Stephen Seemayer

Photo: Stephen Seemayer (2007) at the Malibu Wall, waiting for the ghost of Miki Dora. (photo by Jesse Easter)

Stephen Seemayer is a Los Angeles-born performance artist, filmmaker and painter.  In a career spanning more than 30 years, he has mounted performances and exhibitions at galleries and museums across the United States. Using controversial imagery, such as aborted fetuses and masks on fire, Seemayer has confronted his audience with the question of what it means to be human in a dehumanizing society. In his latest work, he uses stencils and spray paint to create baseball haikus with an undercurrent of scathing social commentary.His gallery is his front yard in Echo Park where drivers and passersby can view the paintings any time, night or day.

Contact:

stephenseemayer@yahoo.com

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Stephen Seemayer

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007-present
Yard show/installation, L.A. Blue Bum paintings, Echo Park.

1995
Solo exhibition, paintings and drawlngs, “Buddha on Moneybags,” Random Gallery, Los Angeles
Solo exhibition, painting/installation. “Spring Haiku,” UNI Gallery, Los Angeles.

1994
Solo exhibition, “1,440 Paintings,” Random Gallery, Los Angeles.

1983
Paintings and video installation, Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, Callfomia.

1982
Retrospective exhibition, 15-year survey of paintings, drawings, sculpture,
film, video and performance, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles.

1981
Video drawings, Stux Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
Exhibition and performance, “Triple Cross,” Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica,
California
Performance, “Rise and Fall,” Downtown Gallery, Los Angeles
Exhibition and performance, “Jesus Says Don’t,” WPA Gallery, Washington.

1980
Exhibition and performance, “Metropolis,”WPA Gallery, Washington
Exhibition and performance, “Kunstkathedral,” Neill Gallery, New York
Exhibition and performance, “Meccanization,” Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica
Film event, Jetts Cafe, Inglewood, Callfomla
Exhibition and performance, “Pope Video,” Skeleton Club, San Diego, California.

1979
Exhibition and performance, “You’re Crazy,” Artemesia Gallery, Chicago
Exhibition and performance, “Unit in Orange,” Donnelly Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts;
Photostructures, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles
Photostructures and firecarbon drawings, Neill Gallery, New York.

1978
Photostructures and masks, Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Performance, “Guardian,” 8th Street and Central Avenue, Los Angeles
Performance, “Fuoco,” 5th Street and Central Avenue, Los Angeles
Performance, “Up Against Daniel,” 2nd Street and Alameda Avenue, Los Angeles.

1977
Explosion sculpture performance series, 9th Street and Central Avenue, Los
Angeles.

1975-1977
Exhibitions, Orlando Gallery, Encino, California.

1973-1976
Fire performances, Los Angeles.

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

2011
Paintings/installation, “Tricked Out Kicks,” The Art of Transportation, Crewest Gallery, Los Angeles
Paintings/installation and video presentation “Being Human,” Have You Seen My Privacy?, 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica.

2009
Paintings on Cardboard, “Baseball Haikus” Love To Hate, Baseball Reliquary, Burbank Public Library
Paintings on Cardboard, “Baseball Haikus” Cardboard Fetish, Baseball Reliquary, Pasadena Public Library

2000
Paintings, Sidestreet Projects, Downtown Los Angeles.

1995
Paintings, In the Pocket, Random Gallery, Los Angeles
Paintings and drawings, Bred Up! Lyn/ Bassett Gallery, Los Angeles
Paintings/installation, “Zen Paintings,” Fabrication, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange
Paintings, “Double Zen,” The Pulse of L.A., El Pueblo Gallery, Los Angeles
Paintings/installation, “Buddhas,” Red Zone 7: In the Pit, Los Angeles.

1994
Painting/installation, “American Salute,” Downtown Lives, DADA, Los Angeles
Paintings, L.A. Fair Art, Spanish Kitchen Gallery, Los Angeles
Painting/installation, FAR BAZZAR, Foundation for Art Resources Inc., Los Angeles.

1993
Painting/ installation, FAR Parked, Foundation for Art Resources Inc., Los Angeles
Painting, Downtown Lives, DADA, Los Angeles
Paintings, group exhibition, Spanish Kitchen Gallery, Los Angeles.

1992
Paintings, photographs and installation, Red Zone 6, FAR BAZZAR,
Foundation for Art Resources Inc., Los Angeles
Paintings and event, Red Zone 5: Defiantly Incorrect, Los Angeles.

1991
Paintings, group exhibition, The American Gallery, Los Angeles
Veiled paintings and event, Red Zone 4: Right to Remain Silent, Los Angeles.

1990
Sculpture installation and event, Red Zone 3: No Admission, Los Angeles
Paintings, group exhibition, The American Gallery, Los Angeles
New paintings and event, Red Zone 2: Defend Yourself, Los Angeles
Installation and event, Red Zone: Art Above the Law, Los Angeles.

1989
Paintings, group exhibition, The American Gallery, Los Angeles.

1983
“Los Angeles View,” video installation, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles.

1982
“Between the Freeways,” WAMM, traveling exhibition
“Young Turks,” Downtown Gallery, Los Angeles.

1980
Donnelly Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts.

1979
San Diego State University Art Gallery, San Diego, California.

1978
Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, California.

1977
“Photodocuments,” Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, Arizona
M.H. DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, California
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; “100+ Current Concerns in Southern California Art,” Los Angeles Institute ofContemporary Art, Los Angeles
“Beyond the Garden Wall,” Downey Museum, Downey, California.

1976
Redlands University, Redlands, California
Santa Monica City College, Santa Monica, California
Cerritos College, Norwalk, California.

1975

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington.

1974
California Arts Commission Headquarters, Sacramento. California.

1973
Young Talent Exhibit, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

FILM/VIDEO PRODUCTIONS

1988
Feature film, “Twist of Fate,” writer/director, Summit International Pictures.

1986
Feature video, “Miami Vendetta,” writer/director, Summit Intemational Pictures.

1984
Feature video, “Sushi Ole,” director/co-producer, City Pictures.

1981
Documentary film, “Young Turks,” writer/director, City Pictures.

REFERENCES

1995
Ray Zone, exhibition essay, ArtScene, Vol. 15, No. 2, October
Michael Duncan, catalog essay, Fabrication, March.

1994
Mat Gleason, Coagula Art Journal, Issue #14, September
Mat Gleason, Coagula Art Journal, “Far BAZZAR Best,” Issue #13, Summer
Miles Beller, Artweek, Jan. 6.

1993
Mary Ann Evans, Venice magazine, November 1993
Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 4.

1982
Barbara Kruger, Artforum, September 1982
Hunter Drohojowska, Artforum, September.

1981
Christopher Knight. Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, May.

1980
Linda Burnham. High Performance (cover story), Vol. 3, No. 1, March
High Performance, Vol. 2, No. 4, January.

1979
SoHo Weekly News, Vol. 6, No. 37, June 14-20; High Performance, Vol. 2, No. 3, September
High Performance, Vol. 2, No. 2, June
High Performance, Vol. 2. No. 1, March.

1978
Peter Schjeldahl, Art in America, November-December
Adrienne Rosenthal, Artweek, Vol. 9, No. 32, September
William Wilson, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 28
High Performance, Vol. 1, No. 4, December
High Performance, Vol. 1. No. 3, September.

1977
Nancy Marmer, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13.

1976
Gordon J. Hazlitt, Art News, November
Adrienne Rosenthal, Artweek, Sept. 18
Gordon J. Hazlitt, Art News, February.

1975
Clark Polak, Los Angeles Free Press, Oct. 10
William Wilson, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 26
Ronald E. Steen, Artweek, Sept. 20.

ELECTRONIC/OTHER MEDIA

Books

2010
“L.A. Rising: SoCal Artists Before 1980,” edited by Lyn Kienholz, Los Angeles: The California/International Arts Foundation, ISBN: 978-0-917571-13-8.

1981
“Young Turks” by Stephen Seemayer, Los Angeles: Astro Artz, ISBN: 0-937122-06-8.

1980
“Performance Anthology: Source Book for a Decade of California Performance Art,” edited by Carl Loeffler and Darlene Tong, San Francisco: Contemporary Arts Press, ISBN: 0-931818-01-x.

TV/Radio

1994
WBAI-FM, New York, “Artbreaking” with Charlie Finch. Interview about new work, Sept. 8.

1880
KNBC-TV, Channel 4, Los Angeles. Interviewed by Kelly Lange about walk with cross to San Diego.

1979
KPFK-FM, Los Angeles, radio performance.