Stephen Lapthisophon
"Untitled (hands with gold pigment)," photograph, 2015
[Image Description: A photograph taken looking down at a man's open hands, both palms up, smudged with gold pigment. The ground, pavement and part of a foot in a black, white, and red sneaker are visible beneath the hands.]
"Egg Bell," photograph of an installation, part of Lapthisophon's project, "Toccare (Non) Toccare" at The Nasher Sculpture Center, 2015, rope, string, egg, nail, and gold pigment
[Image Description: A broken eggshell hangs suspended in the air, a nail attached to one side of it. The outside of the broken shell appears to be smudged with dirt. The inside of the shell and part of the nail are covered in gold pigment.]
"Broken Egg 13," photograph, 2015
[Image Description: An out-of-focus photograph of a broken egg with the number 13 written in black on the shell. The egg rests on a surface that is gold in color and a brown wall is visible behind it.]
"Clear Spot," latex house paint, coffee, coffee grounds, pencil, spray paint, oil, ink, stick, string, and hair on stretched canvas, 48" x 36", 2015
[Image Description: A rectangular, non-representational artwork with a mottled white and ivory background and a few faint smudges of red pigment. The canvas is spattered and encrusted with dark black and brown substances. Faint pencil scribbling and writing appears in the lower righthand quadrant; one can make out the numbers 15 and 5+. Near the center of the canvas, gold metallic paint drips down the canvas. To the left and below that gold paint, a splotch of dark gray paint also drips.]
Artist's Statement
In 1994, I became partially sighted due to a neurological disorder. I have remained legally blind since then. Although I have on occasion made works of art that reflect this condition, I take no "position" on disability as such. I am an artist. I am disabled. I make art directed at the social, the real. However, that rarely involves the specificities of being disabled.
The works represented here reflect my interest in being in the world. An interest in real things, human scale, shared space, and the reach and limitations of the body. I continue to be interested in the reach of art in history and the ways that we learn from the past. These works represent the work of my hand, its reach, and its grasp.
Artist Photograph
[Image Description: A dark-haired white man wearing a black t-shirt and jeans looks toward the camera. Part of a dark brown and white non-representational artwork on a canvas is visible over his right shoulder.]
Artist Biography
Stephen Lapthisophon is an American artist and educator working in the field of conceptual art, critical theory, and disability studies. Lapthisophon received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979. His work combines poetry, performance, sound art, and visual arts with postmodern philosophical concerns. Among his influences is the legacy of the Situationists, 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 currently teaches art and art history at The University of Texas at Arlington.