Steve Roden

steve roden is a visual and sound artist from los angeles. his work includes painting, drawing, sculpture, film/video, sound installation, and performance.

roden's working process uses various forms of specific notation (words, musical scores, maps, etc.) and translates them through self invented systems into scores; which then influence the process of painting, drawing, sculpture, and sound composition. these scores, rigid in terms of their parameters and rules, are also full of holes for intuitive decisions and left turns. the inspirational source material becomes a kind of formal skeleton that the abstract finished works are built upon.

in the visual works, translations of information such as text and maps, become rules and systems for generating visual actions such as color choices, number of elements, and image building. in the sound works, singular source materials such as objects, architectural spaces, and field recordings, are abstracted through humble electronic processes to create new audio spaces, or 'possible landscapes'. the sound works present themselves with an aesthetic roden describes as "lower case'' - sound concerned with subtlety and the quiet activity of listening.

roden has been exhibiting his visual and sound works since the mid 1980's, and has had numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally, including: susanne vielmetter LA and berlin projects, studio la citta gallery verona italy, the mercosur biennial porto alegre brazil, centre georges pompidou paris, the san diego museum of contemporary art, the ucla hammer museum los angeles,the museum of contemporary art EMST athens, and the singuhr-horgalerie in parochial, berlin.

roden has performed his soundworks at various arts spaces and experimental music festivals worldwide including the serpentine gallery london, the san francisco museum of modern art, the walker art center, minneapolis, the dca dundee scotland, as well as performance tours of brazil and japan. he has also released over 20 cds of audio works on labels worldwide.

roden received an mfa from art center college of design in pasadena, ca in 1989, and a bfa from otis parsons in los angeles in 1986. he has taught at numerous institutions including: art center college of design, pasadena; otis college of art los angeles, claremont graduate school pomona; uc santa barbara; ucla los angeles. he has lectured on his work and done studio visits at numerous universities including: harvard university, boston; columbia college, ny; uic, chicago; usc, los angeles; cal arts, los angeles; san francisco art institute; and others. grants and awards include: california community foundation & getty foundation mid career artist fellowship grant; nimoy artist in residence grant; city of los angeles cola award; city of pasadena individual artist grant, durfee foundation grant; california arts council visual artist grant.

recent & upcoming projects include: a site specific collaboration with stephen vitiello for ballroom marfa, and a performance at the chinati foundation; a new audio work commissioned for the james turrell skyspace at the henry museum in seattle; a commissioned film/sound work for the 100th anniversary of edvard grieg's death in oslo norway; a temporary sound, drawing, sculpture, and text installation for thomas u. walter's 1848 building at girard college philadelphia, and a sound performance at the schindler house / mak center for art and architecture, los angeles.

roden recently completed a permanent public art work for havenhurst park in the city of west hollywood, california.

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