Aaron T Stephan

 

My work presents a wry look at the world around me - focusing on the complex web of information carried by everyday materials and objects.

I begin any project with an intense amount of research, which then leads into the making process.  A successful project fully integrates this information in a way that the art object becomes part of the research itself.  This is a process of making formal, physical, and contextual sense of the world around me - while the materials I use, and the ideas I explore, come directly out of that environment.  These projects take a variety of forms - from a years-long exploration of the cultural significance of the ubiquitous concrete block, to an ongoing series of cyanotypes made in the tradition of the architectural blueprint.

 

Public Commissions

 

2023   Expanding Field, Seattle, WA

2022   Woven Lines, Altoona, IA

           Unfolding Lights, GLX Lowell Street Station, Somerville, MA

2021   Paths Rising, Tampa International Airport, Tampa, FL

           Luminous Bound, Montana RTS Far East Transfer Center, El Paso, TX

2020   Luminous Remembrance, Lubbock Tornado Memorial, Lubbock, TX

2019   Luminous Arbor, City of Portland, Portland, ME

2018   Paths Woven, San Diego International Airport, San Diego, CA

2016   Gold Pour, RTD Gold Strike Station, Arvada CO

           Point of View, Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT

2015   Variations, Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX

           Accumulate, Clearwater Fire Station 45, Clearwater, FL

2014   Downpour, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester NH

2013   Paths Crossed, Wishard Hospital, Indianapolis, IN

           Composition, Music City Center, Nashville, TN

2012   Illuminations, WG Mallett Elementary School, Farmington ME

           Becoming, Hampden Academy, Hampden ME

2011   Paths Open, Jefferson Village School, Jefferson, ME

           Spun, The City of Cambridge, MA

2010   Return, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook ME

 

2009   Intersect, U.S. Jackman Border Crossing Facility, Jackman ME

2007   Sphere, SeDoMoCha Elementary School, Dover-Foxcroft ME

           Situate, Farwell Elementary School, Lewiston, ME

2006   Globe, Carrabec Community School, Anson ME

           Dig, Biddeford Middle School, Biddeford ME

2005   Lift, University of Southern Maine Community Education Center, Portland ME

.

Solo Exhibitions

 

2021   Untitled Monuments, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME

2019   Intermediate Submittal, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME

2017   Cement Houses and How to Build Them, Locust Projects, Miami FL

           Flat World & 30 Columns, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT

2016   Book/House, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla CA 

2014   To Borrow, Cut, Copy and Steal, Portland Museum of Art, Portland ME

           Aaron T Stephan, McIninch Art Gallery, Manchester, NH

2013   Second-Hand Utopias, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln MA

           Art Handling, Samsøn, Boston MA

           Paths, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick ME

2012   Aggressive Uninterest, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland ME

2011   Corporeal, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland ME

2009   Taken Out of Context, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME

           Vessels Absent, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor ME

2008   Building Houses/Hiding Under Rocks, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla CA

2007   The Problem with Ladders, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME

2006   Response, Gallery at Solomon Falls, Sol. Falls NH

2005   Full of Theses, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME

2004   Obvious in Repair, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Hartford CN

2003   Weighing My Options, Space, Portland ME

 

 

 

 

 

Group Exhibitions

 

2022   The View from Here, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

           7 Artists, 7 Stations, FPAC Gallery, Boston, MA

2021   Rock Row: Inside and Outside the Box, Rock Row, Westbrook, ME

           Simple Twist, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

2020   Cyanotypes, Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME

           Tokens of Appreciation, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan WI

2019   10,000 Hours +, Speedwell Projects, Portland, ME

2018   Land-Sc(r)aping, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK

2017   NADA Miami, w/ Locust Projects, Miami, FL

           Materiality, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

           Construct, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME

           The Apartment, Space, Portland ME

2015   Pulse NY Art Fair, with Sienna Gallery, New York, NY

           Me, Mona and Mao, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

2014   Untitled Art Fair, with Samsøn, Miami, FL

           Self, Engine, Biddeford ME

2012   CMCA Biennial Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME

           Covet, Sienna Gallery, Lennox, MA

           Portes, Mytilene Public Gallery, Mytilene, Greece

           Strangers and Others, Pace Galleries at Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg, ME

2011   Seeing Is Knowing, Weitz Center at Carlton College, Northfield, MN

           Meredyth and Meg Go 3d, Gallery Naga, Boston MA

           Above and Below The Line, Pace Galleries at Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg, ME

2010   4 In Maine, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland ME

           The Imaged Word, Albany Airport Gallery, Albany, NY

           The Arch. of Environmental Landscapes, University of New England, Westbrook ME

2009   Three Decades of Contemporary Art, California Center for the Arts, Escondido CA

           Collage: Piecing It Together, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

           Aggregate, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland ME

           Just Look at Yourself, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME

 

 

2008   The Moment at Hand, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan WI

           Aggregate, Troy Arts Center, Troy NY

2007   Tiny, Whitney Artworks, Portland ME

           The Marriage of True Minds, University of New England, Westbrook ME

           Reverence and Reference, Gallery at Solomon Falls, Sol. Falls NH

2006   Time, Filament Gallery, Portland ME

           CMCA Biennial Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME

2004   Home, DUMBO Art Center, Brooklyn NY

           The Persistence of Becoming, Nave Gallery, Somerville MA

           3DX4, Icon Gallery, Brunswick ME

2003   Meca Alumni Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland ME

           Alter, Filament Gallery, Portland ME

           Portland Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, Portland ME

           Remains, Lamont Gallery, Exeter NH

           Curiosity, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME

2002   Plow, Space, Portland ME

2001   The Sacred and Profane, Battery Steele, Peaks Is., Portland ME

           In My Back Yard, Yarmouth ME

           S. A. D., Deep Listening Space, Kingston NY

 

Performances/Events

 

2019   Point of Failure, Portland, ME

2018   Oyster/Block, Athens, GA

2016   I.  Make.  Stuff., State Theater, Portland, ME

2015   Inside, Outside, Above, Below, Thompson’s Point, Portland, ME

2014   Substance, a series of culinary events at the artist’s home, Portland ME

2011   Another Evening of BS With Aaron T Stephan, Space, Portland ME

2009   Closer, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick ME

2006   Aaron T Stephan Is a Hack, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland ME

2004   Problems and Complexities in Conceptual Art, Space, Portland ME

            What Words Become (coll. w/ Chris Holt), Space, Portland ME

            & Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME

 

2003   Revisiting Artist Lecture, Stillhouse Theatre Portland, ME

 

Education

 

  MFA, Maine College of Art, Portland ME 2002

  BFA in sculpture, (SUNY) Purchase College, Purchase NY 1996

  Post Baccalaureate studies, State University of New York at New Paltz NY 1999

  Undergraduate study, Hogeschool Voor Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1994 – 1995

 

Residencies

 

  Hewnoaks, Lovell, ME 2021

  Edenfred Arts Residency, Madison, WI 2012

  Kohler Artist-in-Residence, Sheboygan WI 2008

  Yaddo, Saratoga Springs NY 2005

  Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan ME 2002