KC Crow Maddux
b. Tulsa, OK
STATEMENT
In order for us to communicate, we must agree on what the terms we are using mean. If one of us knows far fewer words than the other, our conversation will be limited to those few words. Therefore, often the one who knows the least determines the terms of the conversation.
I think this structural relationship maps interestingly onto broader social interactions. It is common, though obviously problematic, for humans to use simplistic taxonomies (i.e. gender, age, race, ability, etc.) to map assumptions, expectations, and projections on one another. These are often derived from the perception of our bodies, which are extremely limited in ability to convey who we are as individuals. In a sense, we each have this low-res, shadow figure, following us in the world.
My work is about this friction between the self and the social. I am interested in how these selves conflict. I live in a coded environment, of which I had no hand in writing. As a trans person (FTM), who has at times been perceived as female or male, I understand how legibility can predetermine and limit the rules of this game.
I work with two main elements; anthropomorphic sculptural wood “frames” and rigid photo plates that are made of layered, transparent photographs of my non-binary, transgender body. The frames physically support the resin photos while speaking from different, code switching voices. The colors of public signage and toys contrast with the complex hues of my specific body. From a distance my work can look machined, but all of the elements are handmade.
The photos are transfers; layered in rigid clear resin with a process I developed myself. The compositing effect is physical, not digital. The transparent plates cast blurry projections on the wall behind; doubling themselves.
The frames reference religious and secular architecture, public signage, the english alphabet, and symbology surrounding the human body; all of which are arenas that often use truncated shorthand for complicated and nuanced ideas relating to identity. The specificity of my photographed flesh troubles these flattening terms
EDUCATION
2012 University of Texas, Austin MFA Painting
2002 Kansas City Art Institute BFA Painting
ONE & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022
Finger Trap, High Noon Gallery, New York, NY
2021
SPRING/BREAK Art Show | Here Say, Heresy, curated by Meghan Doherty, New York, NY
2022
SPRING/BREAK Art Show | In Excess, curated by Efrem Zelony-Mindell, New York, NY
Plurals, A Compton Trans Cultural District Project, curated by Ellis Martin, San Francisco, CA
2019
Gender Facks / every body is a dummy, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
TransFigured Diction / a body puzzled, Haul Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016
Post Human Animal Instinct, I wanna melt your gender hairs, Transform, Austin, TX
2007
(My Name), Gescheidle Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005
Pet Animal, Telephonebooth Gallery, Kansas City, MO
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Mis-Shapes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY
Not Me, Not That, Not Nothing Either, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY
A.I.R. Currents / Identity Politics, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021
Dog Park, Field Projects / Petty Cash Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Haunted Summer, Field Projects, New York, NY
Afterlight, Field Projects, New York, NY
2020
Stories, Haul Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Superimpose, Paradice Palase, Brooklyn, NY
2019
Routine Malfunction, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY
New Flesh, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
Queer as I, The Here Center, New York, NY
Twinkle, Barney Savage Gallery, New York, NY
Parade, Haul Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Body Language, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI
2018
This is Not Here, Re 21, Brooklyn, NY
Lady-Like, Border Patrol, Portland, ME
2017
Tooth and Nail, Peninsula Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
2016
To Be the Void, International Cultural Center of Poland, Krakow, Poland
Ligo Project, The Art of Science, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Soup Kitchen, Open Source Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012
Now Knowing, Cara and Cabezas, Kansas City, MO
2009
Dream Bodies: Transformative Figures, Jewish Museum, Kansas City, MO
Happy Tree Friends, Urban Culture Project, Kansas City, MO
2008
Slow cooked, Urban Culture/Okay Mountain exchange, Austin, TX
2006
Le papier (part) deux, Gescheidle, Chicago, IL
2005
All the Pretty Corpses, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL
SELECTED PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
New York Times, “Two Fairs that Reward Some Extra Legwork”, Jillian Steinhauer, Section C page 13, 4/6/2020
Artforum, Critics Pick New York 5/8/19, Review of “Twinkle” at Barney Savage Gallery
newflesh: queerness beyond the body, Efrem Zelony-Mindell, Gnomic Press, 2019
“My Name: Everybody is a Puzzled Dummy”, Efrem Zelony-Mindell, Filthy Dreams, 3/25/2019
My Name, Maake Magazine, Issue 9
British Journal of Photography Online , “What does Queerness Look like Beyond the Body”, Marigold Warner, 11/14/19
Original Plumbing - The Best of Ten Years of Trans Male Culture, Amos Mac, The Feminist Press
Palimpsest, Yale Graduate Literary and Arts Magazine, Vol IX Trans
Curator Efrem Zelony-Mindell brings together 57 Artists… May 18, 2018, Forbes
The Art Issue Original Plumbing, Trans Male Quarterly
”I feel a vague nausea”, Emily Colucci, Filthy Dreams
Melting Gender Hairs at East, Austin Chronicle, November, 8, 2016
Studio Visit: My Name, Austin Chronicle
SELECTED AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2022 Lighthouse Works (upcoming)
2019 Yaddo
2019 Fire Island Artist Residency
2018 Wassaic Art Project Residency
2018 Vermont Studio Center Residency
2017 Shortlist finalist for Cue Foundation Solo Exhibition Open Call
2017 Shortlist Finalist for New York Museum of Art and Design Studio Residency
2008 Three year merit based scholarship University of Texas
2005 One year studio residency, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO