Lucas Samaras

(b Kastoria, Greece, 14 Sept 1936). American painter, sculptor and photographer of Greek birth. He emigrated to West New York, NJ, in 1948 and graduated from Rutgers University in 1959. He participated in the earliest Happenings, and he studied art history with Meyer Schapiro (b 1904) and acting at the Stella Adler Studio Theater. In 1960, he created the first of his well-known boxes, for example Box No. 3, 1962-1963 (New York, Whitney). His choice of media ranged from the sensuous to the menacing, and he preferred opulent textures and colours. Tacks, pins and shards of glass encrusted such early works as Book #4 (Dante's Inferno) (1962; New York, MOMA). Always self-referential, he first secreted a photograph of himself in early boxes and constructions. On moving to New York in 1964 he created another unconventional self-portrait: a gallery installation, Room, inspired by his claustrophobic New Jersey bedroom.

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Samaras, Lucas (b. 1936), Greek-American painter, sculptor, photographer, and performance and object artist. In the 1960s he took part in ‘happenings’ in the orbit of Allan Kaprow and the Fluxus movement. He also became known at this time for his photosculptures. In 1973 he found that the wet dyes of Polaroid prints were easy to manipulate, leading to his ‘Photo-Transformations’, or distorted self-portraits. These images are usually more grotesque than flattering, the product of an ongoing process he calls ‘professional self-investigation’. Samaras has taught and exhibited widely since the 1960s, and his career epitomizes the late 20th-century convergence between photography and ‘fine’ art.

— Lisa Ann Lavender

Bibliography

• Lifson, B., The Photographs of Lucas Samaras (1987)