Draft:Stephan Lupino
Croatian photographer, sculptor and painter
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Stephan Lupino (born Ivan Lepen, 28 April 1952) is a Croatian photographer, sculptor, and painter. He is the founder of Lupinizam (Lupinism), an artistic movement characterised by monumental sculpture, large-format painting, and themes of mortality, power, and the human condition.[1]
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April 28, 1952
Stephan Lupino | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ivan Lepen April 28, 1952 |
| Known for | Photography, sculpture, painting, Lupinizam |
| Notable work | Fire Woman, Power Thrones, Another World series |
| Awards | Tošo Dabac Award (2011) |
| Website | stephanlupino |
Lupino rose to international prominence in the 1980s as a nightlife and fashion photographer in New York City, where he documented the downtown club scene at venues including Area and The World. His work was published in Vogue, Stern, Playboy, Details, and other international publications.[2] Since the 2000s, his practice has expanded to include large-scale bronze and metal sculpture, painting, and furniture as artistic object.[1]
Early life and education
Ivan Lepen was born in Varaždin in northern Croatia on 28 April 1952.[3] As a young man he was an accomplished athlete, competing in wrestling and whitewater kayak slalom. From the age of sixteen he practised karate, and in 1972 became unofficial world champion in the Nambu Sankukai style at a championship in Paris.[4]
Lupino lived in Rome in the mid-1970s, where he worked as a bodyguard. He subsequently moved to London to study English, and at the end of 1979 relocated to New York City, where he enrolled at the Stella Adler Conservatory to study acting.[5] He briefly worked as a fashion model before turning to photography.[1]
Photography career
New York nightlife (1983–1991)
In New York, Lupino was noticed by the photographer Deborah Turbeville, who became his mentor and inspired him to take up photography.[5] He was given his first professional opportunity by Annie Flanders, editor of the avant-garde magazine Details, for which he documented New York's downtown art and club scene from approximately 1983 to 1991.[1]
He was closely associated with the nightclub Area (1983–1987), the successor to Studio 54, where he set up an improvised portrait studio in the ante-room of the women's bathroom.[6] Contemporary accounts described him during this period as "the downtown Helmut Newton".[7] He also photographed extensively at The World.[8]
His photograph of Jean-Michel Basquiat at Area (1985) is among his most widely reproduced images.[6] At the launch party for his book The World (1988), attendees included Frank Zappa, Christopher Walken, and Mick Jagger.[8]
Return to Croatia and the Croatian War of Independence
At the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, Lupino returned to Croatia.[9] The war had a profound effect on his artistic direction. He turned increasingly toward themes of human suffering and vulnerability, and undertook humanitarian work, beginning with documentary photography of children with special needs. His 2003 project Moji anđeli (My Angels) was toured throughout Croatia, with proceeds donated to the Klaić Children's Hospital in Zagreb.[10]
Sculpture, painting, and Lupinizam
In the post-war period, Lupino began working extensively in sculpture and painting. His sculptures are large-scale works in bronze, forged metal, and found wood, often weighing several hundred kilograms. His paintings are large-format acrylics frequently executed as relief works on wood.[1] The curator Jasmina Bavoljak, writing for Lupino's 2018 retrospective at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, described him as an artist who "persistently, obsessively, consistently and energetically, day after day for many years, produces works striking in their ferocity, but also their simplicity, directness and sincerity".[1]
The term Lupinizam was coined by the Croatian art critic Branka Hlevnjak at a 2012 exhibition in Zadar, to describe Lupino's distinctive style, which she characterised as simultaneously modern, timeless, and carrying traces of classicism.[4] The term was subsequently adopted by cultural commentators and institutions.[11]
Notable works
- Fire Woman – A monumental bronze sculpture installed at the Domenico Vacca gallery on Fifth Avenue in New York City, where it served as the centrepiece of the flagship opening in 2016.[12]
- Power Thrones – A series of sculptural chairs representing historical tyrants.
- Another World – A series of large bronze figures.
- Katehon – A major sculptural work referencing the theological concept of the force that restrains the world from dissolution.[13]
- Adriatic Sea Stone Collection – Found stones from the Croatian Adriatic coast, sculpted and painted to bring out anthropomorphic qualities.
Selected exhibitions
Lupino has exhibited at major institutional venues in Croatia and internationally.[10] Selected exhibitions include:
| Year | Exhibition | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Lupino in Prague | Burgraves House, Prague Castle | Prague, Czech Republic |
| 2007 | Beautiful Creatures | Moderna Galerija | Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2015 | Against Social Exclusiveness | Tifoloski Museum | Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2016 | Exhibition (alongside Picasso and Chagall) | State Gallery | Split, Croatia |
| 2016 | Fire Woman installation | Domenico Vacca Art Gallery, Fifth Avenue | New York, USA |
| 2016–17 | Eighties in New York | Galerija Fotografija | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| 2018 | Retrospective (35th anniversary) | Klovićevi Dvori Gallery | Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2019 | Exhibition | Café Europa | Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2021 | Art in a Maelstrom of Passion, Unrest and Tension | Gliptoteka, HAZU | Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2022 | Lupinizam | Muzej Međimurja | Čakovec, Croatia |
| 2025 | Lupinizam by Stephan Lupino | Galerija Matice Hrvatske | Zagreb, Croatia |
The 2018 retrospective at Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, Croatia's largest gallery institution, was curated by Jasmina Bavoljak and opened by the Mayor of Zagreb.[3][14] Following the exhibition's success, works by Lupino entered the gallery's permanent collection.[9] In 2021, he held a major solo exhibition at the Gliptoteka of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.[10]
Film
Lupino has directed advertising films, music videos, and art films. His directing credits include Ako umrem mlad (1993), Pume (1993), and Vineta (1993).[15]
Publications
- Lupino – En Avant (1988)
- The World: 254 E. 2nd Street N.Y. City (Graphics Photos Art, Munich, 1988)
- Zagreb živi (1994)
- Moji anđeli (2003)
- Area 1983–1987 (2013)
- Stephan Lupino (exhibition catalogue, Galerija Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb, 2018, 102 pp.)[16]
- Art in a Maelstrom of Passion, Unrest and Tension (2021)
Awards and recognition
- Tošo Dabac Award (2011), awarded by Foto Klub Zagreb, the oldest photography club in Croatia.[1]
- Named one of ten defining figures of New York's 1980s–90s nightlife by Paper magazine.[7]
- Work held in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb.[2]
- Work entered the permanent collection of Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, Zagreb (2019).[9]
- Featured in Interview magazine's oral histories of Area (2018) and Jean-Michel Basquiat at Area (2024).[6][8]
- Portrait of Deborah Turbeville by Lupino used by Pace Gallery in 2024 exhibition materials.[17]
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