Saint Clair Cemin

Who is Saint Clair Cemin?

Saint Clair Cemin is a Brazilian born sculptor and painter. He lives and works in New York City. His work encompasses multiple styles, approaches, and materials, from furniture to toys in popular culture to the history of sculpture.

Cemin became interested in sculpting as a teenager through inspirational conversations with intellectuals in his home city. Once interested in philosophy and physics, he began to focus his attention on art, drawing and working on illustrations for magazines. Cemin earned his degree at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, from 1975-1978 where he learned printmaking for three years. He moved to New York shortly after, where he experimented in several fields as a way of earning an income. From 1981 to 1983, Cemin worked in carpentry renovating lofts in New York, cabinet making, and finally sculpture. The artist's first exhibited sculpture was The Granny Ashtray, which has been described as an anti-modernist piece.

Throughout the 1980s Cemin became an integral part of NY's east village art scene which included a circle of important contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons. Some of his works from this era are on permanent exhibition at important institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.