Sam Friedman

Sam Friedman

Sam Friedman moves between representational and abstract depictions with seeming ease and spontaneity. A pivotal moment in the artist’s work stems from his experience of walking towards the sunset during an oncoming storm. This personal encounter of induced visual clarity prompted the artist to create his ‘beach paintings’, which have become a hallmark of his work. Friedman is interested in an exploration that breaks down and rebuilds natural landscapes, which he achieves through his use of line, pattern, texture, and bright color. After graduating from commercial art studies at The Pratt Institute, Friedman worked with clients such as Nike and The New York Times and spent his free time painting. He eventually moved on to work for other artists, and spent four years as an assistant to KAWS; this hunger to learn from the best has given him many tools, techniques and materials that he has kept with him as he has made a name for himself. Friedman’s works vary in size - from giant to 12x12 in. - with the smaller often working together to create a larger composition. He is an artist who paints intuitively and is known to work in black and white during difficult times, though vivid colors are most often his mood and palette of choice. 

Sam Friedman’s works have been exhibited in solo and group shows at galleries across the US, and has painted murals in Detroit and Brooklyn. 

B. 1984, Oneonta, New York; based in Beacon, New York