Kevin Beasley (born 1985

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

) is an American artist working in sculpture,

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, and

sound installation Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...

. He lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Beasley was included in the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

Biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

in 2014 and

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

's Greater New York exhibition in 2015.

Education and early life

Kevin Beasley was born in

. He received a BFA from the

College for Creative Studies College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a private art school in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,400 students and focuses on arts education. The college is also active in offering art education to children through its Community Arts Par ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

in 2007 and an MFA from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 2012.

Work

Beasley is known for sculpture that incorporates found materials - especially clothing - and casting materials like resin and foam. While these materials cure or set into their final state, Beasley works them with his body, a process that points to his interest in sculpture that traces of the artist's body while retaining a bodily, fleshy quality of its own. Many of his sculptures also contain audio equipment or are used in sound-based installations or performances.

Notable exhibitions

Beasley was included in the

's 2014

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

. Beasley created a

site-specific installation Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. Site-specific art is produced both by commercial artists, and independently, and can ...

consisting of several sculptures with embedded microphones to pick up the ambient signs of the Biennial and its visitors. The sculptures incorporated sneakers and cast plastics, common materials in Beasley's work. Beasley was also included in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

's 2014-15 exhibition ''Cut to Swipe'', which focused on electronic and new media works. In 2015, the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

included two works by Beasley in the exhibition ''Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim.'' ''Strange Fruit: Part I'' and ''Strange Fruit: Part II'' are assemblages of shoes and other found materials with embedded microphones and speakers that reflect ambient sound back to museum visitors. The reference to the iconic protest song " Strange Fruit" and the use of

Air Jordan Air Jordan is an American brand of basketball shoes produced by American corporation Nike. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 and ...

s in the sculpture point not only to the bodies of the visitors, but to Black bodies throughout history. ''Strange Fruit: Part I'' and ''Strange Fruit: Part II'' were commissioned by the Young Collector's Council of the

for ''Storylines'' and are now part of the museum's collection. Beasley participated in the

Studio Museum in Harlem The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American art museum devoted to the work of artists of African descent. The museum's galleries are currently closed in preparation for a building project that will replace the current building, located at 144 W ...

's 2014 exhibition ''Material Histories'' at the culmination of an 11 month residency at the museum from 2013-14. ''Material Histories'' showcased work by Beasley and two other

artists-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

during the same period. Beasley's solo exhibition, "A view of a landscape", is currently on view at the

from Dec 15, 2018–Mar 10, 2019. It is his first solo exhibit at a New York museum. The exhibition features an immersive installation that centers around a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

motor from

Maplesville, Alabama Maplesville is a town in Chilton County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 637. It is located approximately halfway between Tuscaloosa and Montgomery on U.S. Route 82. The mayor of Maplesville is W. C. Hayes, Jr. ...

and the history of his family's land in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The installation focuses on the sensorial, through the visual and auditory distillation of the cotton gin throughout the space. In addition, a series of live performances (solo and collaborative) and talks are programmed throughout the run of the exhibition.

Performances

Beasley is also known for his performance work, in which he often uses his sculptures to produce live sound. For a performance during the 2014

, Beasley "played" several of his sculptures by touching and moving them around the gallery. The sounds made by his body and the materials of the sculptures were captured by microphones embedded in the sculptures and amplified by speakers for the audience. Beasley also performs sound art without sculpture - in 2012 he performed ''I Want My Spot Back'' in the Atrium of the

- a piece consisting only of a capella clips of deceased 1990's era rappers, mixed and amplified by Beasley live. Over the course of his 2018-2019 solo exhibition, "A view of a landscape" at

the Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, Beasley features live performances with: Taja Cheek,

Eli Keszler Eli Keszler is an American percussionist, composer, and visual artist based in New York City. Known for his complex and intricate style of drumming, as well creating sound installations involving piano wire and other mechanisms to accompany his l ...

Jlin Jerrilynn Patton (born July 30, 1987), known as Jlin, is an electronic musician. She began producing music in 2008 and received early attention for her 2011 track "Erotic Heat". Jlin's debut album, ''Dark Energy'', was released in 2015 to criti ...

, and himself. The cotton gin serves an instrument in the performances, where artists are able to manipulate and process its sounds into live compositions.

Collections

Pérez Art Museum Miami The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Museum Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Center for t ...

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
*

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Kevin 1985 births Living people People from Lynchburg, Virginia Artists from New York City Artists from Virginia 21st-century American male artists 21st-century African-American artists