Steve Lambert

born 1976, Los Angeles, USA | lives and works Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, USA

He received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2001 and a MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2006. He works with issues of advertising and the use of public space. He is a founder of the Anti-Advertising Agency, an artist-run initiative which critiques advertising through artistic interventions. Lambert’s artistic practice includes drawing, performance, intervention, culture jamming, public art, video, and internet art. He collaborated with numerous artists including the Graffiti Research Lab, and the Yes Men. Lambert’s projects have won awards from Prix Ars Electronica, Rhizome/The New Museum, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters, the California Arts Council, and others. His work has been shown at various galleries, and museums both nationally and internationally. He is a Senior Fellow at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology, and teaches at Parsons/The New School and Hunter College.
 
Why do you create art?
For me, art is a bridge that connects uncommon, idealistic, or even radical ideas with everyday life. I carefully craft various conditions where I can discuss these ideas with people and have a mutually meaningful exchange. Often this means working collaboratively with the audience, bringing them into the process or even having them physically complete the work. I want my art to be relevant to those outside the gallery – say, at the nearest bus stop – to reach them in ways that are engaging and fun. I intend what I do to be funny, but at the core of each piece there is also a solemn critique. It’s important to be able to laugh while actively questioning the various power structures at work in our daily lives. I have the unabashedly optimistic belief that art changes the way people look at the world. That belief fuels a pragmatic approach to bring about those changes.