Lapthisophon installation opens Oct. 27 at Dallas Museum of Art
Stephen Lapthisophon in his Dallas studio. Photo courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art.
DALLAS — Dallas-based artist Stephen Lapthisophon will present an installation featuring new works on paper, mural elements, and found objects at the Dallas Museum of Art in his first solo museum exhibition. Concentrations 56: Stephen Lapthisophon—coffee, seasonal fruit, root vegetables, and “Selected Poems,” on view October 27, 2013, through March 30, 2014, is part of the Concentrations series of project-based solo exhibitions by international emerging and under-represented artists. The series began in 1981 as part of the DMA’s commitment to showing the work of living artists, while preserving the excitement of the work.
“The Dallas Museum of Art is very pleased to be the first museum to present the work of Stephen Lapthisophon, a North Texas artist, in both his first solo exhibition and as part of our long-standing Concentrations series,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “For more than thirty years, Concentrations has showcased large-scale installations of over fifty emerging artists, with the goal of making the work of contemporary artists more accessible to DMA audiences.”
Stephen Lapthisophon openly embraces chance and mistake, as evidenced by the accidental nature of his gestural mark-making. In his installations and collaged works on paper, he rejects ideas of high polish and refined craftsmanship in favor of a chaotic, de-skilled aesthetic that is open to chance; humble materials; and the experiences of daily life. His work often employs food materials such as eggshells and coffee grounds that imbue his work with a palpable material presence that is at once fragile and ephemeral.
Other elements such as pigment infused with saffron or bacon fat, or sprigs of rosemary scattered throughout the space, call upon our sense of smell, creating a full-sensory art experience. The artist’s interest in a full-sensory experience of art relates back to his loss of sight in the early 1990s, resulting from an optic nerve disease. Now legally blind, Lapthisophon’s work goes beyond the typical realm of the visual and encourages viewers to think of radically different possibilities for artistic production.
“Stephen has been an influential mentor to a generation of emerging artists from North Texas, and it is a privilege to showcase his richly layered, thought-provoking work for the community at large,” added Gabriel Ritter, The Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.
For his current installation at the Dallas Museum of Art, Lapthisophon has created a space reminiscent of his studio, in which walls layer and obscure space, similar to his collage technique. Works on paper—some framed, others pinned directly to the wall—will be joined by anachronistic objects such as an antique record player, milk crate, and desk. These objects, much like the ubiquitous text throughout Lapthisophon’s work, are carefully selected for their datedness, and they function as a form of quotation, alluding to past moments or literary/philosophical references.
Lapthisophon studied comparative literature and theory at Northwestern University and received his M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979. He spent the next thirty years living and working in the Chicago area. In August 2007, he relocated to Dallas after participating in the University of Texas at Dallas’s Artist in Residence program. Lapthisophon was the recipient of the 2012 Moss/Chumley Artist Award, given annually to an outstanding North Texas artist. In 2008, Lapthisophon was awarded the prestigious Wynn Newhouse Award for artists with disabilities. He has taught at Columbia College in Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Texas at Dallas. Lapthisophon currently teaches art and art history at the University of Texas at Arlington, and has exhibited at various institutions and galleries throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Concentrations 56: Stephen Lapthisophon is included in the Museum’s free general admission. The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color illustrated brochure with an essay by exhibition curator Gabriel Ritter, The Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art. Stephen Lapthisophon will discuss his work featured in the exhibition on Wednesday, October 30, 2013, during the Museum’s weekly lunchtime gallery talk at 12:15 p.m. He will also discuss his work with his friend and colleague John Judd during a special exhibition lecture on Thursday, December 5, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. Additional programming will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition.
Concentrations 56: Stephen Lapthisophon—coffee, seasonal fruit, root vegetables, and “Selected Poems” is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. Additional support provided by the Contemporary Art Initiative and TWO X TWO for AIDS and Art. Air transportation provided by American Airlines.
For additional information, log on to www.dma.org.
About the Dallas Museum of Art:
Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) ranks among the leading art institutions in the country and is distinguished by its innovative exhibitions and groundbreaking educational programs. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses more than 22,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the vibrant Arts District of downtown Dallas, the Museum welcomes more than half a million visitors annually and acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations. In January 2013, the DMA returned to a free general admission policy and launched DMA Friends, the first free museum membership program in the country.
The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Partners and donors, the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Stephen Lapthisophon in his Dallas studio. Photo courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art.
