Founded in 2000 in Los Angeles, My Barbarian is the umbrella for works collaboratively created by Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade. Their collective work uses performance to explore social difficulties, often re-framing Marxist, feminist, queer theory, pop culture, and classics through playful, campy intervention. The resulting plays, masks, videos, drawings, songs, installations, texts, events, puppets, and paintings reflect both a serious inclination to academic research as well as an ongoing interest in critically re-assessing the reception and appropriation of these ideas and their hegemonizing forces in the sphere of the avant-garde, academia, and culture at large.
The video Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse (2013), one of their most well-known works, premiered at Vielmetter Los Angeles in 2013. In addition to this video, the exhibition included a live theatrical performance of the same name and objects that explored feminist legacies, the symbolism of a maternal order, first loves, and the group’s negotiations as daughters, sons, students, teachers, and working mothers. The exhibition title combined the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” which was co-authored by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948, and Melanie Klein’s 1929 essay “Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in a Work of Art and the Creative Impulse.” Using these and other influential texts, My Barbarian traced the modernist precedents for their work along a maternal line. Several of these works were later re-presented in the 2014 Whitney Biennial.
My Barbarian consists of Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade. Gaines was born in Visalia, CA, in 1973, lives and works in Los Angeles and San Diego, received their PhD from UCLA in 2011, their MFA from CalArts in 1999, and their BA from UCLA in 1996. Gordon was born in Santa Rosa, CA, in 1975, lives and works in Los Angeles, and received their MA in 2011 and BA in 2008 from USC in Los Angeles. Segade was born in San Diego, CA, in 1973, lives and works in Los Angeles and San Diego, and received their MFA and BA from UCLA.
Recent solo exhibitions include Maskworkers, Vielmetter Los Angeles (2023); My Barbarian, traveling exhibition at ICALA, Los Angeles (2022) and Whitney Museum of Art, New York (2021); The Audience is Always Right, New Museum, New York (2016); Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse, University of Illinois, Chicago (2014) among many others. Group exhibitions include Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2023); Are We Not Drawn Onward to a New Era, Mandeville Gallery, UCSD, San Diego, CA (2023); Picturing Motherhood Now: Images for a New Era, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2021); One day this kid will get larger, DePaul Art Museum, Chicago (2017); and the Whitney Biennale, Witney Museum of Art, New York (2014), among many others.

"Star Choir," 2023
“Star Choir,” 2023
Performance
Inventory #MBB302
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles

"Broke People’s Baroque Peoples’ Theater: A Festival", 2023
“Broke People’s Baroque Peoples’ Theater: A Festival,” 2023
Single channel HD video and stereo sound with textile curtain
TRT: 35:00 mins
Edition 1 of 3, 3 AP
Inventory #MBB298.01
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
![This image depicts an artwork by My Barbarian titled "Conservationist Saves the Mountaintop." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 20" x 16" [HxW] (50.8 x 40.64 cm); 22 ³⁄₄" x 19" x 1 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (57.78 x 48.26 x 3.81 cm) Framed. Its medium is Watercolor collage on paper.](https://vielmetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/My-Barbarian_MBB275_1697313089-768x1024.jpg)
“Conservationist Saves the Mountaintop,” 2023
“Conservationist Saves the Mountaintop,” 2023
Watercolor collage on paper
20" x 16" [HxW] (50.8 x 40.64 cm); 22 ³⁄₄" x 19" x 1 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (57.78 x 48.26 x 3.81 cm) Framed
Inventory #MBB275
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane
![This image depicts an artwork by My Barbarian titled "Triple Chthonic Triad I." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 20" x 16" [HxW] (50.8 x 40.64 cm); 22 ³⁄₄" x 19" x 1 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (57.78 x 48.26 x 3.81 cm) Framed. Its medium is Watercolor collage on paper.](https://vielmetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/My-Barbarian_MBB279_1697313142-768x1024.jpg)
“Triple Chthonic Triad I,” 2023
“Triple Chthonic Triad I,” 2023
Watercolor collage on paper
20" x 16" [HxW] (50.8 x 40.64 cm); 22 ³⁄₄" x 19" x 1 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (57.78 x 48.26 x 3.81 cm) Framed
Inventory #MBB279
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane
![This image depicts an artwork by My Barbarian titled "Standalabra V (Gamorrah Mega-Bod)." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 77 ¹⁄₂" x 40" x 24" [HxWxD] (196.85 x 101.6 x 60.96 cm). Its medium is Metal, textiles, plastic, gold leaf, wigs, tambourine.](https://vielmetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/My-Barbarian_MBB289_1697313050-769x1024.jpg)
“Standalabra V (Gamorrah Mega-Bod),” 2023
“Standalabra V (Gamorrah Mega-Bod),” 2023
Metal, textiles, plastic, gold leaf, wigs, tambourine
77 ¹⁄₂" x 40" x 24" [HxWxD] (196.85 x 101.6 x 60.96 cm)
Inventory #MBB289
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane
![This image depicts an artwork by My Barbarian titled "Standelabra IV (Broke Baroque: Cassandra as Salomé)." This artwork was created in 2022 and measures 70" x 43" x 23" [HxWxD] (177.8 x 109.22 x 58.42 cm). Its medium is Mixed media.](https://vielmetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/My-Barbarian_MBB256_1715729509-683x1024.jpg)
"Standelabra IV (Broke Baroque: Cassandra as Salomé)," 2022
“Standelabra IV (Broke Baroque: Cassandra as Salomé),” 2022
Mixed media
70" x 43" x 23" [HxWxD] (177.8 x 109.22 x 58.42 cm)
Inventory #MBB256
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Brica Wilcox

“Standelabra 3 (3-Headed Oracle),” 2021
“Standelabra 3 (3-Headed Oracle),” 2021
Steel with black matte paint, Shakuntala Du Bois (2012), Old Fairy (2012), Moon Goddess (2012), Gown by Alexandro (2012–21), three wigs, and three porcelain busts
46 ¹⁄₂" x 10" x 72 ¹⁄₄" [HxWxD] (118.11 x 25.4 x 183.51 cm) stand; 18 ¹⁄₄" x 18 ¹⁄₄" x 1 ¹⁄₄" [HxWxD] (46.35 x 46.35 x 3.17 cm) base
Inventory #MBB231
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane

“Standelabra 2 (Dancing Pagan),” 2021
“Standelabra 2 (Dancing Pagan),” 2021
Steel with black matte paint, Third Eye mask (2006), Pagan Rights costume (2006–9), Obama Pants (2009), and Head-kerchief (2006)
20 ¹⁄₄" x 7" x 69" [HxWxD] (51.43 x 17.78 x 175.26 cm) stand; 18 ¹⁄₄" x 18 ¹⁄₄" x 1 ¹⁄₄" [HxWxD] (46.35 x 46.35 x 3.17 cm) base
Inventory #MBB230
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane

“Double Agency: Episode 1: The Viewer and the Viewed,” 2015
“Double Agency: Episode 1: The Viewer and the Viewed,” 2015
HD color video with sound
TRT: 6:36 min
Edition 1 of 6, 3 AP
Inventory #MBB208.01

“Masks of the World, AC1993.217.4,” 2015
“Masks of the World, AC1993.217.4,” 2015
White clay, plaster, acrylic
6.5" x 7" x 1"
Inventory #MBB221
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

“Masks of the World, AC1994.203.1,” 2015
“Masks of the World, AC1994.203.1,” 2015
Aqua-resin, fiberglass, plaster, paper mache, acrylic
25" x 15" x 8"
Inventory #MBB212
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

“Hanna,” 2014
“Hanna,” 2014
28" H x 10.50" W x 5.50" D (71.12 cm H x 26.67 cm W x 13.97 cm D)
Inventory #MBB206
Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

“Harry,” 2014
“Harry,” 2014
26.50" H x 18" W x 6" D (67.31 cm H x 45.72 cm W x 15.24 cm D)
Inventory #MBB205
Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

July 13, 2013
July 13, 2013
Image Credit: Oliver Walker

“Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse,” 2013
“Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in the Creative Impulse,” 2013
HD color video with sound
29:02 minutes
Edition 5 of 6, 3 AP
Inventory #MBB141.05
Courtesy of the artists and Vielmetter Los Angeles

“Kassandra Wasserstein,” 2014
“Kassandra Wasserstein,” 2014
Papier Mache, plaster & leather
9 ¹⁄₂" x 5 ¹⁄₂" x 5 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (24.13 x 13.97 x 13.97 cm)
Inventory #MBB170
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

“Witch Nun,” 2014
“Witch Nun,” 2014
Papier Mache, plaster & leather
9" x 5 ¹⁄₂" x 4 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (22.86 x 13.97 x 11.43 cm)
Inventory #MBB169
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Robert Wedemeyer

“Burning Flag (banner),” 2005
“Burning Flag (banner),” 2005
Textiles, sequins, acrylic
75 ¹⁄₂" x 41" [HxW] (191.77 x 104.14 cm)
Inventory #MBB236
Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Photo credit: Jeff McLane

“Our Comrade,” 2013
“Our Comrade,” 2013
Oil stick on craft paper
18" H x 24" W (45.72 cm H x 60.96 cm W)
Inventory #MBB117
Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

“Hectograph,” 2013
“Hectograph,” 2013
Oil stick on craft paper
18" H x 24" W (45.72 cm H x 60.96 cm W)
Inventory #MBB133
Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles
- 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