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My Barbarian

2000
Founded, Los Angeles, CA
Malik Gaines
1973
Born in Visalia, CA
2011
PhD, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
1999
MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
1996
BA, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Jade Gordon
1975
Born in Santa Rosa, CA
2011
MA, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
2008
BA, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Alexandro Segade
1973
Born in San Diego, California
2009
MFA, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
1995
BA, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2023
"Maskworkers," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2022
"My Barbarian," (Traveling Exhibition), ICALA, Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Adrienne Edwards & Mia Matthias, ICALA Presentation Organized by Anne Ellegood and Caroline Ellen Liou
2021-2022
"My Barbarian," (Traveling Exhibition), Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY, Curated by Adrienne Edwards & Mia Matthias (Link)
2016
“The Audience is Always Right,” New Museum, New York, NY (Link)
2014
"Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse," Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2013
"Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA
"PoLAAT Jerusalem: Together Forever?" Yaffo 23, Jerusalem, Israel
2012
"Flat Busted Beauty Window Fatale," Transformer Gallery, Washington DC
"The Butterflys Evil Spell," collaboration with Lara Schnitger, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
"Broke Peoples Baroque Peoples Theater," Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2010
"The Night Epi$ode," UCLA Hammer Museum, Hammer Projects, Los Angeles, CA
"Ecos de los Ecos del los Ecos," Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico
2009
"The Night Epi$ode," Participant, Inc., New York, NY
"Suspension of Beliefs," Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2008
"Hystera-Theater," Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Positions, Steve Turner Contemporary, Miami, FL
"Dance Witches Dance," collaboration with Lara Schnitger, Museum Het Domain, Sittard, NL; Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"The Golden Age," video project space, New Museum, New York, NY
"Hacia Una Postura Izquierdista Studio Sound Series," Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023
"Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos," Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK
"Eleanor Antin and My Barbarian," Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA
“Are We Not Drawn Onward to New Era,” Mandeville Gallery at UCSD, San Diego, CA
2021
"Ridykes Cavern of Fine Gay Wine and Videos: Hauser & Werk Bitch: Don’t Be Mad At Us!," Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY. Curated by Ridykeulous
"20 Years," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
“Picturing Motherhood Now: Images for a New Era," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
2017
“One day this kid will get larger,” DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL
2015
"Archetypes, Power, and Puppets," The College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH
2014
Whitney Biennial, curated by Stuart Comer, Anthony Elms, and Michelle Grabner, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
"Unsparing Quality," Diane Rosenstein Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Farrah Karapetian
"D’un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant/Actors, Networks, Theories," curated by Vincent Bonin, Dazibao, Montreal, Canada
2013
"Brought Into Being: Performativity and Formative Performance," Amelia A. Wallace Gallery, SUNY College at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY
2012
"Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
"The Bearden Project," Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2011
"I, Bear," CANADA Gallery, New York, NY
"Shame the Devil," The Kitchen, New York, NY
2010
"A Unicorn Basking in the Light of Three Glowing Suns," DeVos Art Museum, Marquette, MI
"Ludicrous!" ICA, Philadelphia, PA
2009
"Ecstatic Resistance," Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO; X Initiative, New York, NY
"30 Seconds Off an Inch," Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
"Urban Stories," Baltic Triennial, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
"Convention," Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
"Collected. Propositions on the Permanent Collection," Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
"Solution," DiverseWorks, Houston, TX
2008
"From And About Place: Art From Los Angeles," CCA, Tel Aviv, Israel
California Biennial 2008, Estacin, Tijuana, Mexico
"Six Degrees: Museum as Hub," New Museum, New York, NY
"Friends and Family," Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
"That Was Then This Is Now," PS1, New York, NY
"Freedom," The Hague Sculpture, The Hague, Netherlands
"Unclassifiable," Overgaden Institute of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
2007
"Fact or Friction," Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
"Bennale de Montral," Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2006
"Underplayed: A Mix-Tape of Music Based Videos," Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
"Interstellar Low Ways," Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
"California Biennial 2006," Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
"Making the Band," Bard College, Center for Curatorial Studies, Anandale-on-Hudson, NY
"Cluster," Participant, Inc. New York, NY; Espacio El Particular, Mexico City, Mexico

Bibliography

2023
Farber, Jim. "The Industry Again Rethinks Opera With Star Choir, a 2023 Space Odyssey," Classical Voice San Francisco, October 3 (Link)
Otieno, Nereva. "A Sci-Fi Opera’s Cosmic Quest for Belonging," Hyperallergic, October 3 (Link)
Bowman, Emma. "See the stars and a heavenly sci-fi opera at Mt. Wilson," US Times Post, September 3 (Link)
Womack, Catherine. "You can see the stars at Mt. Wilson Observatory — and a celestial sci-fi opera," The LA Times, September 3 (Link)
2022
Vargas, Steven. "The most fun, festive holiday shows and events for this weekend," LA Times, December 7 (Link)
Morris, Matt. "Vestigial Trends and Anticipated Futures: Chicago and the Return of the Expo Art Fair," Flash Art, April 13 (Link)
Belmont, Sarah. "The 9 Best Booths at Expo Chicago: From Dazzling Peacocks to New ‘Vogue’ Covers Honoring Black and Indigenous Women Activists," ArtNews, April 8 (Link)
Bruce, Delan. "My Barbarian: 20 Years of Making Art and Theater Together," UCLA Newsroom, March 11 (Link)
2021
Perry, Barlo. "MY BARBARIAN ARTIST TALK Whitney Museum of American Art," ParisLA, December 4
Damman, Catherine Quan. "HAPPIER ENDINGS, Catherine Quan Damman on the art of My Barbarian," Artfourm, November (Link)
Miller, Deb. "Exhibition and livestream performance series by theatrical artists group ‘My Barbarian’ at NYC’s Whitney Museum of American Art," DC Metro Theater Arts, October 24 (Link)
Elbaor, Caroline. "Here Are the 13 U.S. Museum Shows That Matter This Fall, From a Survey of 21st-Century Feminisms in Berkeley to a Radical Art Rediscovery in Atlanta," Artnet News, September 13 (Link)
Fikes, Edith. "Chusid, Segade, Warke discuss queer / queering spaces," Cornell Chronicle, April 23 (Link)
2017
Wagley, Catherine G. "Clonofornication: On Alexandro Segade’s ‘Future St.’ Performance Piece at the Broad Museum," ARTnews, June 8 (Link)
2016
“My Barbarian: The Audience is Always Right,” The New Yorker, October 19
2015
Velasco, David. "My Barbarian talks about “Double Agency” at LACMA," Artforum, April 27 (Link)
Kirsch, Corinna, Dealers Report: The 2015 Armory Show is Legit Awesome, ArtFCity, March 5
2014
"The Agenda: What to do this week in New York," Art in America online, March 18 (Link)
My Barbarian, Counterpublicity, 2014, ArtForum.com, December 1
Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse: My Barbarian at Gallery 400, Edie and Andy Blog, October 7
Jovanovic, Rozalia, Handicrafts Carry the Day at the 2014 Whitney Biennial, Artnet, March 6
Kunitz, Daniel, 9 Booths Not to Miss at This Years Armory Show, ArtInfo, March 6
Indrisek, Scott, This is Not a Survey: An Incomplete Review of the Whitney Review, ArtInfo, March 6
Brara, Noor, CalArts Presents a Benefit and Auction at Metro Pictures and Paula Cooper Gallery, Interview Magazine, April 8
Munrow, Cait, An Unexpected Opera Performance at the CalArts Benefit in New York, Artnet, April 8
Johnson, Grant, The Whitney Biennial: My Barbarians The Mother, Performa, April 3
Cohan, Nate, Modernist Mom: My Barbarian at the Whitney Biennial, Art in America, March 19
McGarry, Kevin, Review: Whitney Biennial 2014, Art Agenda, March 7
2013
Ng, David, Whitney Biennial 2014 to include L.A. artists, David Foster Wallace, Los Angeles Times, November 15
Vogel, Carol, The 2014 Whitney Biennial Is Taking Shape, The New York Times, November 14 (Link)
Damman, Catherine, "Review: My Barbarian at Susanne Vielmetter," Art in America, October
Moss, Avigail, "Working Mothers of Invention: My Barbarian at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects," Texte zur Kunst, no. 91, September
Fraser, Andrea, "My Barbarian," BOMB Magazine, Fall 2013
Newman, Robin, "Masks and Mothers from My Barbarian," The Wild Magazine, August 18
Mizota, Sharon, Critics Pick: My Barbarian at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Artforum.com, July 26
Damman, Catherine, Work It, Working Mother: L.A. Summer Performances, Art in America, July 24
Korek, Bettina, Seriously Go: Galleries Heat Up Los Angeles, Huffington Post, July 11
Wagley, Catherine, "Five Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week," LA Weekly, July 10
Jackson, Shannon, Just-in-Time: Performance and the Aesthetics of Precarity, The Drama Review
2012
Steffen, Patrick, Review: My Barbarian, Flash Art, May-June
Myers, Holly, Art Review: My Barbarian at Human Resources, Los Angeles Times, March 8
Wagley, Catherine, How Do You Create a Fake Theater Troupe? LA Weekly, March 1
2011
Wagley, Catherine, Top 10 Moments of the Year in L.A. Art, LA Weekly, December 22
2010
Coburn, Tyler, Reclaim the Street (Theater), Art Review, March
Grantham, Tosha, 30 Second off an Inch, International Review of African American Artists, Vol. 23, No. 1
2009
Cotter, Holland, Art Review: Ecstatic Resistance, New York Times, December 17
Ellegood, Anne, Best of 2009, Artforum, December
Valdez, Sarah, Exhibition Reviews: My Barbarian, Art In America, November
Pollack, Barbara, Art Review: My Barbarian, The Night Epi$ode, Time Out New York, October 8
Pollack, Barbara, Making Night School Cool, Art News, September
Kley, Elisabeth, Gotham Art & Theater, artnet.com, September
Tumlir, Jan, Reviews: My Barbarian, Artforum, September
Myers, Holly, An Ironic Approach to Challenging Beliefs, Los Angeles Times, May 22
Mueller, Kurt, Solution, Art Papers, May/June
Casadio, Mariuccia, Acoustics, Vogue Italia, March
Miles, Christopher, Sculptural Comedy, LA Weekly, January 23
Muoz, Jose Esteban, Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, (New York: NYU Press)
2008
Maslamani, Maliha, Workshop Redefines Actor/Audience Relationship, Daily News Egypt, December 30
Natalicchio, Cristina, The Entertainment Was Here! Work, Winter
Segade, Alexandro, The 5 Principles of the PoLAAT, Art Lies, Winter
Als, Hilton, "Second as Farce," The New Yorker, October 13
Mauss, Nick and Ken Okiishi, Top 10, Artforum, March
Ruiz, Alma, From and About Place: Art From Los Angeles, catalogue, CCA Tel Aviv
2007
Hill, Lori, First Friday Focus, Philadelphia City Paper, December 31
Pagel, David, Read Me! Text in Art is School Smart and Street Wise, Los Angeles Times, December 28
Butler, Connie, Who is Guy de Cointet? Artforum, Summer
2006
Sandals, Leah, The Seven Habits of Politically Effective Public Art, Spacing, Winter
Hart, Hugh, Ground Seized by Those Contrarian Barbarians, Los Angeles Times, November 26
Limnander, Armand, Universal Pictures, Elle Magazine, November
Chang, Richard, Art of the State, Orange County Register, October 8
Knight, Christopher, The Faces of This Place, Los Angeles Times, October 7
Marcopoulos, Ari, Artquake, photo essay, New York Times Magazine, October 1
Knight, Christopher, Forget isms Except Eclecticism, Los Angeles Times, October 1
Kushner, Rachel, Californias Rising Art Stars, C Magazine, October
My Barbarian, L.A. Queer Art Now, guest editors, Frontiers, August 29
Armstrong, Elizabeth, California Above All, Art Review, May
My Barbarian, Rants & Raves, NYFA.org, May
Magnuson, Ann, Clap Your Jazz Hands And Say Yeah! Paper Magazine, April
Chang, Aimee, Ouverture: My Barbarian, Flash Art, January-February
2005
Ferreiro, Laura, My Barbarian, Under the Radar, Winter
Balzer, David, My Barbarian, Eye Weekly, (Toronto, Ontario) June 30
Editors, 250, I-D Magazine, December 2004 / January
Noerver, Peter, ed., Schindler by Mak: Prestel Museum Guide, (Prestel Museum Guides)
2004
Athey, Ron, MAK Daddies, LA Weekly, October 22
2003
Pradhan, Anup, Conquering Heroes, San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 6, 2003

Selected Projects

2012
"Post-Living Ante-Action Theater" Workshop Performance
2013
Together Forever? Yaffo 23, Jerusalem, Israel, June
2012
Born to Kill, Learn to Love, ICA Philadelphia, PA, November
Post-Paradise, Sorry-Again, CalArts School of Theater / REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA, March-April
2011
PoLAAT Toronto, Rhubarb Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February
2010
Club Remix, American Repertory Theater, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May
Todo El Dinero es Sueo, Matadero, Madrid, Spain, February
2008
The Eleven Human Senses, Townhouse Gallery/Rawabet Theater, Cairo, Egypt, December
Post-Paradise, Never Say Sorry Again, Galleria Civica, Trento, Italy, July
Post-Paradise, Sorry-Again, New Museum, New York, NY, June-July

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2018
United States Artists Fellowship, Theater and Performance, Chicago, IL (Link)
2013
Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY
2012
Creative Capital, New York, NY
2009
City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, CA
2008
Art Matters, New York, NY

Performances

2023
"Star Choir," Mt. Wilson Observatory, Los Angeles, CA
2022
"Broke People’s Baroque Peoples’ Theater," Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
"Double Feature: You Were Born Poor and Poor You Will Die and Silver Minds,"REDCAT and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2021
"Transparency 2021," The Whitney Museum, New York, NY
"Songbook – A Live Concert for the Camera," In collaboration with Telefantasy Studios and broadcast live from 2220 Arts + Archive, Los Angeles, CA
2018
"Non-Western," Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), Los Angeles, CA (Link)
2015
"Double Agency," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (Link)
2013
My Barbarian’s adaptation of ‘The Mother’ by Bertolt Brecht, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA
2012
Broke Peoples Baroque Peoples Theater, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Art Public, Art Basel Miami Beach, Collins Park, Miami Beach, FL, and Hirshhorn Museum, Artlab+, Washington D.C.
An Evening with My Barbarian, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Broke Peoples Baroque Peoples Theater, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
Night Breakfast, Ball of Artists, Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival, Greystone Mansion, Los Angeles, CA
2011
Broke Peoples Baroque Peoples Theater, The Kitchen, New York, NY; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Tourists From the Future, Watermill Center, The Hamptons, NY
Death Panel Discussion, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2010
Tropical Oracle, LACMA, Los Angeles, CA
Ecos de los Ecos de los Ecos, Museo Experimental El Eco and Espacio Escoltorico, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Death Panel Discussion, Transformer Gallery, Washington D.C.
Retro-Active, Self-Appropriation, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2009
The Fourth Wall, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Broke Peoples Baroque Peoples Theater, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Forrest Brothers and Sisters, Baltic Triennial, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
The Five Principles, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
Dance witches Dance, collaboration with Lara Schnitger, Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008
Hystera-Theater, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Positions, Steve Turner Contemporary, Miami, FL
Pagan Rights, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY
Non-Western, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA; UCLA Little Theater, LA, CA; San Diego Museum, San Diego, CA; Ground Zero, USC, LA, CA; Estacin, Tijuana, Mexico
Dance witches Dance, collaboration with Lara Schnitger, Museum Het Domain, Sittard, Netherlands
The Case of the Stairs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
2007
Mountain People, International Prize for Performance, Galleria Civica, Trento, Italy
Non-Western, La Noche En Blanco, El Matadero, Madrid, Spain; Joes Pub, New York, NY
Voyage of the White Widow, De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Performa 07 Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Gods of Canada II: La Sparatisme Galactique, Bennale de Montral, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2006
Mythologic Mass, Performa, Stephen Weiss Studio, New York, NY
Traveling the Spaceways, The Hideout, Chicago, IL; UCR Sweeney Gallery, Riverside, CA
California Sweet, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Torpedo, Oslo, Norway
Medieval Morality, Peres Projects Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Double Future, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
Silver Minds, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
2005
You Were Born Poor & Poor You Will Die, Performa 05 Biennial, Participant, Inc., New York, NY; California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Pagan Rights, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Participant, Inc., New York, NY; Drake Underground, Toronto, Ontario; Evidence Room Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Gods of Canada, commissioned by the Power Plant, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Squirrel Radio Action, commissioned by Pacific Drift, NPR affiliate KPCC 89.3, Pasadena, CA
2004
Medieval Morality, MAK Centers Schindler House, West Hollywood, CA
Web of the Ultimate: A Sance, MAK Centers Schindler House, West Hollywood, CA
MB: The Mary Blair Story, NOW Festival, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
Purple Eyes, Spring Break Festival, Evidence Room Theater, Los Angeles, CA
The Monkey Machine, Vaginal Davis Bricktops, Los Angeles, CA
2002
Nightmarathon: Halloween Hextravaganza, Sundown Salon, Los Angeles, CA
Fairy Theatre at the Fisting Motel, Outfest 2002, Platinum Oasis, curated by Ron Athey and Vaginal Davis, Coral Sands Motel, Los Angeles, CA
2001
X-Mas Special, performance at the homes of Allison Anders, Beck, Roddy Bottum, Luise Heath, Rene Petropolous, Stephen Prina, Kim Fisher, Los Angeles, CA
Frenchboro, Maine, collaboration with Glenn Ligon & Candice Biertz for Song Poems, Cohen Leslie & Brown, New York, NY; The Palace, Los Angeles, CA

Group Exhibition Catalogues and Books

2022
Edwards, Adrienne, Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon and Alexandro Segade. Contributions by Joshua Chambers-Letson and Lia Gangitano. "My Barbarian," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
2021
Liebert, E., Fellah, N. R., Griswold, W., Liebert, E., Keith, N. J., Wexler, L., Lax, T. J., and Griswold, W. Picturing Motherhood Now. Pg 23, 110, 115, 123. Cleveland Museum of Art.
2020
Segade, Alexandro. "THE CONTEXT," Primary Information, Versa Press, East Peoria, IL
2018
Bonin, Vincent, "D’un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant / Actors, Networks, Theories," Blackdog Publishing: London