WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Stan VanDerBeek

Stan VanDerBeek

Stan VanDerBeek

American, 1927–1984

WA-00033257

VideoPerformance ArtContemporary

Representation

None documented

0

Institutional Exhibitions

318

Works in Collection

638

Assets Indexed

3

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

70%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

Field Verification (3 fields)

3 cross-verified · 0 single-source

Birth yearDuplicate Merge· 85%✓
Death yearDuplicate Merge· 85%✓
NationalityDuplicate Merge· 85%✓

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/32424
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Stan VanDerBeek was an American filmmaker and visual artist who pioneered experimental cinema and expanded animation into a multisensory, participatory practice. Working from the 1950s onward, he created abstract films, collage-based animations, and immersive environments that treated cinema as a tool for social communication and collective experience rather than passive consumption. His work combined found footage, hand-drawn animation, and sculptural installation, often layered with sound and projection to create what he termed 'expanded cinema.' VanDerBeek's practice anticipated many concerns of contemporary media art, from interactivity to the dissolution of boundaries between film, painting, and performance.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Performance Art

Medium

Video

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (318)

B&W photo of Steam Screens box SV7 Folder, Steam Screens Whitney

1979 · silver gelatin print on photographic paper

10 x 8" (25.4 x 20.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Steam screens concept drawing box SV7, folder: "steam screens/whitney/guggenheim/walker"

1979 · black marker (faded) on paper

10 7/8 x 5 1/2" (27.6 x 14 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Under/Aquarius typewritten explanation, box SV7, folder: "under aquarius dive-in/swim-in"

1976 · typescript copier print on paper

11 x 8 1/2" (27.9 x 21.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Dive in note ("umbrellas"), box SV7 folder: "under aquarius dive-in/swim-in"

1976 · blue ballpoint pen on paper

11 x 8 5/8" (27.9 x 21.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Happy face compass, Box SV7, folder: "cine dreams (notes, promos, articles 1972)"

1972 · black, blue, red marker (faded) on paper

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Xerox Telecopier II fax transmission

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Panels for the Walls of the World: Phase II

1970 · Cut-and-pasted printed papers, spray paint, and pencil

overall: 6 ft 4 1/2 in × 20 ft (194.3 × 609.6 cm); sheet (each): 8 1/2 × 14" (21.6 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 318 artworks →

Artwork sources (2)

318 published of 635 catalogued · 4 with image

MoMA
317 publishedof 634 catalogued4 img
Whitney
1 published

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

"All year long I scrimp and save and pinch pennies and then you blow the whole thing in on your income tax!" (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

"All year long I scrimp and save and pinch pennies and then you blow the whole thing in on your income tax!" (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

4

Movements2

Performance Art Contemporary

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Whitney Museum of American Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet