Steve Kaufman (Steven Alan Kaufman; the Bronx, New York, 29 December 1960 – 12 February 2010) was an American Pop artist who also worked in sculpture, stained glass, photography and film, and who carried out extensive charity work. His significance lies in taking the language of Pop art to the street and to subjects such as AIDS, racism and urban poverty.
As a teenager he worked as an assistant to Andy Warhol at The Factory, where he learned silkscreening with oils that he later used in his own work. Earlier, he had been taught by relatives, several of whom were painters and sculptors, and he studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he met Keith Haring. After leaving Warhol's studio he founded his own SAK Studio, and in the 1990s he moved to Los Angeles, where he developed a style he called 'comic book pop art', with portraits of comic heroes and of icons such as Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe.
His output included murals such as the 'Racial Harmony' works in Harlem and on New York subway cars, and an AIDS memorial in New York City. He employed former prisoners and homeless people in his studio, and his portraits were shown on bus billboards in several American cities. He suffered a stroke in 2003 and continued exhibiting until his death in 2010. His legacy is mainly tied to his social commitment and to bringing Pop art beyond traditional circuits.