February 24 — March 31, 2018
Scotoma
Stephen Lapthisophon
Conduit Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Dallas-based artist Stephen Lapthisophon.
Lapthisophon’s show title is less an allusion to his partial-sightedness and more a philosophical reference to our collective blatant refusal to see what's in front of us; the intentional blind spot we create for ourselves to avoid the obvious.
The exhibition features a mixed media works on stretched canvas and works on paper. Lapthisophon’s work is improvisational, the result of what’s happening in the moment in his studio. The paintings and drawings are loosely made yet texture rich, employing paint, collage and any number of materials he has at hand. Lapthisophon is interested in the many different ways surfaces can be built and the textural qualities they manifest. Lapthisophon’s inclusion of letter-form materials represents the pop-cultural, literary and political consciousness of his head space. The works are an homage to past-ness, or the wear and tear of life.
Stephen Lapthisophon earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979 and lives and works in Dallas, TX. Recent exhibitions include: Museo de la Ciudad Queretaro, Queretaro Mexico (2017); Sector 2337, Chicago, IL (2016); Pilot Projects, Philadelphia, PA (2016); the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX (2015); David Shelton Gallery, Houston TX (2015); Longhouse Projects, New York, NY (2014); the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (2013); Goss Michael Foundation, with DB14, Dallas, TX (2014); La Box, Bourges, France (2014); Koncertkirken, Copenhagen, Denmark (2014), the sound art video festival, Rostrum, Malmo, Sweden (2014), Actual Size LA, Los Angeles, CA (2013), A Slender Gamut, NY, NY (2012), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2011), SHOW Studio, London, UK (2011), El Escaparate, Barcelona, Spain (2009), and Zagreus Projekt, Berlin, Germany (2008). His work has been written about in ARTFORUM, Frieze, Art in America, Art News, New Art Examiner, BOMB and ART LIES. In 2014, Lapthisophon was named one of the 100 Dallas Creatives by the Dallas Observer and one of the featured Dallas 40 in DMagazine. Lapthisophon is currently a senior lecturer in art at the University of Texas at Arlington.