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Steven S. Powers and Joshua Lowenfels have a shared gallery on the Lower East Side at 53 Stanton Street. We exhibit a Venn diagram of Outsider, Self-Taught & Contemporary Works of Art. We are three minutes from The New Museum, and 70 other galleries on the Lower East Side.
HOURS: Thursday - Sunday, 12:00 - 6:00 pm or by appointment.
Phone: +1 917-518-0809

JOSEPH SIGG: STORIED STEEL

These hanging machined steel sculptures by Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999) are a singular body of work. These metal meditations are entirely his own. Though little biographical information is known about Joseph Anthony Sigg, he was born in Germany and came to Pittsburgh at 23 in 1926. He married Grace Schmitt in 1935 and worked as a maintenance man at the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. 

These humble details, however, understate what was likely an advanced education in mathematics and mechanical engineering, not to mention a mastery of machining steel. In Germany, the Bauhaus aesthetics and principles were all around him, and the landmark International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was held in Paris the year before he emigrated.

The Machine-Age Exposition was held in New York in 1927, and the Museum of Modern Art exhibited Machine Art in 1934. These coincided with the American Precisionist movement, in which artists captured industrial and urban landscapes with sharply defined geometric structures.

As the Precisionists were on the outside looking in, Joseph Sigg was on the inside looking out from his workbench in the urban steel town of Pittsburgh. He was in the heart of it!

Most of these objects of personal regalia are sculptures that share the rigid architecture of a simple triangle and a 5" wide bar seeded with 19 holes that sow his imagination.

Many include tools of a trade, including hammers, knives, shears, scales, and pulleys meticulously rendered on a precise scale. He incorporates variations of the Christian cross, the Jewish Star of David, and the Egyptian ankh. Titans of science and mathematics are imagined as stainless steel tableaus to Archimedes, Isaac Newton, and Thomas Edison. FDR is memorialized, and a keg tap symbolizes the end of prohibition. Flora and fauna are scattered throughout, with birds, scarabs, spiders, and butterflies on flowers, leaves, and sheaves of wheat. 

Oh, and did I mention that he has a half-dozen patents to his name? Many of which relate to toy ray guns from the 1940s and 50s. However, it does not look like he benefited financially from these patents. 

It is unclear when Sigg was inspired to create these stories in steel or when he retired from doing so, but a couple are dated to the 1950s. Though he lived until 96, dying in Pittsburgh in 1999, it's likely that they all date to the mid-twentieth century. 

Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 
Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Inquire
Steven S. Powers | Joshua Lowenfels -  - Viewing Room - Outsider Art Fair OVR

Mark Landersman
was born into a Jewish immigrant family in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His mother was related to Boris Thomashevsky (star of Yiddish theatre), and his father trained as an architect. However, despite his father’s formal education, he and his family worked in the garment industry like many Jewish immigrants when they arrived in America.

Mark married Pearl Antonier, worked in the garment industry, and became a buyer, merchandiser, and creator of design concepts.

In 1954, Mark began painting with gouache while recuperating from an operation. Over the next 30 years, Landersman experimented with abstract and representational paintings while continuing to work in the garment industry until his retirement at the age of 80. He continued to paint until his death at 89.

The works herein are his most original and abstract. He combines complex patterning and structures with inventive architecture—they appear to be informed by the lights, energy, and pace of the commute between Brooklyn and Manhattan. One cannot help but relate these to his father’s lost profession. 

For Landersman, these were a private pursuit, and he never sought to show or sell them. To this end, these works have never been seen outside the family until now.

 

Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing

Untitled, 1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing

Untitled, 1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing

Untitled, 1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

Inquire

This highly complex drawing relates to the Millerite movement, which foresaw the Second Coming of Christ on March 21, 1944. The drawing consists of intricate, symmetrically arranged combinations of geometric patterns, manicules pointing to important information, illustrations of chains, and numerous biblical references and names.

William Miller (1782-1849) and his followers believed the Second Coming would occur on March 21, 1844, followed by a new age on March 22, 1844. The drawing is profusely documented with biblical prophecy and the future apocalypse, referencing sacred numbers like “44” and various Christian churches, including the Shakers.

The drawing comprises four panels of complex geometric patterns, with fractal-like depictions of circles and triangular spaces inscribed with biblical verses. The first line of the complex side reads, “I wish you would tell me, Sir, what you mean by drawing this figure that looks like a chain.”

This line appears above a chain linking three columns of 22 books, each from the Old and New Testaments. References at the feet of the columns relate to the 22nd chapter of Matthew and Revelations—a chain at the bottom links the Bible and the Jews and Gentiles.

Many biblical references relate to a 50-year Jubilee, specifically Leviticus 25:10. Notably, the number “44” is found at the center of the drawing and in the list of Bible books at the bottom. The drawing also references Revelation 4:4 and implicitly 1844.

The drawing depicts 24 circles from a center circle labeled “Throne.” At the bottom right is a heart-shaped field filled with references to Jacob and Joseph, with drawings of the sun and moon.

On the left side of the verso is “March 22 Day, 1844,” the first day of the new dispensation. The drawing references Andrew Jackson and John Tyler, predicting Tyler’s future resignation.

The year 1844 is cited four times, with poetical verses surrounding this portion of the drawing. The center of the large circle has the word “SHAKER” lettered in six smaller circles, naming six Protestant denominations.

The drawing reminds me of Shaker drawings at the American Folk Art Museum, which include heart-shaped forms and enigmatic lettering. “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” may refer to Zechariah 14, which inspired many apocalyptic prophecies. Below the “Holiness” circle is a heart-shaped field with a banner reading “The United States of America—1844.”

Leroy Person
Born in 1907, Leroy Person was an African American artist from Mud Castle of Occoneechee Neck, North Carolina. Raised on sharecropped farmland, Person worked his adult life at a sawmill and retired due to work-related respiratory issues.

After retirement, Person began carving into fence posts, the clapboards, and moldings of his house. With encouragement from a neighbor, he started creating freestanding sculptural works made with discarded wood that he carved and then colored with wax crayons.

Person’s art is clearly an extension of the African cultural diaspora, yet his work is fully singular. It doesn’t look like anyone else’s, and no one else’s looks quite like his.

His carved pieces of wood are dense with incised geometric and organic leaf and tree-like patterns, circles that are said to represent the sun and saw blades, and chiseled images of wrenches that hark back to his sawmill days are sometimes scattered within the overall designs.

His work often has freestanding or vertical elements that he put onto tableaus, representing reductive interpretations of snakes and farm animals, like hens and roosters. Person would also sometimes whittle numbers and letters representing a symbolic language known only to him and his family. He used ordinary crayons as one would, in a formal sense, use encaustic wax—heavily worked and rubbed into the chip-carved wood surface that gives it a sheen and surface quite different than paint. Person’s work is deceptively simple and the more time one spends with it the subtle complexities, sophisticated forms and sublime nature of the works come through.

Among others, Person’s work is in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian, The American Folk Art Museum, and The High Museum in Atlanta.
Provenance: Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1986; Private Southern Collection.

 

Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”
Price: on request

 
Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”
Price: on request

 

Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”
Price: on request

 

Inquire

Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
 

$6,800.00

 

 

Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
 

$6,800.00

 

 

Inquire

Prophet Royal Robertson

The Prophet Royal Robertson was forever scorned by thoughts of infidelity by his wife Adell. A sign painter by trade, Robertson created an environment around his house with hundreds of misogynistic signs as well as signs relating to the Bible and interplanetary space travel.

James Son Ford

James 'Son Ford' Thomas was a remarkable American folk artist known for his distinctive and deeply personal approach to art.

Born in 1929 in Mississippi, Thomas spent much of his life working as a laborer before discovering his passion for creating art in his later years. His art was deeply rooted in his African American heritage and his experiences growing up in the American South. Thomas primarily worked with "gumbo" clay which is unfired and was sourced locally in Leland, Mississippi.

His work reflected his unique perspective on life, spirituality, and the human condition. His work often featured references to the blues music that he was also known for. Thomas was included in the seminal exhibit, Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, January 15, 1982 - May 15, 1983, and his work is part of numerous private and public museum collections.

Provenance: From a Texas collection

James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

 
James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

 

James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

 

Inquire

Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”

$6,800.00

Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”

$6,800.00

Inquire

Brigid Berlin

Brigid Berlin (1939-2020), Andy Warhol’s bestie, was best known for her film work with Warhol in the 60s and her documentary Polaroids. However, in the late 1990s/early 2000s, she created bold needlepoint pillows of contemporary New York Post covers. Combining a pop sensibility and a “woman’s craft” on a comfortable domestic object, Berlin gave quiet permanence to the sensationalist but ephemeral news cycle. I think they are the best things she did—I love them.

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask
This enigmatic mask was made for a working beekeeper around the turn of the 20th century. Now, a hundred-plus years later, it is considered among the most compelling Folk Art masks we have ever seen. 

Made primarily of painted and unpainted heavy-gauge canvas supported by a welded metal cage, riveted mesh eyes, and a copper nose, its bird-like visage is both haunting and mysterious. 

With the mask placed over the head, the hood flares out over the shoulders and makes us think of a pop culture superhero or villain. That said, it also reminds us of historic 17th-century plague masks from Middle Europe.

Maker Unknown
American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Maker Unknown
American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Inquire

Available Works from Steven S. Powers | Joshua Lowenfels

Content-A Thumbnails
Mark Landersman (1896 - 1985)

Neon at the Docks, 1984

Gouache on paper

15" x 22 3/8" (sight) / 21" x 28" (framed)
$2,800.00 each
Mark Landersman (1896 - 1985)

Neon at the Docks, 1984

Gouache on paper

15" x 22 3/8" (sight) / 21" x 28" (framed)
$2,800.00 each

Mark Landersman (1896 - 1985)

Neon at the Docks, 1984

Gouache on paper

15" x 22 3/8" (sight) / 21" x 28" (framed)
$2,800.00 each

Inquire
Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 
Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Inquire
Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
$6,800.00
 
Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
$6,800.00
 

Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
$6,800.00
 

Inquire
Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”

Price on request
Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”

Price on request

Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”

Price on request

Inquire
Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”
$6,800.00

 

Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”
$6,800.00

 

Inquire
Unknown Millerite 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing,1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 
Unknown Millerite 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing,1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

Unknown Millerite 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing,1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

Inquire
James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

Inquire
Maker Unknown
Dreamscape, c. 1930-40
Oil on Masonite with wire hanger
23” x 17-1/2
$3,400
Maker Unknown
Dreamscape, c. 1930-40
Oil on Masonite with wire hanger
23” x 17-1/2
$3,400

Maker Unknown
Dreamscape, c. 1930-40
Oil on Masonite with wire hanger
23” x 17-1/2
$3,400

Inquire
Maker Unknown

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800
Maker Unknown

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Maker Unknown

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Inquire
Mark Landersman (1896 - 1985)

Neon at the Docks, 1984

Gouache on paper

15" x 22 3/8" (sight) / 21" x 28" (framed)
$2,800.00 each

Mark Landersman (1896 - 1985)

Neon at the Docks, 1984

Gouache on paper

15" x 22 3/8" (sight) / 21" x 28" (framed)
$2,800.00 each

Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Joseph Sigg (1903 - 1999)
C. 1950

Stainless Steel

5" (w) x +/- 7" (h)
$3,800.00 each

 

Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
$6,800.00
 

Prophet Royal Robertson (1930-1997)

“Though Shall Not Go Whoring”, c. 1993

Marker on poster board

22” x 28”
$6,800.00
 

Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”

Price on request

Leroy Person (1907 - 1985)

Bench, c. 1978

24" x 35" x 14”

Price on request

Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”
$6,800.00

 

Brigid Berlin (1939 - 2020)

BAD LAY, c. 2006

Needlepoint pillow of New York Post cover

Size: 13” x 16”
$6,800.00

 

Unknown Millerite 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing,1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

Unknown Millerite 
Double Sided Geometric Spiritualist (Millerite) Drawing,1844
Ink on Paper

12 1/2” x 15 1/2”

 

James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

James “Son Ford” Thomas (1916-1993)
Bust of a Woman, 1982
Painted sun dryed clay, human Hair & plastic beads
7” x 5” x 3” in 
$5,300

Maker Unknown
Dreamscape, c. 1930-40
Oil on Masonite with wire hanger
23” x 17-1/2
$3,400

Maker Unknown
Dreamscape, c. 1930-40
Oil on Masonite with wire hanger
23” x 17-1/2
$3,400

Maker Unknown

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Maker Unknown

American Folk Art Beekeeper's Mask, c. 1900-1920

Size: 30" (h)

$9,800

Steven S. Powers | Joshua Lowenfels 

53 Stanton Street
New York, NY 10002
+1 917-518-0809
+1 914 715 1061
steve@stevenspowers.com
stevenspowers.com

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