Kia LaBeija

Kia LaBeija (born Kia Michelle Benow; March 18, 1990) is an American fine artist. Her most well known series, ''24,'' is a sociopolitical commentary on the effects of growing up as a young woman of color with HIV. She is a former Mother of the Royal House of LaBeija.

Biography

Kia LaBeija was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, New York. Her mother, Kwan Bennet, was born in Subic Bay, Philippines and is Filipino American. Her father, drummer Warren Benbow, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is African American. She grew up in Manhattan Plaza and was in the dance program at Alvin Ailey.

In 1993, LaBeija was diagnosed with HIV at the age of three, having contracted the virus through perinatal (mother-to-child) transmission. Her mother, Kwan, passed away of AIDS-related illness when LaBeija was 14.

LaBeija studied the arts at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School in Manhattan. At the age of 19, while at The New School, she became involved in the house and ballroom scene.

Fine art

Kia LaBeija's work primarily is photography and dance. Her series ''24'' investigates her relationship to growing up with HIV as a woman of color in New York City. Her works have been included in group exhibitions, performances, and screenings at dozens of museums around the world.

LaBeija's work was featured as part of Art AIDS America, a touring group exhibition looking at 30 years of art making around HIV and AIDS. The show gained controversial press as there were only 5 black artists out of the 107 featured, with LaBeija being the only black woman. In January 2018, she was featured on the cover of ''Artforum''. She achieved this without gallery representation, major art collectors, or a solo show. She is a recipient of a 2019 Creative Capital Award with her partner Taina Larot, and was commissioned by Performa for its 2019 Performa Biennial.

Ballroom and voguing

LaBeija came in the house and ballroom scene at the age of 19 in 2009 through a co-worker at Webster Hall. She began walking balls officially in 2012 and walked as a LaBeija for the first time at the last Latex Ball at Roseland Ballroom. She received the Hector Xtravaganza Xellence Award, named after her late gay father Hector Xtravaganza. In 2015, she was awarded the first Woman's Old Way Vogue of the Year. In 2016, she starred in band Pillar Point's music video "Dove".

LaBeija appeared in the pilot episode of Ryan Murphy's Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated ballroom drama ''Pose'' as a principal dancer, and was featured in Wu Tsang's film ''Into a Space for Love'' for Gucci and ''Frieze'' magazine. Other credits include ''A-Z of Aaliyah'' for i-d Magazine and MAC and Calvin Harris and Sam Smith's lyric video for " Promises". In 2017, she was made Overall Mother of the Royal House of LaBeija, and stepped down officially in 2019.

Advocacy

Kia LaBeija is an advocate for many underrepresented communities, especially people living with HIV/AIDS. She has been invited to speak at the CUNY Graduate Center, New York University, the New York Public Library, and Stanford University. '' POZ magazine'' placed her on the ''POZ'' 100 list of HIV/AIDS activists under 30. She has been featured on ''HIV Plus Magazines 20 Most Amazing HIV Positive Women list.

Accolades

In 2019, LaBeija was honored by Performance Space New York. She was listed in ''Dazed''s 20 best photos of 2018 and ''PAPER'' Predictions: 100 People Taking Over 2019. She has been featured in ''W Magazine'', ''Vogue Spain'', ''Vanity Fair Italia'', ''The New York Times'', ''Numéro'', ''Ascent'', ''SLEEK'', ''Paper Magazine'', and '' Time Out New York''.

Personal life

She identifies herself as a queer cis-gender woman of color.

Notes and references

{{Ball culture, state=collapsed
American artists
American people of Filipino descent
LGBT African Americans
American LGBT people of Asian descent
Queer artists
People with HIV/AIDS
1990 births
Living people
House of LaBeija
Queer women
Eugene Lang College alumni