate, Clearwater Fire Station 45, Clearwater, FL
2014 Downpour, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester NH[29]
2013 Paths Crossed See_also, Wishard Hospital, Indianapolis, IN [30]
Composition, Music City Center, Nashville, TN [31]
2012 Illuminations, WG Mallett Elementary School, Farmington, ME
Becoming, Hampden Academy, Hampden, ME
2011 Paths Open, Jefferson Village School, Jefferson, ME
2010 Return, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook, ME
2009 Intersect, U.S. Jackman Border Crossing Facility, Jackman, ME
2007 Sphere, SeDoMoCha Elementary School, Dover-Foxcroft, ME
Situate, Farwell Elementary School, Lewiston, ME
2006 Dig, Biddeford Middle School, Biddeford, ME
2005 Lif, University of Southern Maine Community Education Center, Portland, ME
2004 R.P.S., Lisbon Elementary School, Lisbon, ME
References
- ↑ "Aaron Stephan: About the Artist". Maine Arts Commission. Maine Arts Commission. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ Koenig, Paul. "The Portland Artist Creating Dialogue with Everyday Objects". The Maine Mag. The Maine Magazine. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gural, Natasha. "Aaron T Stephan's Colossal Sculpture And Intricate Cyanotypes Compel Us To Confront Current Events And History". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Aaron T. Stephan". Cove Street Arts. Cove Street Arts. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ "Aaron T. Stephan". Dowling Walsh. Dowling Walsh. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ Thompson, Jaimie “To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal: Aaron T Stephan Laughs with Us”. ArtScope, November 2014
- ↑ Keyes, Bob “Stephan Encourages Viewers to Think Outside the Museum”. Portland Press Herald, September 2014
- ↑ May, Jessica “To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal”. Published by Portland Museum of Art, 2014
- ↑ Kany, Daniel “Flirting with New Form of Conceptual Art”. Portland Press Herald, October 2012
- ↑ Richardson, Steven. "Aaron T. Stephan". Seeing is Knowing: The Universe. Carleton. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ↑ Pincus, Robert L. “The Information Age”. San Diego Union-Tribune, January 2008
- ↑ "AARON T STEPHAN | BUILDING HOUSES/HIDING UNDER ROCKS". Quint Gallery. Quint Contemporary Art. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ “Locust Projects: The 20th Anniversary Retrospective”. Tra Publishing. Miami, FL. 2018, ISBN:978-1-7322978-1-4
- ↑ "Aaron T Stephan: Cement Houses and How to Build Them". Locust Projects. Locust Projects. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ "August exhibits times three at Dowling". Village Soup. Knox County VillageSoup. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ McQuaid, Kate “Platforms for Amusement”. Boston Globe, August 2013
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 McQuaid, Cate. "Cheeky installations bring deCordova to life". The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ↑ Falzano, Rebecca. "Building Stories". Old Port. Maine Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ↑ Darra Goldstein, Jessica May, Roger Conover. “Inside, Outside, Above, Below” 2015
- ↑ Bergeron, Mariah “Critique the Hand that Feeds You”. Portland Phoenix, October 2014
- ↑ Kany, Daniel “Follow Stephan’s Maze of Paths at Coleman Burke”. Portland Press Herald, April 2013
- ↑ Keyser, Tom “Word Play”. Albany Times Union, August 2010
- ↑ Papagni, Chris “Inside, Outside, Above, Below at Thompson’s Point”. Portland Phoenix, October 2015
- ↑ Beem, Edgar Allen “Art on the Edge”. Downeast Magazine, August 2010
- ↑ Mark Wethli. “Closer” 2009
- ↑ Keyes, Bob “Sculptor’s Piece Says Welcome - With a Twist”. Portland Press Herald, March 2018
- ↑ Stilson, Ashley “Near or Far: New Salt Lake Art Piece Creates Unity from Contradictions”. Deseret News, August 2016
- ↑ Mazurek, Anna “4 Art Road Trips to Take this Fall Across the U.S.”. Washington Post, October 2020
- ↑ Raymond, David “Aaron T Stephan: Downpour”. Art New England, September 2014
- ↑ Landro, Laura “More Hospitals Buy Into the Healing Powers of Public Art ”. Wall Street Journal, August 2014
- ↑ “Unconventional: Nashville’s Music City Center”. The Convention Center Authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville. 2013, ISBN:978-0-9910325-0-1
External links
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