Sam Lipp

Frieze New York 2023

May 17–23, 2023

Sam Lipp’s (b.1989) work explores the intersection of images and power, particularly representations of the body in relationship to systems of control. In paintings and drawings on steel, Lipp utilizes proprietary and idiosyncratic techniques of paint application and mark making, emulating systematic procedures of mechanized image reproduction—pixelation, xerographics—as well as the material traces such production entails—degradation, deconstruction. Lipp often employs a personally developed method where steel wool is used as a paintbrush to create pin-sized dots of impasto oil paint, applied in successive layers to create hyper-pointillist images. Other works use pencil directly on stainless steel, creating an interplay of refracted light between the surface of the steel and the sheen of the graphite. In both material and form, the works frequently allude to conventions of urban signage—the authoritative directives of the state. In some works, screws driven directly through the steel surfaces underscore this relationship—a reminder of the sign’s duality as both concept and material, a subject for the viewer’s consideration and an object dictating their response.