# Alfred Steiner (artist)

Alfred Steiner (born 1973 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American artist and lawyer known for his interdisciplinary approach that integrates art, law, and technology. His work explores the intersection of creativity, intellectual property, and contemporary digital culture. Steiner's artistic practice often challenges conventional notions of intellectual property, merging legal theory with artistic expression. He advocates for artistic freedom and engages in discussions related to copyright and trademark law.

## Early life and education

Steiner grew up in Ohio with aspirations of becoming an artist and is self-taught. He studied philosophy and mathematics at Miami University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1995. He then pursued a legal education at Harvard Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1998.
While studying law he created the Reasonableman comic for The Harvard Law Record, about a law student who was anything but reasonable.

## Legal career

Steiner specializes in intellectual property law, focusing on emerging issues in technology and creative industries. He has worked at international law firms Mauriel Kapouytian Woods, Morrison & Foerster, and Baker Botts. In 2021, he co-founded Meister & Steiner PLLC, concentrating on copyright, trademark, artificial intelligence, and art law, and digital technology transactions, particularly in blockchain. Steiner contributes to legal theory and the discourse on emerging issues in art and technology, presenting at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Copyright Office roundtables on NFTs, and authoring articles and scholarly papers in his field. He advises artists, collaborates with art-focused decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) Fingerprints DAO and Friends With Benefits, and serves on the Practicing Law Institute faculty.

### Dual role and advocacy

As both a legal expert and a widely-exhibited contemporary artist, Steiner has contributed to several amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He advocates for artistic freedom and engages in discussions on copyright and trademark law with fellow artists and artist advocacy groups. Notable cases include Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith (2022) and Hermès Int'l et al. v. Rothschild (2024).
In the Hermès case, Steiner joined a "formidable" coalition of the art collective MSCHF, digital design studio CTHDRL, artist Jack Butcher, and free-speech advocacy group Authors Alliance that submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the Hermès v. Rothschild case. The brief supported Mason Rothschild's appeal of the initial trademark infringement ruling regarding his MetaBirkins NFT project, which depicted fur-covered Birkin handbags. The coalition challenged the initial ruling, viewing it as a potential threat to artists' ability to comment on and critique brands through their work. They emphasized that an artist's commercial intent should not negate First Amendment protections, artistic works referencing brands require nuanced legal consideration, and digital art deserves similar expressive protections as traditional art forms. The case has broader and significant implications for the art world, particularly regarding artists' use of trademarked brands as subjects for commentary. The brief represented a significant intervention in the emerging legal landscape surrounding digital art, trademark law, and freedom of expression, highlighting the complex intersection of artistic creativity and commercial trademark protection. The outcome could substantially impact how courts interpret the balance between trademark protection and artistic freedom in the digital age.
Steiner collaborates with Fairchain, an initiative that uses blockchain technology to generate digital certificates of title and authenticity, aiming to help artists benefit from the resale of their work.

## Art career

Alfred Steiner's art explores questions of creativity, ownership, and intellectual property in the digital age, "the relationship between artistic technique and authenticity, contrivance, and artifice." Described as "modern day Pop-Mannerism," reflecting a fusion of pop culture imagery with elements of Mannerist art, Steiner's pieces often engage with themes from his legal background, illuminating concepts related to copyright and the economics of the art world. Steiner work has been shown extensively in the United States and Europe. His work is included in the West Collection in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Torben Sloth collection in Denmark.
Steiner creates "amazingly" realistic watercolors and collages that reference pop culture and art history. His works employ a free-association technique to deconstruct familiar graphic forms into shapes, resulting in compositions that can represent "anything: from food, insects, toys, pills, reptiles to sexual organs and sex toys." Described as "uncanny," each piece evokes "deep recognition and familiarity." His 2014 solo exhibition, "Likelihood of Confusion," at Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City, was particularly noted for this sense of familiarity. Steiner "creates familiar characters out of disparate objects," producing "hybrids of the stylized and the naturalistic."
One notable piece, Ring Pop, is an enameled silver and cut glass ring resembling candy. It gained attention when it was the most expensive of the 77 pieces stolen by artist Adam Parker Smith to display in his Thanks exhibition in New York City. Steiner remarked on the incident, saying, “Any difficulty I had that he had breached a trust was overwhelmed by the humor I found in the overall project,” emphasizing his view that it was merely borrowing.
Steiner collaborated with New York University professor Amy Whitaker and artist William Powhida to develop the contract for Powhida's Store-to-Own project, launched in 2020. This allows individuals to borrow artworks from Powhida's personal inventory for display in their homes or offices at no cost. The project addresses two key issues: providing free storage for the artist's works in environments where they will be seen and appreciated, and offering borrowers access to art that would typically command four- or five-figure prices at galleries. The contract is freely available for modification and use by other artists, stipulates that borrowers are responsible for caring for, storing, and insuring the artwork. After a five-year period, ownership of the artwork transfers to the borrower, with Powhida retaining a 50% stake in any future sale. The contract also includes a 10% resale royalty clause for the artist. This concept evolved into the Zero Art Fair, co-founded by Powhida and Jennifer Dalton, also with Steiner's involvement. The fair, which debuted in 2024 as part of Upstate Art Weekend in New York, expanded on the Store-to-Own model. It allows artists to give away their work for free while retaining potential future value, addressing issues of art storage and market accessibility.

## Exhibitions
### Solo exhibitions

* Alfred Steiner: Bleeding Afro, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 20012
* Contrariwise, 101/EXHIBIT, Los Angeles, CA, 2013
* Likelihood of Confusion, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY, 20014
* Alfred Steiner: Anything Goes, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 20015
* LV DIY, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY, 2016
* Metes & Bounds, Gallery Protocol, Gainesville, FL, 2016
* Four Eyes, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2019

### Selected group exhibitions

* Day Job, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2011
* Summer Group Exhibition, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY, 2012
* Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty, Norte Maar, Brooklyn, NY, 2012
* Your Favorite Artist's Favorite Artist, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY, 2014
* The Armory VOLTA ART FAIR NY 2014, New York, NY, 2014
* Exquisite Corpse, Mass Gallery, Austin, TX, 2014, curated by Amir Fallah)
* Why I Want to Fuck Donald Trump, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY, Accesso Galleria, Pietrasanta, Italy (curator), 2016
* Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, 2017
* Ten Years, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY 2018
* Hollywood Dream Bubble: Ed Ruscha’s Influence In Los Angeles And Beyond The Hole Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, 2024
* Paper View 2, The Hole Contemporary, New York, NY, 2024

## Publications

* A Few Observations on Copyright and Art, Landslide Magazine, American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, January February 2013
* The Paper It's Printed On: NFTs, Ownership and Conceptual Art, Social Science Research Network Electronic Journal, January 1, 2021, doi:10.2139/j.ssrn.3997352
* Bored Apes & Monkey Selfies: Copyright & PFP NFTs, 2022, New York State Bar Association
* Art & NFTs at Consensus 2022, June 2022
* Fidenza Fugazi?: NFTs and Trademark Prosecution, May 12, 2024

### Publications contributor

* ABC's ABCOA, Initiator: Micheál O'Connell, ABC [Artists’ Books Cooperative], 2021
* The Sm;)e Book, DB Burkemam, Rich Browd, Blurring Books, Brooklyn, NY, 2021, ISBN 978-1736156209