Sanford Biggers
Encyclopedia
Sanford Biggers is an interdisciplinary artist who works in film/video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance. An L.A. native, he has lived and worked in New York City since 1999. He received a BA from Morehouse College
in Atlanta, Georgia, a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1998.
Biggers first received critical attention when his collaborative work with David Ellis, Mandala of the B-Bodhisattva II, was included in the legendary exhibition "Freestyle", curated by Thelma Golden
at the Studio Museum in Harlem
in 2001. Since, his works have been presented internationally including the Tate Modern
in London, the Renaissance Society in Chicago,, Prospect 1 in New Orleans and the Whitney Biennial
, the Kitchen
and Performa 07 (curated by Roselee Goldberg
) in New York. In 2009 he received the William H. Johnson Prize and was one of the three finalists for the inaugural Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts, the largest juried prize in the world to go to an individual visual artist.
Biggers's art frequently references African American ethnography, hip hop music
, Buddhism
, African spirituality, Indo-European Vodoun, Jazz, Afrofuturism
, urban culture and icons from Americana. He claims to place "no hierarchy on chronology, references or media" and his work has been characterized by meditation and improvisation. He says his themes are "meant to broaden and complicate our read on American history." He also uses syncretism to highlight the interconnectedness of seemly disparate cultural practices. In order to make the viewer an active element, Biggers often turns his sculptures into performances. Having spent most of his life playing piano, this performative element frequently takes the form of music. He has collaborated on music projects with Saul Williams
a.k.a. Niggy Tardust, Esthero
, Martin Luther McCoy
, Imani Uzuri Rich Medina and Jahi Sundance.
Biggers is Affiliate Faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University
Sculpture and Expanded Media program and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University
’s VES Department in 2009.
He is presently Assistant Professor at Columbia University
’s Visual Arts program.
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
in Atlanta, Georgia, a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1998.
Biggers first received critical attention when his collaborative work with David Ellis, Mandala of the B-Bodhisattva II, was included in the legendary exhibition "Freestyle", curated by Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, USA. Golden joined the Museum as Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs in 2000 before succeeding Dr Lowery Stokes Sims, the Museum’s former Director and President, in 2005.-Early life and...
at the Studio Museum in Harlem
Studio Museum in Harlem
The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American contemporary art museum in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, New York. It was founded in 1968 as the first such museum in the U.S. devoted to the art of African-Americans, specializing in 19th and 20th century work as well work of artists of...
in 2001. Since, his works have been presented internationally including the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
in London, the Renaissance Society in Chicago,, Prospect 1 in New Orleans and the Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
, the Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
and Performa 07 (curated by Roselee Goldberg
Roselee Goldberg
RoseLee Goldberg is an American-based art historian, author, critic and curator. She wrote a study of performance art, Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present...
) in New York. In 2009 he received the William H. Johnson Prize and was one of the three finalists for the inaugural Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts, the largest juried prize in the world to go to an individual visual artist.
Biggers's art frequently references African American ethnography, hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, African spirituality, Indo-European Vodoun, Jazz, Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is an emergent literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise,...
, urban culture and icons from Americana. He claims to place "no hierarchy on chronology, references or media" and his work has been characterized by meditation and improvisation. He says his themes are "meant to broaden and complicate our read on American history." He also uses syncretism to highlight the interconnectedness of seemly disparate cultural practices. In order to make the viewer an active element, Biggers often turns his sculptures into performances. Having spent most of his life playing piano, this performative element frequently takes the form of music. He has collaborated on music projects with Saul Williams
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
a.k.a. Niggy Tardust, Esthero
Esthero
Esthero ,born Jenny-Bea Englishman, is a Canadian singer-songwriter who currently lives in Los Angeles, California. The name Esthero refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself and producer Doc McKinney...
, Martin Luther McCoy
Martin Luther McCoy
Martin Luther McCoy is an American musician and actor. The San Francisco native collaborated extensively with musicians like The Roots and Cody ChesnuTT and appears as one of the six lead characters in the 2007 Beatles musical Across the Universe in the role of "Jo-Jo", who reflects Jimi Hendrix...
, Imani Uzuri Rich Medina and Jahi Sundance.
Biggers is Affiliate Faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
Sculpture and Expanded Media program and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
’s VES Department in 2009.
He is presently Assistant Professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
’s Visual Arts program.
External links
- Show and Tell: Sanford Biggers, NY Mag
- ‘Stranger Fruit,’ indeed, Harvard Gazette
- Sanford Biggers’s Moon Medicine at Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara Independent
- Review: Sanford Biggers at the Portland Art Museum, Oregon Live
- This year's Greenfield Prize winner melds a variety of talents and thoughts, Herald Tribune