Stephen Lapthisophon (born March 31, 1956) is an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

working in the field of conceptual art, critical theory, and disability studies.

Early life and education

Lapthisophon was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas in 1956. He received his BFA from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 1977 and his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979. His early work combined

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, performance,

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

, and visual arts with postmodern philosophical concerns. He is influenced by the legacy of the

Situationists The Situationist International (SI) was an Proletarian internationalism, international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and Political philosophy, political theorists. It was prominent in Eu ...

, who sought to make everyday life a focus of artistic activity. Lapthisophon has taught at Columbia College in Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Texas at Dallas. He taught art and art history at The University of Texas at Arlington from 2007-2023.

Blindness

In 1994, at the age of 39, Lapthisophon suffered a major deterioration of his vision due to optic nerve disease, and became legally blind after intensive medical treatment. His subsequent work as an installation artist,

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

, art theorist, and

ist has been marked by this experience. Much of his work comments on, and seeks to redress, the over-emphasis on the sense of sight in aesthetic culture.

"I use my own blindness as a figure for the ways we interpret the world through our own specific framing mechanisms. I have also been more and more drawn to create pieces involving a commentary on the sensory world as understood through food, cuisine, cooking, and interaction through food and the art audience. My recent cooking projects have allowed me to speak to all the senses and examine the interaction of our sensory processes."

Works

In Lapthisophon's works, found objects, written texts, and sound recordings are arranged in a way that allows "layers of meanings, allusions and associations...to accumulate" in the mind of the gallery-goer. In his 2000 installation "Defense d'afficher", two large walls were erected in the gallery space and covered with fragments of found media, photos, and texts. One reviewer in '' Artforum'' called it an "overload of simultaneously public and personalized cultural shards."
The juxtaposition of fragments of personal, cultural, and social history can be seen in his 2005 book ''Hotel Terminus''. This interest in juxtaposing fragments extends to many of his installations, which frequently contain found objects like old eye charts, posters and graffiti slogans.
Lapthisophon's other work includes sound recordings, site-specific installations, performances, radio broadcasts, books, lectures, and drawings improvised on walls and framed in exhibitions. In 2008, Lapthisophon was awarded the prestigious

Wynn Newhouse Award The Wynn Newhouse Award is an annual prize given to disabled artists in recognition of their artistic merit. History The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, a charitable organization founded by newspaper entrepreneur Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr., inaugur ...

for artists with disabilities. In his statement upon receiving this award, Lapthisophon said, "Through investigation of issues of permanence and change in site-specific installations, I hope to...break down the barriers between where the work of art ends and everyday life begins."

Selected solo and group exhibitions

*''Paper Chase'', Old Jail Art Center, Albany, TX (2022) *''America Will Be!: Surveying the Contemporary Landscape'', Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (2019) *''The Long Goodbye'', Museo de la Ciudad Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico (2017) *''Styles of Radical Will (Italian Sculpture)'', Sector 2337, Chicago, IL (2016) *''Toccare (Non) Toccare'', Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX (2015) *''Flowers and Numbers'', Longhouse Projects, New York, NY (2014) *''Concentrations 56: Stephen Lapthisophon—coffee, seasonal fruit, root vegetables, and ‘Selected Poems’'', Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (2013) *''Tautology'', Actual Size, Los Angeles, CA (2013)

Public Collections

* Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago * Dallas Museum of Art

Publications

*''Notebook 1967-68'', published by the Nasher Sculpture Center, 2016. *''Writing Art Cinema (1988-2010)'', published by The Green Lantern Press, 2010, edition of 250. *''Hotel Terminus'', published by WhiteWalls, 1999.

Recognition, residencies, and awards

*Artist Honoree, Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, TX (2019) *Dozier Travel Award, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (2015) *GuestHaus Residency, Los Angeles, CA (2013) *Moss/Chumley Award, Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX (2012) *

(2008) *Residency Grant, Experimental Sound Studio. Chicago, IL (2002) *Art Council/ Artadia Award, Jury Award Recipient (2001) * Illinois Arts Council, Project Completion Grant (1999)

Influences

Arte Povera Arte Povera (; literally "poor art") was an art movement that took place between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in major cities throughout Italy and above all in Turin. Other cities where the movement was also important are ...

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

* Robert Smithson * English Romanticism *

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

References

External links

Official website
* Review of Lapthisophon's book: ''Writing Art Cinema 1988–2010'

* "Florasonic": 2004 sound installation at Lincoln Park Conservatory, broadcast on WBEZ Chicago: http://www.wbez.org/audio_library/848_rasep04.asp * Lapthisophon at the Zagreus Projekt, Berlin: http://www.zagreus.net/archiv1.php?pageNum_home=1&totalRows_home=47 * Lapthisophon's work at the Conduit Gallery, Dallas: http://www.conduitgallery.com/artist_pgs/lapthisophon.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapthisophon, Stephen Critical theorists Disability studies academics American postmodern artists American installation artists Living people 1956 births Artists from Houston