About
Geoffrey Stein is a recovering lawyer, who has been painting full-time since 2000. He received a Certificate in Painting from the New York Studio School in 2004 and an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London in 2007. Stein has exhibited his artwork in museums and galleries throughout the United States and in London, Dublin, Paris, and Reykjavik. He was the Artist-in-Residence at the Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, NY from 2022-23. Stein lives and paints in New York City and Westport, CT.
Statement
I draw, paint, and collage to discover the things for which I do not have words. I savor the slips of the hand that express my unconscious feelings about the subject. My work explores the tension between what needs to be shown and what does not, the visible and the invisible.
In my studio practice I primarily use collage as a formal element, applying it to add tone or erase previous marks. Collage allows me to layer multiple images over the scaffolding of a drawing. The inherent randomness of collage brings secondary meanings from text or images, which becomes integral to the finished work.
I use materials from the subjectís world to create their likeness. This is a modern take on the Renaissance tradition of including iconography in portraiture to illustrate the subjectís attributes, such as books to signify education or tools to symbolize the subjectís trade or craft. Instead of using symbols, as a Renaissance painter would, I collage these portraits using materials and text from the subjectís environment or the popular press.
CV
Education
The Slade School of Fine Art, MFA in Painting 2007
New York Studio School, Certificate in Painting 2004
Albany Law School, JD 1986
Albany Law Review 1984-86
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, BA, 1982
Solo Shows
2023
Voice of the People, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Art Lives Here: Collecting, curated by Connie Lee, Karen Fitzgerald, Alison Cuomo and Jim Richards,
Westbeth Gallery, NYC
The InLiquid Benefit 2024, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Harmony, Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY
2022
Collage portraits by Geoffrey Stein, Artist in Residence at Pace Law School, Pace Law Library, Gerber Glass Building, White Plains, NY
2016
Kings and Queens of Late Night, The Lionheart Gallery, Pound Ridge, NY (Catalogue)
Seen & Unseen, Garment District Space for Public Art, NYC
2013
Geoffrey Stein: A Decade of Portraits, UConn, Stamford Art Gallery, Stamford, CT (Catalogue)
Irrational Exuberance, Lionheart Gallery, Pound Ridge, NY
2007
Working Process: Drawings & Collages by Geoffrey Stein, Goodenough Gallery, Mecklenburgh Square, London
Selected Group Shows
2025
Postcards from the Edge, Visual AIDS, NYC
2024
Voice of the People, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Art Lives Here: Collecting, curated by Connie Lee, Karen Fitzgerald, Alison Cuomo and Jim Richards, Westbeth Gallery, NYC
Harmony, Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY
2023
The New Now VI, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
It is Written, Powell Lane Arts, Collingwood, NJ
The Art of Protest, Stola Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
2022
The Queen, Biafarin, Online exhibition
New York Studio School Alumni Show, online exhibition
Tell Me More About Yourself, Gallery Aferro Newark, NJ
Lost and Found, Carter Burden Gallery, NYC
2021
New York Studio School Alumni Show, online exhibition
Our DNA, Annual Juried Exhibit, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT
Bowery Gallery Juried Exhibit 2021, Juror: Clintel Steed, The Bowery Gallery, online exhibition
Lost & Found: A Personal Vision, New York Artists Circle, online exhibition
Colour/Collage/Poetry, curated by Jo Volley, for Colour & Poetry: A Symposium, online exhibition,
Slade School of Fine Art, London
Neutral Nation, Artfront Galleries, online exhibition
2020
Art Miami @ Artsy, Cynthia Corbett Gallery
Art4Equality, Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness, The Untitled Space, NYC
I Am ..., Self Portrait Show, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT
8 x 8, FLATFILE.GALLERY, online exhibition
Bowery Gallery International Competition, Juror: Janice Nowinski, The Bowery Gallery, online exhibition
Carry On Creativity, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, online exhibition
2019
Group exhibition, Curated by Ines Graham (Minster Gallery), The Sloane Club, London
#CollageNow, Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC
2018
Documented Humans, Curated by Jenny Wu and Michael Holt, Washington DC
Hide & Seek, Juror: Rachel Rickert, Vivid Space SD, San Diego, CA
Nevertheless She Persisted, Love Art Gallery & Studio, South Norwalk, CT
Works On/Of Paper, Brick Red Gallery, New Orleans, LA
HREI‹UR, SIM Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
2017
Single Fare 4, High Line Stages, NYC
Alternative Facts, The Road Gallery, curated by Neil Jacobs, online exhibition
Sight Unseen, curated by Alia El-Bermani, Abend Gallery, Denver, CO
2016
The Portrait Show, Jo Hay Open Studio, Provincetown MA
Artists' and Writers' Benefit, East Hampton, NY
2015
The London Summer Intensive Exhibition, Camden Arts Centre, London
Human Rights Art Exhibition, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
First Street Gallery, National Juried Exhibit, Juror Steven Harvey, NYC
Drawn, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2014
Yesterday's News, Curator: Douglas Ferrari, Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ
Shooting Star CHASE (Children’s Hospice Assoc.), Art Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London (Participated 2007-14)
Bowery Gallery Juried Show, Juror: David Cohen, Bowery Gallery, NYC
Who We Aren't, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
The Face of Portraiture, Curator: Rebecca Wilson, Saatchi Online, online exhibition
2013
Surpassing Edges, SPACEWOMb Gallery, NYC
Drawing Perspectives, Curator: John Anderson, Marlboro Gallery, Prince George's Community College, Largo, MD
8th International Drawing Annual, Published by Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Face to Face: New Portraits, Curator: Rebecca Wilson, Saatchi Online, online exhibition
8th Annual Human Rights Exhibt, The Cooper Center for Communication Arts, South Texas College, McAllen, TX;
Nude Attitude, Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL
Canvas, Oxheart, Brooklyn Lyceum, NY
2012
America: Now and Here, Juror: Eric Fischl, Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL
Saatchi Online Collage Showdown: Top 10, online exhibition, Juror: Wangechi Mutu
2011
New York Studio School Alumni Show, Juror: John Newman, New York Studio School, NYC
Juxtaposed, Juror: Alyssa Monks, Six Summit Gallery, Ivoryton, CT
British Forces Foundation Benefit, Dorchester Hotel, London
2009
Art at the Top, Curated by corbettPROJECTS at the Empire State Building, NYC
Open City, Juror Sean Scully. New York Studio School, NYC
2008
Slick Dessin, Paris, exhibiting with corbettPROJECTS
2007
Scratch, The Docklands, Dublin
SaLon Summer 2007 Show: Works by London’s Top 25 Graduates, SaLon Gallery, London
Slade MA/MFA Degree Show, The Slade School of Fine Art, London
2006
An Exhibition of Slade School Artists Past and Present, Michael Simkins LLP, London
2005
Bowery Gallery Juried Show, Juror: Bill Jensen, Bowery Gallery, NYC
2004
Drawing Conclusions, Juror: Jay Fisher; Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD
2003
Portraiture Salon Style, Curator: curated by Xico Greenwald, Diamantina Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Awards
2017
The Kolaj Magazine National Collage Society Award, 33rd Annual Juried Exhibition by NCS, at Union Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006
Short list, Celeste Art Prize, London
2004
Dean’s Prize, New York Studio School, NY
Selected Press
2023 Door is a Jar Magazine, Issue 28, forthcoming in Fall, 2023
2021 ìRecovering Lawyer Turns to Collageî Blog post by Dan Woog, 06880 Blog, July 30, 2021
2020
If You Want to Paint, Go Paint, Attorney at Law Magazine, February 19, 2020
2019
Collage as a Formal Element, Artists on Art Magazine online, February, 2019
2018
A Lifetime of Making Art, but New to Selling it Online, Amy Zipkin, New York Times, Feb 9, 2018.
2017
From the Law Office to Painting the Stars of Late-Night TV, Paul Grondahl, Albany Law Magazine, Summer 2017.
Geoffrey Stein: Abstraction and Realism, Metal Magazine, Spring 2017.
2016
Spotlight: Geoffrey Stein '82: Portrait of a Portraitist, Mikhail Horowitz, Bardian Magazine, Fall 2016.
If This Art Could Vote, Huffington Post, July 23, 2016
Revealing the Seen and the Unseen, Elizabeth Meade Howard, Streetlight Magazine, Spring, 2016
'Politically Incorrect' Taps Hot Buttons, Jennifer Landes, East Hampton Star, January 28, 2016
2015
Geoffrey Stein's Portraits Are Made Using Collage And Paint, Mutant Space, August 17, 2015
2014
Geoffrey Stein, Portraits of Painting, The Art Blog, April 3, 2014
2013
Landau, Lauren, Art Beat With Lauren Landau, WAMU, August 19, 2013, online
2012
Vartanian, Hrag, Talk Back Tuesday, Hyperallergic Labs, December 5, 2012, online
Hartigan, Philip A., A View From the Easel, Pt. 26, Hyperallergic.com, September 26, 2012, online
Chayka, Kyle, Summer Fridays for Art in conjunction with Tumblr Storyboard and Artinfo, August 24, 2012, online
2007
“The Water Cooler,” Times of London, July 23, 2007, online
“Working Process: Drawings & Collages by Geoffrey Stein”, Goodenough Gallery— essay by Adelina Vlas
Talks & Panels
2023
Perspectives in Art and Law: A Conversation with Dean Horace Anderson, Haub School of Law at Pace University, White Plains, NY, March 23, 2023
2020
What's the Story with Kim Berns, Rye TV, July 6, 2020
2019
Interview on ”What’s the Story with Kim Berns,” Podcast, The Rye Record, July 15, 2019
2018
Kim Berns and Meredith Bach, “Anything Goes with Kim Berns,” Selling Art Online, Interview, 1490 WGCH, Greenwich, CT, May 3, 2018
SIM Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland, Artist Talk, January 16, 2018
2017
“Power to... The Art of Protest,” Flag Art Foundation, UCL Alumni Panel Discussion, June, 2017
2016
Joe Donahue “Roundtable,” Interview, WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, Albany, New York,
December 12, 2016
2014 Kim Berns and Bonnie Levison, “ Anything Goes with Kim Berns,” Second Acts, Interview, 1490 WGCH, Greenwich, CT, March 5, 2014
2012
New York Studio School Alumni Exhibition Panel Discussion, New York Studio School, NYC
2010 “Don’t go in there:” Painting in the Slade Life Room 2003-07, talk for conference on art education, University College London, London
2007
Focus on Drawing, talk on drawing as part of a studio practice, The Slade School of Fine Art, London
Residencies
Artist in Residence, Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, White Plains, NY, 2022
SÍM Residency, Reykjavík, Iceland, January, 2018
The London Summer Intensive, Slade School of Fine Art, August 2015
Artist in Residence, Governor’s Island, NY. National Park Service Program, Summer – Fall 2005
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, July 2004
Public Collections
Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, White Plains, NY
New York Historical Society, NYC
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Goodenough College, London
Slade School of Fine Art Archive, London
University College London Library, London
New York Studio School Library, NYC