Rudi Stern Collection

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Rudi Stern Collection

Indigo Arts is fortunate to represent a portion of the collection of the late multi-media artist and filmmaker Rudi Stern. The works shown here were collected during the six years that Stern lived in Haiti in the 1980s and 1990s. During that time Stern made 14 documentary films, including Haiti: Killing the Dream in 1992.

Rudi Stern (Rudolph George Stern 1936-2006)

Per wikipedia:

Stern was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Bard College in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in studio arts and from University of Iowa in 1960 with a master's degree.[1][2] He also studied painting with Oskar Kokoschka and Hans Hofmann.[1][3]

In the mid-1960s he moved to New York City, where he met the poet and artist Jackie Cassen. They collaborated on multimedia installations of kinetic art, including the "Psychedelic Celebration Number One" for LSD advocate Timothy Leary,[3] and installations at the Electric Circus nightclub.[1]

In 1972, he founded Let There Be Neon,[2] a studio and gallery in New York.[1] He designed and produced neon pieces for the Broadway show, Kiss of the Spider Woman,[4] and other art and music performances, as well as commercial signs.[1]

Together with Katharine Kean, he directed the 1992 documentary Haití: Killing the Dream, starring Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[5]

Between 1999 and 2001, his multimedia installation "Theater of Light" was shown at multiple locations in New York and New Jersey. The installation involved several screens, more than 30 projectors and "surrounded audience members with densely layered, constantly changing images, intricately choreographed to music."[1]

Stern died in 2006 at his home in Cadiz, Spain, from complications of lung cancer.[1]

Works in Collection

"Shelltex" Haitian Recycled Tin Can Vehicle

SKU: HSCP-2107

Anonymous Haitian Artist

Haiti

Artist unknown. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This piece was made by a Haitian recycler artist at about the time of the 1994 US-led invasion of Haiti which returned Aristide to power.
Mixed media (tin insecticide and other cans, wire, rubber, paint, etc.) with vintage dust included.
(9 1/4” h. x 5 1/2” w. x 14 /2” d.), c. 1994
Ex. collection of Rudi Stern.

Note: this is a vintage piece collected almost thirty years ago, and displayed by the collector. Some wear and chipping of paint is to be expected.

Provenance:

Rudi Stern Collection

$175