Steven Sorman in the studio at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York, 1996
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: Malcolm LUBLINER

Steven Sorman was born in Minneapolis in 1948. An accomplished painter and printmaker, he began working with Kenneth Tyler at Tyler Graphics in 1984 on a series of collaged prints and monoprints that combined etching, woodcut, drypoint and lithography. Sorman, whose prints are often characterised by the use of unique papers, thrived upon the possibilities offered by the Tyler Graphics paper mill.

He used specialised papers not only as the support for his printed imagery, but also as collaged compositional elements. The resultant works, many of which feature in the Kenneth Tyler Collection, are richly textured and have a painterly effect.
Emilie Owens

Chronology
 

1948
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America

1970
First solo exhibition, Coffman Gallery, University of Minnesota

1971
Receives Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

1974–79
Teaches at Minneapolis College of Art and Design

1975
Included in Biennial exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1978
Completes print Spaces between words a deaf mute sees at Vermillion Editions Ltd., Minneapolis, which receives merit award in 1980 exhibition, World print III, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California

1979
Receives Minnesota State Arts Board and Bush Foundation grants; included in International biennial of graphic art, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

1982
Receives Rockefeller Foundation Studio Fellowship, Paris, France

1983
Included in exhibition, The American artist as printmaker: the 23rd annual print exhibition,Brooklyn Museum, New York City

1984
Completes nine editioned and twenty unique monoprints as well as 14 unique collages assembled from monoprint impressions and painted materials, made at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York; included in exhibition, Prints from Tyler Graphics at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; included in British international print biennial, Bradford, England; Impressions: experimental prints, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond

1985
Completes second group of mixed‑media monoprints edition prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York; included in exhibition, Ken Tyler: printer extraordinary, at Australian National Gallery, Canberra (now National Gallery of Australia)

1986
Included in exhibition, Public and private: American prints today, at 24th National Print Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, New York City

1988
Completes From away mixed-media folding screen at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; included in exhibition, The Combination print: 1980s, New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit

1989
Completes Those from away series of prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; solo exhibition, Vignette: prints by Steven Sorman, at University of Missouri‑Kansas City Gallery of Art; included in exhibition, Ken Tyler: 25 glorious years, Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

1989–90
Included in travelling exhibition, First impressions: early prints by forty-six contemporary artists, originating at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Mind & matter: new American abstraction, organised by World Print Council

1991
Completes Half light series, at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; travelling retrospective exhibition, Steven Sorman: Up to now, 1974–1990, at St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota; included in The Bhrat Bharan international biennial of prints, Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopol, India; Fifth international biennial print exhibit, Taipei, Republic of China

1992
Completes The long year series of mixed-media, hand-coloured prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; included in travelling exhibition Innovation in collaborative printmaking: Kenneth Tyler 1963–1992, originating at Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan

1993
Completes Rumors of virtue,a series of 73 monotype, collage prints on layered handmade Japanese papers, at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; exhibition at Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden; included in 20th international print biennial, International Center of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

1994
Completes Santos-Santeros, a series of mixed-media prints, at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York

1995
Completes the edition Wind shift, at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; included in exhibition, Scene at place and time, The Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1997
Included in exhibitions, Beyond print: masterworks from the Ken Tyler Collection, Dr Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore; Singular impressions (The monotype in America), National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC; A thought intercepted, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa; Printed abstraction: prints from the Tyler Graphics archive collection, Center for Contemporary Art and Tyler Graphics Archive Collection, Fukushima, Japan

1998
Completes Inside weather and Difference in ages series of prints and monoprints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York; included in exhibition, Ken Tyler: printmaker emeritus, Southern Graphics Council Conference, Ohio University, Athens

1999
Completes editions of Change of heart and Each way, as well as an artist book, Lessons from the Russian, illuminating three poems by Lee Blessing, at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York Steven Sorman currently lives and works in Ancram, New York

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further information will be added to this site as the National Gallery proceeds with its research and documentation.

Last updated May 2013