Artist Statement
Art history and white society tells us that Basquiat and murals of MLK Jr. IS “Black art”. Black art has not been accepted to communicate Black people’s reality, but make visible a way for white society to identify us. For years Black artists have performed and exhibited the pain of Black people for white audiences, creating works of exuberance and sorrow, always focused on Blackness. Not wishing to perform my/our pain and trauma for my oppressor, I have decided to exhibit my pride; pride that has been labeled by the government of the United States of America as a threat (to white people). With my work I am interested in challenging whiteness and the essentialist idea of what is or isn’t Black art.
Focusing on the whiteness that has surrounded me throughout my life, instead of the Blackness within me, I am establishing the differences between Black Pride and white power, as well as how the aesthetics allowed association with Black art are lacking in contemporary presence. Striving to create unavoidable dialogue within the (predominantly white) art spaces I frequent, I am constantly considering ways to confront white supremacy without allowing myself to be labeled confrontational or negative.
Experimenting with poetry as illustration and sculpture my ideas on white supremacy utilize graphics/fonts, pop cultural icons, found imagery and quotes from Black musicians and activists. My drawings/collages are simultaneously diary entries and poems, my sculptures tangible trains of thought and my written work declarations of desires to survive.
CV
Education
2015
MFA, California Institute of the Arts.
2007
BA Studio Art, University of Southern California.
2006
Photography, University of Cape Town, Michaelis School of Fine Arts, Cape Town, South Africa.
Exhibitions
2015
The 2015 CalArts MFA Show, Cooper Design Space, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Sarah Lehrer-Gaiwer (catalogue)
Rock Show, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA (catalogue)
the port was longing, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA (solo)
Face It, Full Haus, Los Angeles, CA.
2014
Faux Show, MFA2 mid-residency group show, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Bacon Scavenger Hunt, Ox-Bow woods, Saugatuck, MI (solo)
What’s in Store, Unit, Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX
No Fart No Bliss, Box13 ArtSpace, Houston, TX (3-person show)
I Call Them Sky Songs: Live Blues Karaoke, some times, Valencia, CA (solo)
Take Stock of Your Self, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA (solo).
2013
Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, TX
Come C! 1901 W 14th St, Houston, TX (solo)
What’s in Store, Unit, Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX
School’s Out, Texas Art Asylum, Houston, TX.
2012
a gods eye, Box13 ArtSpace, Houston, TX (solo)
Shipped: Work by Current BOX13 Artists, 4411 Montrose, Houston, TX.
2011
“Kate Kendall’s Krazy Eyes” Booth, State Fair, DiverseWorks ArtSpace, Houston, TX
Day of the Dead, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.
2010
Gods Eyes Opening, Nano Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (as A&K).
2009
Drive By Show, The DeLoz Garage, Los Angeles, CA (as A&K).
2008
Paintings, The Clayton Garage, Los Angeles, CA (as A&K)
Not Particularly Tall, Found Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (as A&K).
2007
Sculpture Brunch, Justin’s Museum of Contemporary Art (JMOCA), Los Angeles, CA
Revenge, Found Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Unified Field (A), Phantom Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
Unified Field (B), Helen Lindhurst Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
2006
Updates, Egyptian Building, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa (solo)
Ad Hoc, Cool Runnings, Cape Town, South Africa
Introductions, Found Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Performances
2015
Butte/Mesa, Readers Chorus, Automata, Los Angeles, CA.
Butte/Mesa, Tang Readers Chorus, Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Sarasota Springs, NY.
Butte/Mesa, Cooper Design Building, Los Angeles, CA.
Reader’s Chorus, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
2014
Take Stock of Your Self, bullion cube gifting performance, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
2012
a gods eye, performance and installation, Box13 ArtSpace, Houston, TX.
2011
Guru Kate at “Kate Kendall’s Krazy Eyes” Booth, performance State Fair Days, State Fair, DiverseWorks Artspace, Houston, TX.
2007
Sock Revenge, performance, Found Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
First Annual Live Art Event, performance, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Public Work
2014
Where Did My Vanity Go, with Susanna Battin, California Institute of the Arts BB5 bathrooms, Valencia, CA.
2012
A Gods Eye Outpost, permanent installation, Box13 ArtSpace, Houston, TX.
Forget-Me-Not, Panel 23 of the memory wall at Smither Park on the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art Campus, Houston, TX.
Curatiorial Projects
2015
Rock Show, with Susanna Battin, Valencia, CA.
Bijou for MFA Open Studios, with Lucia Prancha, Valencia, CA.
2007
Unified Field (A), Phantom Galleries, Los Angeles, CA.
Unified Field (B), Helen Lindhurst Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Publications
2015
Butte/Mesa: Landscape Score to be Read, edition of 75.
2008
“Unrealized/Unrealizable Project Proposal”, (250 words), It’s Not Hard, Glasgow, June.
Awards/ Residencies
2013-2015
CalArts Scholarship
CalArts Grant.
2014
Ox-Bow Dale Metternich Memorial Scholarship.
2012
World Record holder for World’s Largest Gods Eye at www.recordsetter.com/world-record/gods-eye/.
2012- 2013
Resident Artist at BOX13 ArtSpace, Houston, TX.
2003-2007 SCion Scholarship.