TED STAMM (b. 1944, Brooklyn, NY; d. 1984, New York, NY) was a multi-faceted conceptual artist working in SoHo in downtown Manhattan in the 1970s. Many of his inspirations derive from observing everyday objects, experiences, and events, such as finding an abstract shape on the street (Wooster) or lines on a baseball field (Dodgers). While the drawings are entirely abstract and radically minimalist, there is a malleability in viewers’ interpretations, and knowing the origin of the form in question is not essential to enjoying the object produced by the artist. The drawings in the exhibition are made of graphite, and are primarily black: a color that Stamm associated with “rebellion, rigor, and reduction.”
Ted Stamm exhibited internationally during his lifetime, including in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. His work has been included in solo and group exhibitions at venues such as Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA; Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA; MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, USA; The Clocktower, New York, NY, USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA; Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA; Oklahoma City Museum of Art, OK, USA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art , CA, USA; Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI, USA; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, AL, USA; Denver Art Museum, CO, USA; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, USA; Akademie Der Kunste, Berlin, Germany; and Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark.
In 1977, Stamm was included by curator Manfred Schneckenburger in Documenta 6 in Kassel, Germany. His work was exhibited alongside artists, such as Carl Andre, Daniel Buren, James Lee Byars, Walter De Maria, Eva Hesse, Donald Judd, Imi Knoebel, Sol Lewitt, Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Morris, Blinky Palermo, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, and Richard Serra, among others. In addition, Stamm exhibited his work at the legendary Downtown artist-founded venues 112 Greene Street (1975), Artists Space (1975, 1980) and Franklin Furnace (1977, 1980).
Stamm received awards in Painting from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1983) and the National Endowments for the Arts, NEA (1981–1982). Stamm’s work is included in the collections of Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France; Hall Art Collection, Derneburg, Germany and Reading, Vermont; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Phoenix Art Museum, AZ, USA; Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA; and Western Australia Art Gallery, Perth, Australia.