Sam Samore USA, b. 1953

Sam Samore (b. 1953, Ann Arbor, USA) lives and works between New York, Paris, and Bangkok. A pioneer of large-scale conceptual photography since the 1980s, Samore’s multifaceted practice as an artist, storyteller, and poet explores themes of myth, beauty, voyeurism, and existential drama.

Sam Samore is renowned for his enigmatic images of anonymous faces and his large-scale post-conceptual photography. His signature style features oversized black-and-white or colored close-up photographs that focus on anonymous faces, lips, or eyes, evoking a sense of otherworldly mysticism. By employing blurred focus and coarse grain, he intensifies the abstraction in his work, exploring ideas of psychological, spatial, and thematic dislocation. This approach aligns with his broader investigation of postmodern challenges, where the notion of the "self" is fluid and no longer fixed or clearly defined.

Deeply influenced by the fairy tales of his childhood, Samore’s work mines both conscious and subconscious experiences tied to love, death, and beauty. His enigmatic series, such as Allegories of Beauty (Incomplete) (1990s) and Situations (1980s), showcase fractured, poetic narratives that defy traditional storytelling. Using his "cinemascope" technique, he stages cinematic and macabre scenes—sometimes playing both actor and director—to examine the psychology of the anti-hero and the discontinuity of identity, often using the face as a mask. Samore's oeuvre incorporates a range of media, including text-based installations, sound pieces, and videos. His works often draw on literary devices, myths, and the aesthetics of La Nouvelle Vague, with a distinctive narrative quality akin to film storyboards and fables.

Samore’s compositions blend cinematic influences, like Ingmar Bergman and Jean-Luc Godard, with the painterly intensity of Caravaggio and fauvist color palettes. His work bridges painting and cinema, emphasizing narration, character development, and the suspension of disbelief. Recent pieces incorporate vivid coloration and moments of detachment or repose, while others charge with kinetic agitation. Characteristic of his entire oeuvre is the mesmerizing, incomplete quality of his work, compelling viewers to engage longer and leave space for personal reflection.

 

Since the 1990s, Samore has exhibited internationally at institutions such as Kunsthalle Zürich, Fondation Cartier in Paris, MoMA PS1 in New York, Casino Luxembourg, and De Appel in Amsterdam. Recent solo exhibitions include Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (2015), Capitain-Petzel, Berlin (2012), and D’Amelio Terras, New York (2011). His films have been screened at the Rockbund Museum in Shanghai, Anthology Film Archives in New York, and the Locarno Film Festival. Among his most notable works are The Suicidist (1973), Situations (1980s), Allegories of Beauty (Incomplete) (1990s), and Scenarios (2007). Samore has also published four books of short stories, further reflecting his enduring fascination with narrative, myth, and the human psyche.