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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

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