William Lamson

23 Jul. – 23 Aug. 2026

Photo by Matthew Spiegelman

William Lamson is an interdisciplinary artist whose diverse practice involves working with elemental forces to create durational performative actions. Set in landscapes as varied as New York’s East River and Chile’s Atacama Desert, his projects reveal the invisible systems and forces at play within these sites.  In all of his projects, Lamson’s work represents a performative gesture, a collaboration with forces outside of his control to explore systems of knowledge and belief. Lamson’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States and Europe, including the Brooklyn Musuem, The Moscow Biennial, P.S.1. MOMA, Kunsthalle Erfurt, the Musuem of Contemporary Art, Denver, and Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles. In addition he has produced site specific installations for the Indianapolis Musuem of Art, the Center For Land Use Interpretation, and Storm King Art Center. His work is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Musuem of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and a number of private collections. He has been awarded grants from the Shifting Foundation, the Experimental Television Center, and is a Guggenheim Fellow. His work has appeared in ArtForum, Frieze, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, Harpers, and the Village Voice. William Lamson was born Arlington, Virginia and lives in Brooklyn, New York. He earned his MFA from Bard College, and he teaches in the Parsons MFA photography program and at the School of Visual Arts.

William Lamson, In the Roaring Garden, 2014, Digital C Print, 24 x 40 in

William Lamson, Badwater, 2018, Peristaltic Pumps, timers, hose, aluminum piping, aluminum trays, copper tray’s, speed rail fixtures, Glass, foam, resin, fans, dehumidifier, Variac, acrylic, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, Lemons, fluorescent lights, hot plate, earth from dry lake Harper, water, 84 x 84 x 228 in. Photo from Make Room Gallery, Los Angeles, 2018

William Lamson, Water Offering, 2021-2025, Granite, Sculpture 1: 207 × 68 × 36 in, Sculpture 2: 106 × 114 × 396 in. Public Art Installation (Renderings) commissioned for the Queens Botanical Garden by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

William Lamson, Subterra, 2019, Cement, earth, scaffolding, pumps, timers, hose, aluminum trays, 144 × 110 × 360 in. Commissioned by the Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens NY, 2019.