Lewis Stein

statement + vita

statement

I have worked without attachment to any program whether political, social psychological or aesthetic and without attachment to craft. Nevertheless, certain concerns run through what has been a very diverse production:

  1. A concern with perception – seeing the function of art practice as a means of becoming aware of the world in ways previously not realized and seeing the function of the art object as a vehicle to communicate (by embodying) these insights. The concern with perception is never detached or disembodied and is almost always connected to a social (e.g. "Surveillance Series"), cultural (eg. Object pieces), or psychological context (e.g. "Candid Portraits").
  2. A concern with making manifest structural aspects of various media that are usually taken for granted. E.g. "early painting" were in essence a deconstruction of painting; "Light Series" where light, the medium that makes photography possible by reflecting off of the various scenes photographed is instead made the subject of the work.
  3. A concern with making work which speaks directly to the viewer or forms a transactional relationship with the viewer (as opposed to work that ultimately functions as an object the be analyzed or understood or to infer sensibility from). In other words a focus less on the object and more on the space between the viewer (participant) and the object; that is, a focus on the way meaning is generated.

Almost all the work I have done embodies one or more of the above concerns.

one person shows

1969

Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles

David Whitney Gallery, New York

1970

Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

David Whitney Gallery, New York

1971

David Whitney Gallery, New York

1972

Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

1974

N & N Gallery, New York

1979

Artists’s Space, New York – installation

1983

School of Visual Arts Museum, New York

1985

Postmasters Gallery, New York

1986

Postmasters Gallery, New York

1989

Paula Allen Gallery, New York

1990

Paula Allen Gallery, New York

1992

Galerie Charchut & Werth, Dusseldorf, Germany

2007

Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY

2008

Projex-Mtl Galerie, Montreal, Canada

2017

Essex Street Gallery, New York, NY

group shows

1969

Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum, New York

"Young Artists From the Collection of Charles Cowles," Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT

"Eine Tendenz Zeitgenossischer Malerei", Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, West Germany

1970

"Zeichnugen Amerikanischer Kunstler," Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

"Klischee – Antiklischee," Neue Galerie der Stadt, Acchen, West Germany

1972

Lo Guidice Gallery, New York

"Programm V – Skulpturen-Bilder-Zeichnungen," Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

1973

"Querschnitt", Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

1976

Willard Gallery, New York

Galerie Ricke, Cologne, West Germany

"A Month Of Sundays," P.S. 1, L.I.C., New York

1979

Marion Goodman/Multiples Gallery, New York

"Photographs by David Hockney and Lewis Stein," Schema Gallery, Florence, Italy

1980

Cucalon Gallery, New York

Charles Cowles Gallery, New York

1981

"Eight Contemporary Photographers," Art Gallery, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL (curated by Michael Kline)

"Artists and Furniture," Magnuson Lee Gallery, Boston, MA

1986

"Spiritual America," curated by Collins and Milazzo, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY

"Televisions’s Impact on Contemporary Art," Queens Museum, New York

1987

"Surveillance," LACE, Los Angeles, CA

Postmasters Gallery, New York

Annina Nosei Gallery, New York

1988

"Female (Re)production," curated by Marilu Knode, White Columns Gallery, New York

Milford Gallery, New York (May)

"Acceptable Entertainment," curated by Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo, organized by Independent Curators Inc., New York

Alberta College of Art Gallery, Calgary, Canada, 10/6/88-11/3/88

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 3/21/89-4/89

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY, 3/2/90-4/15/90

Milford Gallery, New York (November)

1989

Griffen McGear Gallery, New York

Emily Harvey Gallery, New York

1990

"Against Interpretation (Towards a Non-Representational Photography)," curated by Stephen Frailey, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Paula Allen Gallery, New York

"Critical Realism," Perspektief Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherland

"California A-Z And Return," The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

1991

Galerie Ghislave, Paris, France

1992

"Oltrefoto," Museo di Fotografia, Brescia, Italy

"Studio," Dooley Le Cappellaine Gallery, New York

"E.S.P.," Dooley Le Cappellaine Gallery, New York

"The Red Light Show," curated by Jack Jaeger, Casco Foundation, Utrecht, Netherland

"Surveillance," curated by Karen Holtzman, Nancy Drysdale Gallery, Washington, D.C.

1993

Kubinsky Gallery, New York

1995

Eugenia Cucalon Gallery, New York

1999

"Heroines & Heroes II," curated by Willoughby Sharp, The Howland Cultural Beacon, New York

2000

"Dystopia and Identity in The Age of Global Communications," curated by Cristine Wang, Tribes Gallery, New York

2001

"Rhetorik der Uberwachung von Bentham bis Big Brother” curated by Thomas V. Lewin, ZKM (Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany

2002

"Einfach Kunst Sammlung Rolf Ricke," Neues Museum, Nurnburg, Germany

2003

"Williamsburg Bridges Asia," Cristine Wang Fine Art, Brooklyn, New York

2007

"Das Kapital – Blue Chips and Masterpieces," Museum Fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany

"Lust For Life," Kunstmuseum Leichtenstein, Vaduz, Leichtenstein

"Portraits Voles et Autres Portraits," Projex-Mtl Galerie, Montreal, Canada

2008

Projex-Mtl Galerie, Montreal, Canada

Hausler Contemporary, Munich, Germany

2009

"Animalkind," University Art Gallery, San Diego State University

2011

"Picture No Picture" Carriage Trade, New York

"20 Jahre Gegenwart", Museum Fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany

2013

"The Pathos of Objects”, Carriage Trade, New York

2019

Vin Vin Gallery, Vienna, Austria, curated by Alex Bacon, part of series “curated by”

collections

Neue Galerie der Stadt, Aachen, Germany (now called Ludwig Forum for International Art)

Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany

Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California

Dakis Jannou, Greece

The New Museum, New York

Jean-Charles Lignel, France

University Art Museum, Berkeley, California

Yale Art Museum, New Haven, Connecticut

Museum Fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany

Kunstmuseum, St Gallen, Switzerland

New Britain Museum for American Art, New Britain Connecticut

Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California

MAMCO, Musee d’art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva

Wilhelm and Gaby Schurmann, Berlin

bibliography

1968

Art In America, November

1969

Kunst Market, Koln, catalog

Art International, January, (photo)

Art International, February, C. Ratcliff

Art News, February

1970

Studio International, June, (photo)

Art & Artists, November, (photo)

Downs, December, (photo)

"Art Around," catalog

"Klischee – Antiklischee," Neue Galerie der Stadt, Aachen, catalog

1971

Art International, February, C. Ratcliff

Art News, February

"Kunst der Sechzier Jahre," catalog ‹…›

1972

"Der Bestand," Neue Galerie der Stadt, Aachen, catalog ‹…›

1974

Art in America, October

1985

Art Index, October

1986

"Televison’s Impact on Contemporary Art," The Queens Museum, text by Marc H Miller, catalog ‹…›

1987

Art in America, April ‹…›

Aperture, Spring, number 106 ‹…›

"Surveillance," Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, catalog ‹…›

1988

"Acceptable Entertainment," Independent Curators Inc., text by Andy Grunbery,guest curators Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo, catalog ‹…›

Pratt Journal of Architecture, volume 2, "Form; Being; Absence", catalog ‹…›

1989

Arts Magazine, May ‹…›

1990

Zoom Magazine, 150 Anniversaire, issue celebrating 150 years of photography ‹…›

Artforum, April ‹…›

Arts, April ‹…›

"California A-Z And Return," The Butler Institute of American Art , catalog ‹…›

1992

Kunstforum, #118, Heinz-Norbert Jocks ‹…›

Westdeutsche, March 21 ‹…›

Prinz, March ‹…›

Oltrefoto, March

2002

"Einfach Kunst," Collection of Rolf Ricke, catalog of Neuesmuseum, Nurnberg, catolog

2008

"Sammlungrolfricke" (Rolf Ricke Collection), ‹…› Interview with Christiane Meyer-Stolt ‹…›

Artillery Magazine, January/Febuary issue

2009

Animalkind, University Art Gallery, San Diego State University, catalog

2010

Artslant, (online magazine) Michael Shaw: "Subliminal proselytizing: the bleeding heart’s dilemma" ‹…›

2013

Artslant (online magazine), "The Promise of the Image" by Noah Dillon ‹…›

2017

Mousse Magazine, December 2017 - January 2018 ‹…›

Mousse Magazine (online) ‹…›

2018

ArtReview, January & February 2018 ‹…›

Pfeil Magazine 9 ‹…›

2019

Artforum, December 2019 ‹…›