Stephen Prina (born 1954) is an American artist. His work has been categorized as post-conceptualism.Dominic Eichler, "Point Counter Point," Frieze, May, 2009. Prina is a professor at the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) at Harvard University.VES Faculty
Early life and education Born in 1954, in Galesburg, Illinois, Prina received a BFA from Northern Illinois University in 1977 and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 1980.Steel Stillman (May 6, 2013), In the Studio: Stephen Prina Art in America. At CalArts, his fellow students included Mike Kelley, Sue Williams, Tony Oursler and Jim Shaw.Michael Kimmelman (April 27, 2001), In the Studio With Tony Oursler; A Sculptor Of the Air With Video New York Times. In 1980, he attended Thomas E. Crow's class on Courbet and Manet at UCLA.Steel Stillman (May 6, 2013), In the Studio: Stephen Prina Art in America.
Work Prina's work includes drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video and film. In Exquisite Corpse, a series begun in 1988, he set out to make a painting of the same size and shape as every painting recorded in a 1969 catalogue raisonné of Manet's works.Sharon Mizota (April 26, 2013), Once More, With Feeling: Stephen Prina's History Paintings KCET.
Prina is also a composer and musician who has interpreted works by Beethoven, Schoenberg, Sonic Youth, Steely Dan and many others.Steel Stillman (May 6, 2013), In the Studio: Stephen Prina Art in America. He taught at Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, from 1980 until 2003. In 1994, he offered a much-discussed course about filmmaking in the 1980s and focused the class on Keanu Reeves as the actor had appeared in a diverse set of films that each exemplified a specific style; the course prompted stories in The New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar.Janet Weeks (March 30, 1994), Teacher Uses Reeves To Weave Films Of '80s Los Angeles Daily News. Prina has been a professor at Harvard since 2004.Steel Stillman (May 6, 2013), In the Studio: Stephen Prina Art in America.
Exhibitions Solo exhibitions of his work have been mounted in museums throughout Europe and the United States including Spruth Magers, Los Angeles, US (2018); Museo Madre, Naples, Italy (2017); Museum Kurhaus Kleve (2016); Vienna Secession (2011); Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaeno, Seville (2008); Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; the Art Institute of Chicago (2002); MAMCO, Geneva (1998); Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (1992); and The Renaissance Society, Chicago (1989).Stephen Prina, 21 April – 3 June 2012 Maureen Paley, London.
He has participated in documenta IX, the Venice Biennale XLIV, and the 51st Carnegie International.Stephen Prina: The Way He Always Wanted It, March 28 - May 2, 2009 Petzel Gallery, New York.
Prina has also been a willing collaborator, having co-produced significant exhibitions and projects with artists Wade Guyton, Mike Kelley, the band Red Krayola and curator Susanne Ghez at The Renaissance Society.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Prina is represented by Sprüth Magers in Los Angeles, New York, London and Berlin, Petzel Gallery in New York, Maureen Paley in London, and Capitain Petzel in Berlin.
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