Ted Stamm's Wooster Paintings Reexamined in 2018 Lisson Gallery Exhibition

Lisson Gallery in New York presented a 2018 exhibition of Ted Stamm's Wooster paintings from March 9 to April 14, offering new interpretative clarity to works previously shown at Documenta 6 and major museums. Stamm, who died in 1984, developed these distinctive rectangular forms with triangular hinges beginning in 1978 after discovering an unknown sidewalk shape near his New York loft. The paintings evolved from static compositions to dynamic works suggesting movement, exemplified by 1979 Lo Wooster graphite studies that optically incite leftward motion. Curator Per Jensen's advocacy helped revive interest in Stamm's work, which had been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum, MoMA – PS 1, and Rose Art Museum. The exhibition featured modular variations like 78 W – 4 and 78 SW – 22, oil on canvas works from 1978 that demonstrate scale shifts and black band enclosures. By 1980, Stamm expanded his practice beyond traditional painting, placing "Wooster Designations" stickers on parked cars throughout New York to transmit his visual language across the city. In 1982, he sent cards proclaiming "Painting Advance 1990," predicting painting's evolution toward higher sensory cognition before his premature death. The show revealed Stamm's progression from spatial reduction to kinetic engagement with urban time through his distinctive black-and-white geometric forms.