Stephen Paul Day

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Stephen Paul Day

American, born 1954

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Birth LocationAmes, Iowa

Active InNew Orleans, Louisiana

Active InBerlin, Germany

BiographyStephen Paul Day was born in Ames, Iowa in 1954 and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where his father taught inorganic chemistry. The opportunity to attend high school in Vienna, Austria during his sophomore year instilled in him an ability to connect artistic quality with historical relevance – a concept that would later become paramount in his creative practice.

Day never doubted his artistic calling. A committed modern romantic and disillusioned with his then provincial exposure to art, he pursued studies in lithography at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France intentionally turning towards Europe to escape the minimalist approach he found prevalent in the United States. Though somewhat tainted by youthful vision, Day longed for an existential experience and flourished in France. Here he discovered and studied with Bernard Allain, a master craftsman in architectural glass who was famous for many sites including the painted windows produced for Henri Matisse at Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence.

He left Paris in 1982 to complete an MFA in glass at Louisiana State University and, in 1985, was awarded a residency at the Experimental Glass Workshop in New York City. In New York he developed a signature technique of French glass painting coupled with glass casting— a technique which expressed his internal belief that idea and narrative are equally important partners in the creation of his work. His exhibitions Kryptonite Lies (1987) and Robber Barons (1990) cemented his position as an artist in New York City where he remained for the next six years.

In the following years, Day traveled extensively. He participated in numerous lectures, exhibitions, and residencies, including an emerging artist award from the Pilchuck School of Glass, where he taught for five years and worked with the German studio glass pioneer, Erwin Eisch.

In 1988 he was invited to help develop a summer program, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, Germany, the brainchild of Eisch. He remains an instructor and advisor of the school to the present. In 1990 he met his wife Sibylle Peretti (see TMA 2019.22) and created the collaborative team, Club S+S. Together, their work has taken them around the world as resident artists and they have exhibited in Japan, France, Germany, the United States, and Mexico. These journeys include residencies at WheatonArts, Arts and Industry/John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and the Freies Museum Berlin. Their museum exhibitions include Remix (2014) at the Speed Museum, 1822 (2002) at the CAC in New Orleans, and Spielplatz (2008) at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Day lives and works in New Orleans and Berlin, Germany. He is an avid seeker of the curious and wonderful, deriving pleasure by creating works deeply motivated by a sense of connection to history and traditional skills.

(With some excerpts from Stephen Paul Day)

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