For the past three decades, artist, musician, and composer Stephen Prina has developed a singular and irreverent approach to installations, films, and musical performances. Prina frequently mixes disparate cultural references—Joni Mitchell songs, Robert Bresson films, Glenn Gould recordings, Édouard Manet paintings—presenting them in various exhibition contexts to surface new meanings and associations.
Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise will be the first in-depth survey to focus on the artist’s performances, drawing out a central theme in his work: time, and the way it shifts cultural values. Unfolding across multiple locations in the Museum, including the Kravis Studio, the exhibition includes restagings of works such as Sonic Dan (1994–2001), and new works such as A Lick and a Promise (2025), an orchestral commission for 13 instruments, culminating in a pop concert. This survey offers an opportunity to celebrate Prina’s innovative approach to appropriation—one uniquely focused on sound and music—and the rare warmth and intellectualism that mark him as a prescient and still-evolving artist.
Organized by Stuart Comer, The Lonti Ebers Chief Curator of Media and Performance, with May Makki, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance. Produced by Lizzie Gorfaine, Associate Director of Performances and Live Programs, and Kate Scherer, Senior Manager and Producer, with Nora Chellew, Assistant Performance Coordinator, and Olivia Rousey, Assistant Performance Coordinators, Performance and Live Programs.