Sam Lipp
Sam Lipp
b. 1989
Lives and works in New York
Sam Lipp’s work explores the intersection of images and power, particularly representations of the body in relationship to systems of control. In paintings and drawings on steel, Lipp utilizes proprietary and idiosyncratic techniques of paint application and mark making, emulating systematic procedures of mechanized image reproduction—pixelation, xerographics—as well as the material traces such production entails—degradation, deconstruction. Lipp often employs a personally developed method where steel wool is used as a paintbrush to create pin-sized dots of impasto paint, applied in successive layers to create hyper-pointillist images. Other works use pencil directly on stainless steel, creating an interplay of refracted light between the surface of the steel and the sheen of the graphite. In both material and form, the works frequently allude to conventions of urban signage—the authoritative directives of the state. In some works, screws driven directly through the steel surfaces underscore this relationship—a reminder of the sign’s duality as both concept and material, a subject for the viewer’s consideration and an object eliciting their response.
EDUCATION
| 2011 | Bachelors of Fine Art, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL |
| 2010 | Goldsmiths College, University of London, London, UK |
SELECTED SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
| 2024 | Camp as Paradigm, Conditions, Toronto, Canada |
| 2022 | Leaving the Factory, Derosia, New York, NY |
| 2019 | Incest, Bonny Poon, Paris, France |
| 2017 | Apologia, Mackey Apartments, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2016 | Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY |
| 2015 | Abandonment, Central Fine, Miami, FL I’m An American Citizen, I Know My Rights, Neochrome, Turin, Italy |
| 2014 | Feeling Languid, Malraux’s Place, New York (with Luis Miguel Bendaña) My Hamster Cage, Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY We, Free Paarking, St. Louis, MO |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2025 | And since my love is spent (an image-repertoire), Antenna Space, Shanghai, China |
| 2024 | Ordinary People: Photorealism and the Work of Art since 1968, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA Soft Focus, Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal, Canada Amnesia, Conditions, Toronto, Canada Notes on Masculinity, Lyles & King, New York, NY A Small Land of Watery Light, Vacancy, Shanghai, China |
| 2023 | On Failure, Soft Opening, London, United Kingdom |
| 2021 | This Is My Bodys, Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY |
| 2019 | Civic Duty, Cell Project Space, London, United Kingdom Stay Gold, The Meeting, New York, NY Michael Jackson: On the Wall, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland Michael Jackson: On the Wall, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany |
| 2018 | Michael Jackson: On the Wall, Grand Palais, Paris, France Michael Jackson: On the Wall, National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 2017 | Loneliness of Leaders, Bonny Poon, Paris, France In the hopes of not being considered, curated by Nick Morgan, Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY Stars, Weekends, Paris, France |
| 2016 | Aunt Nancy, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Face to Face, Selections from the Ernesto Esposito Collection, Palazzo Fruiscione, Salerno, Italy |
| 2015 | Great Depression, Balice Hertling, Paris, France Playtime, 9800 Sepulveda, Los Angeles, CA System of a Down, Ellis King, Dublin, Ireland Where the Awning Flaps, Galerie Éric Hussenot, Paris, France Soft Pillow, Arcadia Missa, London, United Kingdom Green, organized by Puppies Puppies, What Pipeline, MI |
| 2014 | Murder, She Wrote, Nosbaum Reding Projects, Luxembourg Buying Friends: The Kortman Collection, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI Degeneration of Painting, Fondazione107, Turin, Italy |
SELECTED PRESS
New York's Intimate Art Fair Pops Up at the Shed, The New York Times, May 15, 2023
New York, NEW YORK, Elke Buhr, Monopol, May, 2023, Print
Interview with Brainard Carey, Yale University Radio, July 14, 2022
Sam Lipp at Derosia, New York, Contemporary Art Writing Daily, June 27, 2022
The Best Exhibitions to See Across America This Summer, Frieze, June 24, 2022
Sam Lipp's Tasteful Titillations, John Belknap, Frieze, June 23, 2022, Print
The Best of Frieze London 2019, Something Curated, October 4, 2019
Civic Duty, Giulia Smith, Art Monthly, July-August 2019, Print
Sam Lipp “Incest” at Bonny Poon, Charles Teyssou, Spike Art Magazine, #60 Summer 2019, Print
Chasing the Myth of Michael Jackson, Aida Amoako, The Atlantic, August 16, 2018
Interview with Sam Lipp, Drew Zeiba, Editorial Magazine, Issue 18, May 2018, Print
Sam Lipp, Lara Konrad, Coeval, September 2017
Sam Lipp, Nicholas Linnert, Artforum, September 2016
Aunt Nancy at Night Gallery, Pablo Lopez, Carla, June 2016
Contemporary Art Daily Founder Forrest Nash’s Picks from NADA Miami Beach 2015, Forrest Nash, December 2, 2015
Ins + Outs: Close-Up, Juliet Helmke, Modern Painters, October 2015
What Our Critics Are Really Looking Forward to This Fall, Jerry Saltz, Vulture, August 26, 2015
Sam Lipp at Neochrome, Mousse Magazine Blog, April 23, 2015
Sam Lipp, Domenico De Chirico, Dust Magazine Online, April 7, 2014
Sam Lipp at Free Paarking, Stephanie Zimmerman, Temporary Art Review, March 26, 2014
Sam Lipp, Waldo Pardon, Skinned Magazine, March 6, 2014
In a Tide Drawn Out, Tess Barry, North American Review Blog, Februaury 17, 2014
Top 5 Lists for 2013, Britton Bertran, Bad at Sports, January 6, 2014
SFAQ Pick: Sam Lipp and Thora Dolven Balke two person exhibition “Variety Lights” at Devening Projects and Editions, Chicago, SFAQ Online, November 2013
Review: Guyth/Dos Perros Projects, Matt Morris, NewCity, September 3, 2013
Puppies Puppies, Luis Miguel Bendaña and Sam Lipp, San Francisco Arts Quarterly, Fall 2013
By Appointment Only: Viewing Art Privately in Chicago, Jason Foumberg, Art In America, July 10, 2013
Looking Back, Looking Forward: Part 4, Jason Foumberg, Frieze Blog, December 29, 2012
NewCity’s Top 5 of Everything 2012: Art, Jason Foumberg, New City Art, December 20, 2012
Review: Samuel Lipp/Scott Projects, Patrice Connelly, NewCity, March 23, 2009
RESIDENCIES
| 2018 | Mahler & LeWitt Studios Residency, Spoleto, Italy |
| 2015 | Carabic Walking Residency |
| 2011 | Real Time and Space, Oakland, CA |