Aaron T Stephan Explained

Aaron T Stephan
Birth Place:Springfield, New York, US
Occupation:Artist

Aaron T Stephan (born in 1974) is an American artist based in Portland, Maine. His work includes sculpture, mixed media, performance, and installation art[1] [2] has been featured at a number of exhibitions, collections, and festivals.[3]

Early life and education

Stephan was born in Springville, New York in 1974.[4] He holds a BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase (1996) and an MFA from Maine College of Art (2002).[5] He also studied at Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, State University of New York at New Paltz, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.[5]

Career and work

Stephan's work uses humor and wit to look at everyday objects "not as metaphors...but [as] facts."[6] [7] [8] [9] In 2008, as artist-in-residence at Kohler's Arts/Industry program in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Stephan created the cast iron Flat World/Round Map. It is a reproduction of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion map but rounded rather than flat.[10] In 2017, during a residency with Locust Projects in Miami, Florida, he made hundreds of cement blocks from scratch, then built a life-sized cement block house from plans found in a 1909 Sears and Roebuck catalog. This exhibit was called Cement Houses and How to Build Them.[11] [12] A 2019 work, Intermediate Submittal, shows the house reproduced as a scale model.[13] Stephan has also completed residencies at Yaddo and Edenfred.[5]

Art-World iconography also appears in several of Stephan's works, including Second-hand Utopias (2014) in DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.[14] It consists of four iconic 20th century sculptures by artists such as Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, and Vladamir Tatlin.[15] [16] Similarly, the Untitled Monument series (2020) at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine consists of cyanotype blueprints depicting failed real-life monuments. Among these are a toppling statue of Vladimir Lenin and the Stonewall Jackson Monument hanging mid-air by a removal crane.[3] Other artwork includes his 2007 Building Houses and Hiding Under Rocks, where Stephan used over 40,000 books to make a square structure with doorway on one side.[17] While the exterior looks like stacks of books, the interior is carved to look like stone blocks.[18]

Stephan has collaborated with life-partner Lauren Fensterstock on multiple projects, including a series of performance dinner parties.[19] In 2016, they teamed up with Portland chef Masa Miyake for a dinner-themed 9-night production titled Inside, Outside, Above, Below and combined cooking, eating, architecture, live building, live music, and video.[20]

Selected works

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Performances/events

Permanent commissions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Aaron Stephan: About the Artist . Maine Arts Commission . 7 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Koenig . Paul . The Portland Artist Creating Dialogue with Everyday Objects . The Maine Mag . 18 August 2021 . The Maine Magazine . 7 January 2022.
  3. Web site: Gural . Natasha . Aaron T Stephan's Colossal Sculpture And Intricate Cyanotypes Compel Us To Confront Current Events And History . Forbes . 7 January 2022.
  4. Web site: DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum presents Platform 12 "Aaron Stephan: Secondhand Utopias". 2013. Art Daily. 2023-03-13.
  5. Web site: Aaron T. Stephan . Cove Street Arts . 3 December 2020 . 7 January 2022.
  6. Web site: To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal: Aaron T Stephan Laughs with Us. Thompson. Jamie. ArtScope. 2015-06-09. 2023-03-13.
  7. Web site: Aaron T. Stephan . Dowling Walsh . 7 January 2022.
  8. News: Keyes. Bob. Stephan Encourages Viewers to Think Outside the Museum. Portland Press Herald. September 2014.
  9. News: To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal. May. Jessica. Portland Museum of Art. 2014.
  10. Web site: Richardson . Steven . Aaron T. Stephan . Seeing is Knowing: The Universe . Carleton . 11 January 2022.
  11. Book: Locust Projects: The 20th Anniversary Retrospective. Tra Publishing. Miami, Florida, US. 2018. 978-1-7322978-1-4.
  12. Web site: Aaron T Stephan: Cement Houses and How to Build Them . Locust Projects . 7 January 2022.
  13. Web site: August exhibits times three at Dowling . Village Soup . 24 July 2019 . Knox County VillageSoup . 7 January 2022.
  14. News: Platforms for Amusement. McQuaid. Kate. Boston Globe. August 2013.
  15. Web site: McQuaid . Cate . Cheeky installations bring deCordova to life . The Boston Globe . 7 January 2022.
  16. Web site: Arts and Culture Tips — What Will Light Your Fire This Week. 2013-07-11. Arts Fuse. 2023-03-13.
  17. News: Pincus. Robert L.. The Information Age. San Diego Union-Tribune. January 2008.
  18. Web site: AARON T STEPHAN - BUILDING HOUSES/HIDING UNDER ROCKS . Quint Gallery . Quint Contemporary Art . 7 January 2022.
  19. Web site: Falzano . Rebecca . Building Stories . Old Port . 7 November 2016 . Maine Magazine . 11 January 2022.
  20. News: Inside, Outside, Above, Below. Goldstein. Darra. May. Jessica. Conover. Roger. 2015.
  21. Bergeron, Mariah "Critique the Hand that Feeds You". Portland Phoenix, October 2014
  22. Papagni, Chris "Inside, Outside, Above, Below at Thompson's Point". Portland Phoenix, October 2015
  23. Landro, Laura "More Hospitals Buy Into the Healing Powers of Public Art ". Wall Street Journal, August 2014
  24. Stilson, Ashley "Near or Far: New Salt Lake Art Piece Creates Unity from Contradictions". Deseret News, August 2016
  25. Mazurek, Anna "4 Art Road Trips to Take this Fall Across the U.S.". Washington Post, October 2020
  26. Keyes, Bob "Sculptor's Piece Says Welcome - With a Twist". Portland Press Herald, March 2018

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