Stephen Lapthisophon

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Stephen Lapthisophon is an artist and educator working in the field of conceptual art, critical theory and disability studies. His early work combined poetry, performance, sound art and visual art with postmodern philosophical concerns. He was influenced by the legacy of the Situationists, who sought to make everyday life a focus of artistic activity. In 1994 he suffered a major deterioration of his vision and became legally blind. His subsequent work as an installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and sound artist 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. Lapthisophon incorporates everyday objects as a means of breaking down the barriers between his art and daily life. His mixed media works combine text and letterforms to create poetic improvisations inspired by and referring to deeply buried literary sources.

Lapthisophon received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979 and a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. He also studied Comparative Literature and Theory at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He has exhibited extensively across the United States, including recent exhibitions at Nasher Sculpture Garden and Goss Michael Foundation in Dallas, and in a solo exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art in 2013/2014. He has been included in international exhibitions in Sweden, Germany, Spain, France and the UK. He currently teaches art and art history at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has been the recipient of several grants and residencies. Lapthisophon is also represented by Conduit Gallery in Dallas.

Stephen Lapthisophon; Word Hole, 2015; mixed media on paper; 40 x 26 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; Evidence, 2016; mixed media on paper; 38 x 25 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; Logic, 2016; mixed media on paper; 40 x 26 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; Chance, 2016; mixed media on paper; 40 x 26 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; The Future, 2016; mixed media on paper; 40 x 26 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; Mumble, 2016; mixed media on paper; 40 x 26 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; October 1, 1969 (Rome), 2014; mixed media on canvas; 48 x 36 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; Wire and String, 2016; mixed media on paper; 30 x 22 1/2 in
Stephen Lapthisophon; KWJ15, 2014; mixed media on canvas; 58 x 54 in