Aaron T Stephan
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Springfield, New York, US
OccupationArtist
Websiteaarontstephan.com

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

  • 2006: Aaron T Stephan Is a Hack, Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland, Maine)
  • 2011: Another Evening of BS with Aaron T Stephan, Space Gallery (Portland, Maine)
  • 2014: Substance, a series of culinary events at the artist's home (Portland, Maine)
  • 2015: Inside, Outside, Above, Below, Thompson's Point (Portland, Maine)[22]
  • 2018: Oyster/Block (Athens, Georgia)
  • 2019: Point of Failure (Portland, Maine)

Permanent commissions

References

  1. ↑ "Aaron Stephan: About the Artist". Maine Arts Commission. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  2. ↑ Koenig, Paul (18 August 2021). "The Portland Artist Creating Dialogue with Everyday Objects". The Maine Mag. The Maine Magazine. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 Gural, Natasha. "Aaron T Stephan's Colossal Sculpture And Intricate Cyanotypes Compel Us To Confront Current Events And History". Forbes. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum presents Platform 12 "Aaron Stephan: Secondhand Utopias"". Art Daily. 2013. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  5. 1 2 3 "Aaron T. Stephan". Cove Street Arts. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Jamie (2015-06-09). "To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal: Aaron T Stephan Laughs with Us". ArtScope. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Aaron T. Stephan". Dowling Walsh. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Keyes, Bob (September 2014). "Stephan Encourages Viewers to Think Outside the Museum". Portland Press Herald.
  9. ↑ May, Jessica (2014). "To Borrow, Cut, Copy, and Steal". Portland Museum of Art.
  10. ↑ Richardson, Steven. "Aaron T. Stephan". Seeing is Knowing: The Universe. Carleton. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Locust Projects: The 20th Anniversary Retrospective. Miami, Florida, US: Tra Publishing. 2018. ISBN 978-1-7322978-1-4.
  12. ↑ "Aaron T Stephan: Cement Houses and How to Build Them". Locust Projects. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "August exhibits times three at Dowling". Village Soup. Knox County VillageSoup. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  14. ↑ McQuaid, Kate (August 2013). "Platforms for Amusement". Boston Globe.
  15. ↑ McQuaid, Cate. "Cheeky installations bring deCordova to life". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "Arts and Culture Tips — What Will Light Your Fire This Week". Arts Fuse. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  17. ↑ Pincus, Robert L. (January 2008). "The Information Age". San Diego Union-Tribune.
  18. ↑ "AARON T STEPHAN - BUILDING HOUSES/HIDING UNDER ROCKS". Quint Gallery. Quint Contemporary Art. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  19. ↑ Falzano, Rebecca (7 November 2016). "Building Stories". Old Port. Maine Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Goldstein, Darra; May, Jessica; Conover, Roger (2015). "Inside, Outside, Above, Below".
  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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