Lucas Samaras

Defying historical classification, Lucas Samaras’s body of work is unified by its steadfast exploration of the body and psyche, frequently centering on autobiography. The theme of self-portrayal and identity has been a central motif in his practice, which emerged in the early 1960s, pushing the boundaries of Surrealist conventions while diverging sharply from the prevailing themes of Abstract Expressionism and Pop art.

Biography of Lucas Samaras

Lucas Samaras was born in 1936 in Kastoria, Macedonia, Greece. He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1948, settling in West New York, New Jersey. Samaras pursued his education at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he studied under Allan Kaprow and George Segal. He later attended Columbia University in New York, studying art history under Meyer Schapiro.

During this period, Samaras's exploration of self began with painting self-portraits from both the front and back using a mirror. He was drawn to pastels for their quick application, allowing him to delve into figurative and geometric forms in vibrant colors and lush textures, qualities that would persist in his works. His focus later shifted to creating assemblage reliefs and boxes using items gathered from his surroundings and local stores—such as cutlery, nails, mirrors, brightly colored yarn, and feathers—affixed with liquid aluminum or plaster.

His debut New York exhibition took place at Reuben Gallery in 1959. His involvement there and participation in Happenings connected Lucas Samaras with artists like Jim Dine, Red Grooms, and Claes Oldenburg. In 1961, Samaras introduced his assemblage boxes at Green Gallery in New York.

Samaras joined Pace Gallery in 1965, showcasing his works created between 1960 and 1966, including his renowned "Room No. 2 (Mirrored Room)". His first major solo exhibition took place at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1969, and his first international museum exhibition was held at the Kunstverein Museum in Hanover in 1970. By the mid-1970s, he received his first large-scale commission, "Silent Struggle," in New Orleans.

In 1969, Samaras began to explore photography more extensively, initially with a Polaroid 360 camera, drawn to its immediacy. His experimentation continued with the Polaroid SX-70 in 1973, blending self-portraiture and abstraction through the manipulation of wet-dye emulsions with a stylus or fingertip before they fully developed. By 2002, he embraced digital technology, incorporating Photoshop as a vital tool in his practice. These innovations paved the way for "Photofictions" (2003), a series characterized by distorted self-portraits and psychedelic compositions.