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Birth
1970 (Los Angeles, California)
Death
Lived/Active
New York/Virginia
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installation, performance, video art-iconography
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  A native of Los Angeles, California, and current New York resident,
Sanford Biggers uses the study of ethnological objects, popular icons,
and the Dadaist tradition to explore cultural and creative syncretism,
art history, and politics. An accomplished musician, Biggers often
incorporates performative elements into his sculptures and
installations, resulting in multilayered works that act as anecdotal
vignettes, at once full of wit and clear formal intent.
Biggers has won several awards including: The Creative Time Travel
Grant, Creative Capital Project Grant, New York Percent for the
Arts Commission, Art Matters Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
Award in performance art/multidisciplinary work, the Lambent Fellowship
in the arts, the Pennies From Heaven/ New York Community Trust Award,
Tanne Foundation Award, Rema Hort Mann Foundation Award Grant, James
Nelson Raymond Fellowship from the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, and a Camille Hanks-Cosby Fellowship.
Mr. Biggers has also participated in several prestigious national and
international artist residencies and fellowships including; Akademie
Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw,
Poland, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California, ARCUS
Project Foundation, Ibaraki, Japan, and the Art in General/ Trafo
Gallery Eastern European Exchange in Budapest, Hungary. He has been a
fellow of the Socrates Sculpture Park Residency, the Lower Manhattan
Cultural Council World Views AIR Program, the Eyebeam Atelier Teaching
Residency, the Studio Museum AIR Program, the P.S. 1 International
Studio Program, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
residency.
Sanford Biggers’ installations, videos, and performances have appeared
in venues worldwide including the Tate Britain and Tate Modern, London,
the Whitney Museum and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and the Yerba
Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, as well as institutions in
China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland and Russia. Sanford has been
included in several notable shows such as Prospect 1/ New Orleans
Biennial, Illuminations at the Tate Modern, Performa 07, the
Whitney Biennial and Freestyle at the Studio Museum in Harlem. He has
also had solo exhibitions at Grand Arts, Kansas City, Mary Goldman
Gallery, Los Angeles, Kenny Schachter’s ROVE gallery, London, Triple
Candie, New York, D’Amelio Terras Gallery, New York, Contemporary Art
Museum, Houston, Matrix/Univ.of Berkeley Museum, Berkeley, Zamek
Ujazdowski, Warsaw as well as venues in Hungary, Indonesia, Japan.
In 2009, Sanford will realize several new commission works for the New
York Percent for the Arts, Creative Capital, New York, The Kitchen, New
York, and Harvard University’s Office of Fine Arts.
Biggers is presently full time faculty at Virginia Commonwealth
University Sculpture and Expanded Media program and a visiting scholar
at Harvard University’s VES and OFA Departments for 2009.
RESUME
1999 Masters in Fine Art, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1998 The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
1997 Maryland Institute of College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1992 Bachelor of Arts, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
1991
Syracuse University (Department of International
Programs Abroad), Florence Italy
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 Sanford Biggers, Peculiar Institutions, Solvent Space, Richmond, VA
Conundrum, The Kitchen, New York, NY
2008 Sanford Biggers, D’Amelio Terras Gallery, New York, NY
Cosmic Conundrum, The Kitchen, New York, NY
2007 Blossom, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO (catalog)
2006 Freedom and Other Seldom Travelled Roads, Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Notions, Kenny Schachter Rove, London, UK (catalog)
2005
The Afronomical Way, Centre for Contemporary Art
Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland (editioned custom
catalog)
New Work, Triple Candie, New York, NY
2004 Sanford Biggers, Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Both/And Not Either/Or, Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, OH (traveling to the Contemporary Art
Museum, Baltimore, MD)
2002 Creation/Dissipation, Trafo Gallery, Budapest Hungary
Afro Temple, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX (catalog)
Psychic Windows, Matrix Gallery, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (catalog)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009
Intrinsic Trio: Biggers, Gilliam, Scott, Goya Contemporary, Baltimore, MD (Curated by Amy Raehse)
Hidden Cities, curated by Christian Marclay, Stephen Vittielo and Perrgrine Arts. Philadelphia, PA
2008
Prospect 1: US Biennial. Old US Mint. New Orleans, LA (catalog)
Nippon in Black, curated by Fanon Che Wilkins. Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith, curated by Franklin
Sirmans. Menil Collection, Houston TX
(catalog/traveling)
Unknown Pleasures, curated by
Matthew Thompson. Aspen Museum of Art. Aspen, CO
Into the Trees. curated by Lily Wei. Art Omi. Ghent, NY
Shuffle. Schloss Solitude. Stuttgart, Germany
American/Balkan-ization. (multiple venues/traveling). Bulgaria,
Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, US
2007
Illuminations, Tate Modern, London, UK
3 Day Museum, Okinawa Museum, Okinawa, Japan
Performa 07; The Performance Art Biennial. New York, NY
MANUAL cc : Instructions for Beginners and Advanced Players,
Kronika Gallery, Bytom, Poland
Pretty Baby, Modern Art Museum Fort Worth, TX
For the Love of the Game, The Amistad Center for Arts and Culture. Hartford, CT
HooDoo. The Amistad Center for Arts and Culture. Hartford, CT
Black Light/White Noise. Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX
Paradise & Inferno: The Post Millennial Black Madonna. MoCADA & Skylight, New York, NY
Intelligent Design. Momenta, New York, NY
Urbanity. Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2006
New York, Interrupted. PKM Gallery, Beijing, China
The Black Moving Cube: Black Figuration & The Moving Image.
The Tate Britain, London, UK (traveling)
Fountains. D’Amelio Terras. New York, NY
Twisted Roots. WPA/ Corcoran & DCAC. Washington, DC.
Everybody Dance. The Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts.
The Dalai Lama Portrait Project: The Missing Peace, The 100 for Tibet. (traveling)
Art Rock, Rockerfeller Center, New York, NY
Black Alphabet, Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2005
d’Afrique d’Asie, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, NY (traveling)
Double Consciousness: Black Conceptual Art Since 1970, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
The Here and Now, The Renassaince Society, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2004
Join Us (Calls of Ecstasy from the Edge of Oblivion), Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
2003
Somewhere Better Than This Place, Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Kuti, The New Museum, NewYork, NY
Shuffling the Deck, Princeton Museum of Art, Princeton, NJ
The Commodification of Buddhism, Bronx Museum, New York, NY
Black Belt, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2002
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (catalogue)
Family, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalogue)
2001
One Planet Under a Groove, Bronx Museum, New York, NY (traveling/catlogue)
Zoning, The Project, New York, NY
Freestyle, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (catalogue)
Rapper’s Delight, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Altoid’s Curiously Strong Collection, New Museum for Contemporary
Art, New York, NY (traveling)
2000
Full Service, Kenny Schachter, New York, NY
Commissions
2009
New York Percent for the Arts. Eagle Academy, New York, NY
New Work, Harvard, University, Office of Fine Arts. Cambridge, MA
New York Percent for the Arts. Eagle Academy, New York, NY
Cosmic Conundrum. The Kitchen, New York, NY
Hidden Cities, curated by Christian Marclay, Stephen Vittielo and Perrgrine Arts. Philadelphia, PA
2008
Cosmic Conundrum. The Kitchen, New York, NY
The Norton Family Christmas Project
Ahh Decadence... (Exhibition Designer ). Curated by Lisa
Wainwright. School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Sullivan
Galleries.
2007
The Somethin’ Suite. Performa 07, New York, NY
Performances
2009 Cosmic Conundrum, The Kitchen, New York, NY
2007 The Somethin’ Suite. Performa 07. New York, NY
2006 Cosmic Conundrum. UCLA Fowler Museum. Los Angeles, CA
The Warsaw Pack(ed), Zacheta Gallery of National Art, Warsaw,
Poland/ Temple Bar, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Creation/Dissipation, Trafo Art Space, Budapest, Hungary.
2000 Mandala of the B-Bodhisattva, Bronx Community College OM,
Full Serve, New York, NY
The Art of Breaking, Downtown Arts Festivals, New York, NY
1998 Slam, CBGB’s, New York, NY
Communication Breakdown, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL
Racine des Memoirs, Skowhegan, ME
Dark Magus, CBGB’s, New York, NY
1997 Cane Song Cycles, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Curatorial
2006 Malleable, Kuhn Gallery, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
2004 (In)visible Silence, guest curator of three person show, School 33, Baltimore, MD
2001
Sticky Fingers, curated by Sanford Biggers and
Elaine Ng, Para-Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China
Selected Awards and Residencies
2009 Creative Time Travel Grant
2008 Creative Capital Foundation Grant
2007 New York Percent for the Arts Commission, New York, NY
Art Matters Grant, New York, NY
Akademie Schloss Solitude (residency), Stuttgart, Germany
2005 AIR Laboratory. Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
Lambent Fellowship in the Arts TIDES Foundation grant, New York, NY
Fellow in Performance Art/Multidisciplinary Work from the New
York Foundation for the Arts.
2004 Pennies From Heaven/ New York Community Trust Grant
2003 ARCUS Project Residency, Moriya City, Japan
Headlands Center for the Arts/ AWAKE: “Art, Buddhism, and the
Dimensions of Consciousness”(residency) San
Francisco, CA
2002 Art In General/ Trafo Gallery Eastern European Exchange Residency Budapest, Hungary
2001 Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant
Socrates Sculpture Park Residency, Long Island City, NY
2000 World Views Artist in Residence, World Trade Center, New York, NY
Eyebeam/ New York City Annenberg Challenge for Arts Education, New York, NY
(Residency in teaching at Chelsea Vocational High School) Studio
Museum in Harlem Artists-in-Residence, New York, NY
P.S. 1 Studio Residency, New York, NY
1999 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago James Nelson Raymond Fellowship
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Graduate Incentive Scholarship
1998
Camille Hanks-Cosby Scholarship, Skowhegan School of
Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
1996 Santa Fe Public Art Fund Grant, Los Angeles, CA
1990 Central Metals Sculpture Competition, second place, Atlanta, GA
Bibliography
2009 Schambelan, Elizabeth. “Civic Engagement” Artforum, January
Carlin, TJ. "Sanford Biggers." Time Out New York issue 695: Jan 22
Gaines, Malik. "Sanford Biggers: The Big Idea" RVA Magazine Vol 4 issue 9
2008 "Southern Exposure" The New York Times Magazine December 7th.
Klein, Paul. "Art Lifts New Orleans." The Huffington Post November 4.
"Halloween Special: New Orleans, Prospect 1." ArtFagCity.com October 31.
Yablonsky, Linda. “Blue Note” Artforum online November 10.
“Voting Becomes Art” NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams November 4.
“Best Solo Exhibition: Sanford Biggers at Grand Arts.” The Pitch
Bodin, Claudia. “Prospect. 1 Biennale New Orleans.” Art Das Kunstmagazin November 3
Artkrush issue 96.
McAdams, Shane. “Sanford Biggers...” Art Voices, Issue 2008 November pgs 40-41.
Lewis, Christina. “The Big Easy’s Art Gumbo.” The Wall Street Journal Online October 31.
Cotter, Holland. “Making Secular Art Out of Religious Imagery.”
The New York Times, October 29.
Brookhardt, D. Eric. “The Big Easel.” Gambit Weekly, Vol 29, no.
44 October 28th, pgs 21, 24.
Johnson, Paddy. “The Voting Booth Project.” The Huffington Post October 20.
Jackson, Sharyn. “The Voting Booth Project.” Village Voice October.
WNYC Culture. “NeoHooDoo, Broadway, the Oxygen Hog, and ‘Mary’.” ART.CULT October 20.
2007
Beckwith, Naomi, “One to Watch [Sanford Biggers]”,
artkrush, Issue 70: Performance Art, October 31 –
November 13, 2007
Brown, Angela K. “Fort Worth
Exhibit Explores the Many Faces of Childhood” Corpus
Christi, TX
Caller-Times. March 18, 2007.
Chang, Jeff (ed.). Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, Perseus Books, 2007
Duff, Stacey. “A New York Minute” Time Out Beijing. Feb. 2007. P. 45
Oliver, Valerie Cassel. “Meditations of a B-Boy Buddhist.”
International Review of African American Art.
Volume 21, Number 3, Pgs. 51-54, 2007.
Rabinowitz, Cay-Sophie. “Blossom,” Grand Arts Exhibition Catalog. October 2007
Robinson, Gaile. “Modern’s Show Takes the Cute Out of Childhood”
Fort Worth, TX, Star Telegram. Feb. 25, 2007
Self, Dana. “In the Keys of Life.” The Pitch. Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, 2007
Taft, Catherine. “Sanford Biggers” Modern Painters, Feb. 2007. P. 95
Terranova, Charissa N. “Romper Rooms” The Dallas Morning News. Feb. 24, 2007. PP. 1E, 6E
Thorson, Alice. “A Tree Among the Keys.” The Kansas City Star. October 14, 2007, Pg. F5
-- “Intelligent Design.” New Yorker. April 9, 2007
-- “Artists on Spirituality” Art Asia Pacific. Winter 2007. P. 89
2006
Artner, Allan. “Art of Peace: 88 Viewpoints on the
Dalai Lama”. The Chicago Tribune. Nov.2
Brooks, Amra. “Must See Art: Freedom and Other Seldom Traveled Roads”. LA Weekly. Nov. 29
Kino, Carol. “Young Collector Stefan Levine: Gas Man”. Art Basel
Miami Beach. 2006. Dec. p72
Knight, Christopher. “’Jocko’ Represents a Cultural Battle”. Los Angeles Times. Dec.1
Larson, Kay. “Keeping the Faith” ARTnews. February pp.98-100
Larson, Kay. “The Missing Peace: Artist Consider the Dalai Lama”. The Shambhala Sun. Nov
Maerkle, Andrew, “Artist’s on Spirituality”. Art Asia Pacific. Winter
Newman, Andrew Adam. “Directions; The Golden Hour”. New York Times (Arts). March 12.
Smith, Roberta. “Chelsea is a Battlefield: Galleries Muster
Groups”. New York Times. July 28.
O’Sullivan, Michael. “Richmond artists Rooted in Histories” The Washington Post. Dec.1
Szupinska, Joanna. “Paint It Black: African American Art Goes To
Warsaw”. Artillery. Dec. p46
--- “A Bit of Richmond, Now Showing in D.C.”. The Washington Post. Nov.9
2005
Dawson, Jessica. “Street Culture Bursts Into the
Gallery”.The Washington Post. July 21.
Bowles, John "Sanford Biggers at the Contemporary Arts Center". Art in America. Jan 2
Bryan-Wilson, Julia “Split Decision” BookForum. Dec.
Houston, Kerr “Review: Sanford Biggers”, Urbanite Magazine. Jan.
Jackson, Brian Keith “Show and Tell: Sanford Biggers”. New York Magazine, June,
2004
Baas, Jaqueline & Jacob, Mary Jane(ed). Buddha
Mind in Contemporary Art. * Univ. of California Press
Bauer, Marilyn “Cultural Fusion”. The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 23
Estes, Sarah “Critics Pick: Both And Not Either Or”. The City Paper. Oct. 27
2003
Genocchio, Benjamin. “The Forgeries Are The Real
Thing In This Exhibition” New York Times(Arts).
April 13.
Glueck, Grace. “From Four Milleniums of
Jewish Cultural Life” New York Times(Arts). June 27.
Golonu, Berin. "Psychic Windows" Sculpture (review). January/February. p.72-73
Greco, Stephen & Zita, Carmen. “State of the Art: In Sight” Trace. issue #36. p.53.
Smith, Roberta. “A Cornucopia of Cultural Exchange, Beginning
With A Martial Arts Hero” New York Times(Arts).
November 28.
Stillman, Nick “Black Belt”. The Brooklyn Rail. Nov.
2002 Anderson, Tomika. “Art Heart’s Sake” Vibe. April. p.70
Bollen, Chris. “Outsider Art” V Magazine. March.
Collins, Gina Cavallo. “Video Identity Issues” Java Magazine. January. p.16
Dailey, Meghan. “Family – The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art”
ArtForum. October. P.157.
Donohue, Piper. “Boogie Down” Honey. January. P.88
Erhardt, Miklos. "Fesusfono es Poteau- Mitan" Balkon. October. pp.28- 30
Girst, Thomas. “Ennui im Whitney” die tageszeitung. March. p.1
Gopnik, Blake. “As American as Jumbalaya” Washington Post (Art). March 7. p.1
Griffin, Tim. “Bi American – The Whitney Biennial opens its
doors” Time Out New York.March 14-21
Grunitzky, Claude. “Meister Aller Klassen” GQ International. Sept. pp.30-31
Jones, Amelia. “The Post Black Bomb” Tema Celeste. March/April. pp.53- 54
Knight, Christopher. “Art Review” Los Angeles Times. April 1. p.F2
Matusow, Cathy. “Buddhism and B-Boys?” Houston Press. Nov. 21
Nickas, Bob. “Multiple Voice” ArtForum. May. p.164
Patton, Phil. “Artists on the Verge” Mercury Owner Magazine. Spring. p.10- 13
Plagens, Peter. “This Man Will Decide What Art Is” Newsweek. March 4. p.55
Rauterberg, Von Hanno. “Danke, Herr, fur Video” Feuilleton (kunst).
Robinson, Knox “The Show” Fader . Winter. p.48
Stevens, Mark. “Irony Lives” New York Magazine. March. p.55
Teicholz, Nina. “Private View: Lawrence Rinder” Art & Auction. March. p.36
2001 Budick, Ariella. “Post- Black and White” Newsday. June
Aranda-Alvarado, Rocio. “Culture and Memory” NKA (Review). Spring/Summer. p.123
Cook, Dara. “Players/Rookies 2001” Vibe (V100) September. p.182
Cotter, Holland. “A Full Studio Museum Show Starts with 28 Young
Artists and a Shoehorn” New York Times (Review:
Arts) May 11. p.E36
Croal, Mashaka. “Freestylin'
at the Studio Museum in Harlem by Aida”
Africana.com. June 26.
Dewan, Sheila K.
“Twin Peaks Makes A Vertical World Their Own..” New
York Times (Metro). February 27.
Erikson, Emily. “Color Coded” ArtForum (Preview). May. p. 52
Fowler Gabe. “Gang of Four” New Art Examiner November/December.
Gioni, Massimiliano. “New York Cut Up” Flash Art. July-September. p.72
Girst, Thomas. “Power Enormous: The Art of Sanford Biggers” NY Arts April. p. 24
Girst, Thomas. “Breakdance auf Leinwand” die tageszeitung (kultur). March. p.16
Griffin, Tim. “Race Matters” Time Out New York (Art). May 24. p. 55-56
Maxwell, Bill. “Art Offers New Notions of Being Black” St. Petersburg Times (Art) June 20.
Saltz, Jerry. “Post Black” Village Voice (Art). May 22. p.51
Stevens, Mark. “The Studio Museum in Harlem “Freestyle”: More
About Art than About Race” New York Magazine (Art).
May 21. p.84
Tate, Greg. “The Golden Age” Village Voice (Art). May 22. p. 49
Viveros- Faune, Christian. “Freestyle” New York Press (Editorial). June
Wilcox, Lauren. “Transformation and Tradition: Interview with
Sanford Biggers” Tout- Fait (Duchamp Studies On-line
Journal)
--. “Making the Case fir the ‘Post Black’ School of Art” LA Times. September 29.
--.”The New Masters” Vibe (Gallery). May. pp. 138 & 142
--. “Freestyle” at Studio Museum” Artnet.com (news). April 13.
2000 Berwick, Carly. “Power Spins” ARTnews (On the Edge). November. p. 224
Cotter Holland. “Picking Out Distinctive Voices in a Pluralistic
Chorus” New York Times (Review: Arts). August 18. p.
E31
Cotter, Holland. “A Condensed International
Melange” New York Times (Weekend – Arts &
Leisure) May 6. p. E37
Jackson, Brian Keith. “Dharma on the Dancefloor” Paper Magazine (Arts). September. p. 43
Sirmans Franklin. “Artistically Speaking” Soul Purpose.com. September 22.
Sirmans, Franklin. “From the Studio: Artists in Residence 2000”
Time Out New York(Arts) August 3 – 10. p. 55
--. “Hanne Tierney, Marian Griffiths and Five Myles” NY Arts Magazine . April. p. 14-15
Sources:
Information provided by Amy Eva Raehse
Website of the artist
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