IRVIN TEPPER: EVIDENCE OF PHANTOMS MADE REAL BETWEEN THOUGHTS

Irvin Tepper, “Evidence of Phantoms Made Real Between Thoughts,” 2019, Installation at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art

IRVIN TEPPER
EVIDENCE OF PHANTOMS
MADE REAL BETWEEN THOUGHTS
October 12, 2019 – January, 12, 2020

The Station Museum of Contemporary Art is proud to announce the opening of a solo exhibition by New York artist Irvin Tepper on Saturday, October 12, 2019 from 7PM – 10PM. Evidence of Phantoms Made Real Between Thoughts is curated by Ann Harithas, founder and executive director of the Five Points Museum in Victoria, Texas, and features a new series of drawings, sculptures, and video by Tepper.

The exhibit features sculptures by Tepper. Beginning with common materials, Tepper has created porcelain pieces evoking motion and life in its most elemental state. They crawl, fold, squirm, and expand viscerally. He extrapolates upon this motion for the video piece, Dreaming Through a World of Chance, in which Tepper masterfully presents a delicate porcelain cup while evoking the sensation of wet clay spinning on a wheel, slipping through your hands.

In a new series of large-scale drawings, Tepper uses techniques hybridized from both traditional drawing and digital tools to manipulate light and form with precise detail. As a result, both new and iconic symbology emerge in a mystical visual exploration. Resembling kaleidoscopic images, mandalas, and Rorschach Tests, Tepper’s drawings hold a delicate power that lead the viewer through a maze of association and transcendence.

“In or outside of his studio, Tepper works incessantly at making art. He excels in an impressive range of media: ceramics, video, painting, photography, sculpture, and drawing. He is also an innovative collector, connoisseur, writer, and art professor. His struggle for inner clarity is fundamental to his work as an artist, and to his vision as a teacher and as man of the world.” – James Harithas, from the essay “Sacred Vessels.”

Tepper’s work revolves around the tension between being and non-being. It is a reminder to make space for mystery and wonderment. His artworks are guidelines for reading between the lines, looking past the arbitrary order we have built up around ourselves and into the spiritual beyond.

Irvin Tepper was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Working as a sculptor, draftsman, and photographer, he has had more than 20 solo exhibitions in museums and galleries across the United States. His work is represented in numerous permanent collections such as the Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; The Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; among others. He currently lives in New York.