Dave Stephens

Who is Dave Stephens?

Dave Stephens first came to public attention in the mid-1970s as a performance artist. After leaving Leeds Polytechnic where he studied Fine Art under Jeff Nuttal, Roland Miller and John Darling he joined John Bull Puncture Repair Kit and toured Britain and Europe. On leaving John Bull he teamed up with Ian Hinchliffe to form an ongoing performance relationship which was like a visual and verbal tour through the absurdist imagination of the two performers. By the late 70s Stephens had broken away from other performers to concentrate on his career as a solo performer. Often credited with being one of the forerunners of what was to become innovative alternative comedy his solo work was typified by unique and expressive monologues that had foundations as much in science fiction and Edgar Allan Poe as in the theatre of the absurd and Samuel Beckett. Stephens performed in well over 100 venues throughout his career and toured most of Europe as well as Canada and the USA.

Giving up performance in the mid 80s, Stephens turned his attention to the more formal elements of sculpture. The work from this period and into the 90s explores the interaction between everyday objects such as furniture with the makeshift structures that are created by such creatures as wasps. Largely the work was made up of large structures created from huge piles of small wood chips. He had solo exhibitions at such spaces as the Laing Gallery in Newcastle, Worthing Museum and the Economist Building, London.