BIOGRAPHY
Sam Stewart (b. 1988, North Carolina) is a New York based artist whose work resembles and functions as household furniture and domestic objects. As sculptures, they often take on animistic qualities that border on the absurd and whimsical, but also the slightly perverse. His forms, colors, and shifts in scale collapse observations of his present—from everyday New York spaces (drainage pipelines, subway seating), iconic 20th century design, and 3D modeling software—with those that evoke his memory of childhood perception. Although his source material tends to be specific (retro sets and costumes from children’s movies of the 80s and 90s, like Beetlejuice or Big, the mass produced palette of Fisher Price, the extruding and distorting tools of Google Sketch Up) and projects carefully researched (from the history of the execution chair and UFO spotting’s to virtual reality and 3D scanning technology), the objects themselves are aimed at a more visceral, bodily and emotive response akin to creating and reading a painted image. He is interested in design that elicits a heightened simplicity and exaggerated satisfaction of looking, as much he wants to draw out awkward, more anecdotal encounters with the designed object. Stewart’s studio practice involves meticulous attention to craftsmanship and working with fabricators and modes of production typically adopted by professionals in the field.
EDUCATION
2007-11
B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Ultralight, Volume Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2019
Built From the Same Chassis, MEGA Gallery, Milan, IT.
2018
Cryptid, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Useless Flowers, Fisher Parrish, New York, NY.
Comfort, Friedman Benda, New York, NY.
2019
The Chair, Future Perfect Group, New York, NY.
Blow Up, Friedman Benda, New York, NY.
2018
This Is Not a Chair, Plant Seven, High Point, NC.
Galerie Michael Bargo, New York, NY.
By Design, Larrie Gallery, New York, NY.
The Ashtray Show, Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
2017
Yes I’ve had a facelift, but who hasn’t?, 501 (c) 3 Foundation, Los Angeles, CA.
Ecotone, Curated by Eushavia Bogan and Clemence White, New York, NY.
Fort Gansevoort, NADA NYC, New York, NY.
2016
öhlin/d, Pier 59, New York, NY.
2015
Side by Side, Shaker Museum, Mt. Lebanon, New York, NY.
2014
Domain of a Partial Function, Helper, Brooklyn, NY.
Speculum, Helper, Brooklyn, NY.
You wanna be Loved, FerroStrouse, Brooklyn, NY.
Porcher, Helper, Brooklyn, NY.
Zusi Graham, Cologne, GE.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2021
Singer, Jill. “Saturday Selects: Week of December 6, 2021,” December 11.
Fazzare, Elizabeth. “Design Curators Reveal What Not to Miss at Design Miami/ 2-21,” November 30.
2020
Olunkwa, Emmanuel. "The Object Talk: Sam Stewart", Pioneer Works, October 27.
Sidhu, TJ. "Kit out your gaff" The Face, September 30.
"PALAZZINA SUNNEI È LA NUOVA FACTORY MILANESE TRA DESIGN E SARTORIALITÀ", Elle Decor, September 14.
Kravitz Hoeffner, Melissa. "The Rockaway Hotel To Open at New York’s Rockaway Beach", Forbes, July 13.
Martin, Hannah. "A Young Collector’s Cool, Colorful Chinatown Loft", Clever, July 10.
"Looking Microscopically: Designer Sam Stewart’s Democratic Eye", Vince, Spring/Summer.
Sessums, Zoë. "How Designer Sam Stewart Is Coping at Home", Clever, April 27.
Gosling, Emily. "How a Radical Christian Sect Inspired Two Very Different Contemporary Artists", Creative Boom, March 18.
Crowley, Chris. "Laila Gohar Just Wants Dinner to Be Easy “After eating weird shit all day, I really need simple food that isn’t messed with.”, Grub Street, February 14.
Budds, Diana. “The Subversive power of uncomfortable furniture”, Curbed, February 4.
Klein, Kristine. “Bright yellow Friedman Benda exhibition explores comfort in furniture”, dezeen, January 15.
2019
“Tone and Armor”, PIN-UP, PIN-UP 27, Page 79, Fall/Winter 2019/2020.
”Fairy Tales”, PIN-UP, PIN-UP 27, Page 95, Fall/Winter 2019/2020.
Martin, Hannah. “The designer shares some of her clever tips and tricks when it comes to renovating and decorating Inside Ellen Van Dusen's Colorful Brooklyn Brownstone”, Architectural Digest, July 8.
“I tubi di Sam Stewart per il Fuorisalone di Mango April 2019”, Icon Design, April.
Deutsch, Julia. “Sam Stewart x Mango”, Interview Magazine, April 17.
Wasserman, Sydney. “Stealing This Design Element From Meat Lockers” , Architectural Digest, February 19.
2018
Ikeda, Momoko. “Sam Stewart Artist”, Popeye Magazine, January 8.
Latterner, Timothy. “Sight Unseen Makes Its American Design Hot List Shoppable in a partnershop with Moda Operandi”, Architectural Digest, January 7.
Reynaert, Benjamin. “The Edit: 5 Stylish Designers Worth Knowing Now”, Elle Decor, November 1.
Singer, Jill. “Saturday Selects, Week of October 8, 2018”, Sight Unseen, October 14.
Keller, Hadley. “Plant Seven, a New Creative Space, Aims to Bring Small-Batch Design to High Point”, Oct 5.
Martin, Hannah. “A Once-Obsolete Design Object Emerges from the Ashes”, Architectural Digest, June 21.
Walker, Benjamin. “Real Costs Extra (False Alarm Part V)”, Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything Podcast, June 5.
“Issue 24: Spring Summer 2018”, PIN-UP, April.
Blouin, Artinfo. “Steven Learner, Collective Design Founder, Reveals What’s in Store at the Fair’s 2018 Edition”, BlouinArtInfo, March 9.
Martin, Hannah. “Why Are These Designers at the Armory Show?” Architectural digest, March 9.
Bahn, Jenny. "In the Studio with Sam Stewart", AlphaSixty, March 21.
Foy, Kenya. "This Bizarro New York City Apartment is Actually a Work of Art", Apartment Therapy, March 19.
"Pictures at an Exhibition: Sam Stewart at Fort Gansevoort, New York", ARTnews, March 19.
Biswas, Allie. "Sam Stewart: ‘From a psychological perspective, working in someone's home is a loaded experience’", Studio International, March 13.
Singer, Jill. "10 Things We Loved at the 2018 Collective Design Fair", Sight Unseen, March 13.
Howarth, Dan. "Sam Stewart imagines furniture for fictional New York apartment occupant", Dezeen Magazine, March 11.
Mohr, Ian. "Stars Descend Upon Hot Design Fair", Page Six, March 10.
Howarth, Dan. "Eight Highlights from New York's Collective Design Fair 2018", Dezeen Magazine, March 9.
"Collective Design Fair 2018", Surface Magazine, March 9.
“Sam Stewart si immagina gli effetti personali dello Yeti”, Domus, March 7.
Donoghue, Katie. "Collective Design 2018 Highlights Art & Design Hybrids", Whitewall, March 6.
Bernstein, Fred A. “More Than Ever, This Year’s Collective Design Is Pushing Boundaries”, March 5.
Valette, Chloé. “Discoveries of the Week”, Husk, March 2.
Martin, Hannah. “Sam Stewart Rethinks the Slipcovered Chair” Architectural Digest, February 28.
Lakin, Max . “An Artist Invented a Mythical Beast Who Lives in This New York Townhouse”, Garage, February 27.
Santiago, Sean. "Tufted Beds and Treadmills: Sam Stewart's Obsessive World-Making", Sight Unseen, February 22.
Hirsch, Liz. "Both Sides Now", T: The New York Times Style Magazine February 18.
Graves, Cassidy Dawn. "Chapels, Cryptid, Self-Portraits", BEDFORD + BOWERY, February 12.
2017
Stegemoeller, Kristin. "BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE: SAM STEWART MAKES FURNITURE INTO ART", PAPER Magazine, September 27.
Singer, Jill. “30 Artists and Galleries We Loved During New York Art Week 2017”, Sight Unseen, March 7.
2016
Moran, Justin. “Little Bo Peep at öhlin/d and Morrissey Inspo at Babyghost”, Bullett, February 15.
2015
Side by Side, Shaker Museum, Mt. Lebanon, New York, NY
2014
Katie. “Trouble Light”, Better Living Through Design, June 26.
2013
Swider, Olivia. “Top NYC Exhibitions Opening This Week (May 20 – 24)”, Whitewall, May 22.