Steve Lambert

Subject sitting in darkened room is told to watch a dot of light and draw a record of its movement on paper. Dot is actually stationary. But to most normal people it seems to move around, describing a wandering, irregular track. Drawings curated by Marcel van Eeden, with Maria Forde, Johan Gustavsson, Steve Lambert, Charlie Roberts, Rebecca Shapiro, Nedko Solakov, Stephan van den Burg, Porous Walker
May 29 – July 17, 2010
Opening Friday, May 28 from 6 – 8 pm

Statement from Barbara Seiler

Subject sitting in a darkened room is told to watch… is the first show in a series of annual drawing shows curated by an artist who works mainly in drawings himself. The series is opened by Marcel van Eeden, a Dutch artist living in Zurich, whose work consists mainly of drawings and who prefers the techniques and simple materials of drawing.
For almost all artists in the show drawing is an important part of their practice. Van Eeden selected them on almost only that criterion. The final decision of asking artists for the show was quite intuitive. Despite this vague starting-point there are strong relations between the works of the artists. It was only after the selection these similarities became clear.
One main character of most works is humor. Fun. But not only to be funny in a meaningless way. ‘I believe that with humor and sarcasm, I am touching on pretty serious matters,’  Nedko Solakov said once.  Grown up in Bulgaria when it was still a communist country, Solakov learned to disguise his criticism. It is a strategy that still works.
The 70′s styled drawings of Porous Walker often show hilarious and especially juvenile, but at the same time melancholic sex jokes.  Critique, on society or the art world, is also an important part of the work of Steve Lambert. But again, mixed with humor to make things stronger, human and bearable.
Johan Gustavsson likes to stress ugliness and the imperfect to show us a glimpse of the real world, beyond the humorless perfectness that can be seen in magazines or on tv. And with a slight turn, Stephan van den Burg wants us to see those mass media images in an other way. He uses them, but with some changes that put them into a different light.
Humor also plays an important role in the work of the last three artists, but they add another feature to it: a kind of folkloristic naivety. They use the language of ‘outsider artists’, but they are definitely not. Charlie Roberts shows some of his ‘short stories’, small comic like narratives, and Maria Forde made a comic about the role music played in her youth. Her etchings of country artists fit in this story.  Rebecca Shapiro, an artist that lives in a house that only exists in the year 1945, uses images from old medical books for her embroideries, intended as a tragicomical collection of oddities.
It is a funny show.

This reception and exhibition will show some of the work I did at the Lower East Side Printshop Special Editions Residency last year.

LOWER EAST SIDE PRINTSHOP – EDITIONS ’10: CATALOGUE LAUNCH AND EXHIBITION

Reception for artists and catalogue launch party on
Wednesday, May 26, from 6 – 8 pm

Featuring:
Karlos Carcamo
Cammi Climaco
Steve Lambert
Enoc Perez
William Powhida

Catalogue essay by Sarah Kirk Hanley.

Exhibition on view May 17 – July 3, 2010
Hours: Weekdays from 10 am – 6 pm, and weekends from 12 pm – 6 pm. Free and open to the public. Click here for directions.

The Lower East Side Printshop is pleased to announce the Editions ’10 catalogue launch and exhibition, with a launch party and reception for artists on Wednesday, May 26. With a catalogue essay by independent print curator, advisor, and appraiser Sarah Kirk Hanley, the publication and exhibition will feature new works created by recipients of the Printshop’s Special Editions Residencies: Karlos Carcamo, Cammi Climaco, and Steve Lambert, and recipients of the Printshop’s Publishing Residencies: Enoc Perez and William Powhida.

I am exhibiting with Charlie James Gallery at the San Francisco Fine Art Fair. All my hometown friends, please stop by and say hello to Charlie. There’s 4 pieces in the show including DO IT and It’s About Power.

May 21-23, 2010
Festival Pavilion
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Fine Art Fair – for tickets

I’ll be showing work with Charlie James Gallery at the NEXT Exhibition in Chicago this year.

Location: alongside Art Chicago at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago
Cost: Adults: $20 daily or $25 multi-day pass | Seniors, Students or Groups: $15 multi-day pass | Children 12 and under are free.
Dates: April 30 – May 3, 2010

About NEXT:
More than an art fair, NEXT is a showcase for the world’s talents and an adventure in cutting-edge culture. An opportunity to redefine the relationship between art and its public, NEXT is a portal to seeing contemporary art in new, innovative, eye-opening ways. NEXT  will include works from both commercial and non-commercial arts organizations–galleries, project spaces, art publications and key private contemporary collections from around the world.

more information: www.nextartfair.com

I’ll be showing some new sign work with Charlie James Gallery at Pulse New York. I don’t have pictures because I’m working on it now…

Pulse New York
General Admission $20, Students and Seniors $15
330 West Street
Thursday, March 4 – Press and VIP Private Preview – 9am – 12pm
Thursday, March 4 – Open to public – 12pm – 8pm
Friday, March 5 – 12pm – 8pm
Saturday, March 6 – 12pm – 8pm
Sunday, March 7 – 12pm – 5pm

Charlie James Gallery presents “You Are Still Alive” at Pulse Miami 2009.

Steve Lambert will be featured at Impulse with Charlie James Gallery at the Pulse Miami Art Fair from December 3 thru 6, 2009. Selected works from Lambert’s “Everything You Want Right Now!” solo show will be featured, as well as the debut of his Arrow Sign print editions. This solo project will be entitled “You Are Still Alive” and is organized around the idea of the liberating power of simple truths.

Steve Lambert has been working as an artist and provocateur for over ten years now, disrupting the stream of corporate-driven communication that showers down on us 24-7, and more importantly empowering regular people to Think Different, and not in the way of those old, fairly vacuous Apple computer ads, but by actually causing it to happen through his work. For an example of Steve jamming the corporate communication system, we can look at his newest edition of prints. Steve bought a large, lighted arrow sign on a stand and put it up around LA with non-corporate and sometimes personal messages on it: You Are Still Alive pointing at a cemetery, for example. Funny, definitely, but poignant as well. Using the techniques of commercial signage, Steve will make for PULSE Miami light-box marquees that take commercial speech to its logical conclusion: Park & Spend, Money Laundered; Everything You Want, Right Now! Steve’s signs tell baldly, as if it were the truth, the lies that hide behind commercial signage: endless abundance, endless choice, consumption with joy. For his solo project at IMPULSE Miami, Steve will present a combination of lighted signs, hand-painted signs, and new print work in an installation organized around the idea of the liberating power of simple truths.

Moolah: An Exhibit About Money
November 13th – December 11th
Reception: Sunday, November 15th, 1-4 PM

The Arts Guild of Rahway
1670 Irving Street
Rahway, New Jersey 07065

Market Forces 2009
Piemonte Share Festival
Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali
via Giolitti 36
Torino, Italy

“Uncommon Ground” will be displayed at Eyebeam’s Open Studios this weekend.

Uncommon Ground is a sound installation created in collaboration with Victoria Estok. Using stethoscopes against a five by five foot planter box, people can hear the plants commentary, discussions, and inner thoughts – which are normally inaudible to human beings.

The plants are voiced by comedians and neighbors, including; Reggie Watts, James Bewley, Cathleen Carr, Maria Del Piano, Courtney Robinson, Jonathan Shahn, Steve Trevelise, Kenya Robinson, Stefanie Connell, Maya Connell, and Larry Bogad.

Eyebeam Open Studios

Eyebeam will hold Open Studios for Artists In Residence, Student Residents, and Senior Fellows
Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, from 3-6pm.
A two-day presentation allowing a rare inside look at the current state of research at Eyebeam.

Eyebeam is pleased to host Open Studios for its 2009 Senior Fellowships and Summer/Fall residents at Eyebeam’s state-of-the-art new media design, digital research, and fabrication studio; showcasing work in the areas of  performance, experimental film, wearable technologies, open culture and sustainable art.

Eyebeam’s residents are selected from two yearly open calls of emerging artists, technologists and engineers for a five-month residency, which includes a stipend as well as access to Eyebeam’s facilities, equipment, and opportunities for collaboration and presentation of work. This group of five residents was selected from a group of 195 applicants.

More on Eyebeam Open Studios…

Uncommon Ground is a sound installation created in collaboration with Victoria Estok. Using stethoscopes against a five by five foot planter box, people can hear the plants commentary, discussions, and inner thoughts – which are normally inaudible to human beings.

The plants are voiced by comedians and neighbors, including; Reggie Watts, James Bewley, Cathleen Carr, Maria Del Piano, Courtney Robinson, Jonathan Shahn, Steve Trevelise, Kenya Robinson, Stefanie Connell, Maya Connell, and Larry Bogad.

Whitney Family Day 2009
WhitneyKids Back To Nature
1–4 Pm Saturday, October 3, 2009

Families are invited to explore the abstractions of Georgia O’Keeffe through interactive gallery tours, hands-on art making, and much more!

Discover O’Keeffe’s lines, colors, and landscapes through guided gallery tours. Look closely at natural objects and create your own abstract work of art. Work with artist collectives Windowfarms.org and Plant Parenthood to plant your own natural landscape for your home!

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Admission is $10 per family, free for member families.
A family ticket is valid for up to 2 adults; children and teens 18 and under always receive free admission. $5 admission for additional adults.

September 27 – November 15, 2009

Since 1992 the San Francisco Arts Commission has been enlisting local artists to create original posters for the kiosks along Market Street between Van Ness Avenue and the Embarcadero. The Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series provides round-the-clock access to contemporary art for thousands of pedestrians. The artists, who work in a variety of media to reflect urban life, have included such well-known SF artists as Seyed Alavi, Megan Wilson, Kara Maria, Katherine Aoki, Amanda Hughen, Owen Smith, Jason Jagel, and Mark Brest van Kempen. The Bedford exhibition pays homage to this successful and model public art project by featuring thirty of the original 6ft by 4ft posters.

Bedford Gallery
1601 Civic Drive
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925)295-1417

Schroeder Romero
637 West 27th Street, Suite B, 212-630-0722
September 10 – October 24, 2009
Opening: Thursday, September 10, 6 – 8 PM

Schroeder Romero is pleased to announce Play It Forward an exhibition that celebrates our future and gives a sneak peak at our upcoming exhibitions this season.
Artists: Bobby Neel Adams, Brice Brown, Charles Browning, Tony Fitzpatrick, Susan Graham, Eric Heist, Brian Kenny, Steve Lambert, Wendy Small, Ken Weaver, Julie Weitz

Camera/Chimera
Curated by Ethan Ham

Gallery Aferro
73 Market St
Newark, NJ 07102

September 12 – October 3
Opening Reception September 12, 7-10 PM

Artists: Becca Albee, Holly Andres, Patterson Beckwith, Chase Browder, xtine burrough, Cassandra C. Jones, Stephanie Dean, Dennis Delgado, Joel Fisher, Harrell Fletcher, Joy Garnett, Greta Ham, Tim Hutchings, Steve Lambert, Gus Meisner, Robin Michals, Hajoe Moderegger, MTAA, Shani Peters, Anne Schiffer, Christian Marc Schmidt, Tom Thayer, Mariana Tres, Angie Waller

Camera/Chimera is a series of photographs, each by a different artist. The artists are asked to replicate the previous artist’s photograph. The result is a visual game of “Telephone” in which the image slowly (and sometimes abruptly) mutates through the process of recreation.

Ethan Ham is a sculptor and installation artist who often uses kinetics, electronics, and computers in his artwork. His projects include Tumbarumba and Self-Portrait (both commissioned by Turbulence.org), Anthroptic (commissioned by The Present Group), and Email Erosion (commissioned by Rhizome.org). Ethan is an Assistant Professor of New Media at The City College of New York.

The New York Times Special Edition received an Award of Distinction at the 2009 Prix Ars Electronica. I will have more images, video, and details here soon. In the meantime…

Installation of The NY Times Special Edition at the OK Centre in Linz, Austria

Video podcast of Steve Lambert’s presentation on behalf of Because We Want It. (under 4.9.09 at 3:45)

More coming.

I’m working on a new sign for Summer Reading at Jen Bekman Gallery. The show opens Wednesday July 15.

On View: July 15th – August 22nd, 2009
Opening Reception: July 15th, 6pm – 8pm

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 spring street
new york city 10012
tel: 212.219.0166
info@jenbekman.com

Work by Thomas Allen, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Kotama Bouabane, Lizzie Buckmaster-Dove, Christine Callahan, Jorge Colombo, William Crump, Lauren DiCioccio, Nina Katchadourian, Gregory Krum, Steve Lambert, Michael Mandiberg, Carrie Marill, Mike Monteiro, Jane Mount, Kirby Pilcher, Jason Polan, Kent Rogowski, Ed Ruscha, Kelly Shimoda, Victor Schrager, Mickey Smith, Alec Soth, Zoe Strauss, Shaun Sundholm, Brian Ulrich, and Tim Walker.

Others perform “I WILL TALK WITH ANYONE ABOUT ANYTHING” at the Weatherspoon Museum of Art. Pictures from the opening.