KIA LABEIJA ______
(646)-290-0673 | [email protected] | 400 West 43rd Apt.24M New York, NY 10036
Multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of community, politics, fine art and activism.
Education
2016 The New School University, New York City | BA Candidate in The Arts | 2016
2005-2008 The Ailey School | Ballet, Modern and West African | New York, NY
2001-2008 The Professional Performing Arts School | Musical Theatre, Dance | New York, NY
1999-2001 The Juilliard School | Music Advancement Program | New York, NY
Awards/Honors/Fellowships/Residencies
2015 Who Paved The Way Award | The 25th Anniversary of The Iconic House of Infiniti Ball | BB Kings | New York, NY
New York Awards Ball - Grand Prize Woman’s Performance | Stage 48 | New York, NY
Hector Xtravaganza Xcellence Award | The 25th annual Latex Ball | New York, NY 2015
The 20 Most Amazing HIV Positive Women of 2015 | HIVPlus Magazine | New York, NY 2015
2014 POZ Top 100 of 2014 | December Issue | New York, NY 2014
Latex Ball 2014 - Grand Prize Woman's Performance | GMHC + House of Latex | Terminal 5 | New York, NY August
Visual AIDS Vanguard Award | Presented by Visual AIDS | Youngest Recipient | New York, NY May
Student Teaching Fellowship - Eugene Lang, The Newschool for Liberal Arts Orginizing For Freedom With Robert Sember and Michael Roberson New York, NY February - May
Art Exhibitions
2016 Agitprop! | Brooklyn Museum | New York, NY April 6th - August 7th 2016 Visual AIDS commission of three artworks for Play Smart sexual health prevention packs…
2015 Harlem Postcards | Studio Museum of Harlem | New York, NY November 12th - March 6th, 2015 Commission highlight Harlem neighborhood; concurrent exhibiting artists include Zanele Muholi.
Party Out of Bounds: Nightlife as Activism Since 1980 | Curated by Osman Yerebakan and Emily Colucci | La MaMa Galleria | New York, NY September 18th - October 10th, 2015
Elastic Practice | Clifford Chance | Curated by Jacob Robichaux and Sam Gorden New York, NY May 29th - October 1st, 2015 Art, AIDS, America | Curated by Rock Hushka And Jonnathan Katz | One Gallery, LA | TACOMA, WA | Zuckerman Museum, Georgia | Bronx Museum, NY | National Tour 2015 | Only representation of women of color living with HIV/persons born with HIV virus
2014 Ephemera as Evidence | Curated by Josh Lubin-Levy and Ricardo Montez | La MaMA Galleria New York, NY June 2014
Know Who You Are at Every Age | Curated by Q_Raider and BDGRMMR | Bronx River Arts Center New York, NY April 2014
Honest Bodies | Curated by Zachary Patrick and Andrew Phan | CUNY/Project Reach | New York, NY February 2014
Live Performance
2016 Reusable Parts/Endless Love | Gerard and Kelly | University of Albany Lab Theater | February 12th 2016
Metamorphosis | House of Vans with DJ MikeQ | New York, NY January 16th 2016
2015 H&M x BALMAIN Collaboration Runway Show | New York, NY October 20th 2015
Givenchy NY Fashion Week Official After Party | Curator: Ladyfag | Lower East Side | New York, NY September 11th 2015
AfroPunk Fancy Dress Ball | Opening for Grace Jones | Commodore Barry Park | New York, NY August 21st 2015
The Red Road Block | Planet Indigenous | Toronto, Ontario August 2015
Wilhelmina Brings Down the House - Mens Fashion Week 2015 | Marquee | New York, NY July 16th 2015
Movement Research Festival - Kia Labeija x LION | Tandem Bar | Brooklyn, NY May 16th 2015
HAUS OF SPICE Mini Ball | Brooklyn Museum First Saturdays | Brooklyn, NY May 2nd 2015
La MaMa’s Squirts 2015 | The Club at La MaMa | New York, NY January 16th - January 25th 2015
2014 Make a Way out of No Way | Stereo Night Club | Glasgow, Scotland September 26th 2014
AFROPUNK w/DJ MikeQ | Commodore Berry Park |Brooklyn, NY August 24th 2014
GAYLETTER Pride Ball | The Wythe Hotel | Produced by Kia Labeija | Brooklyn, NY June 27th
BAAD: Out Like That | Bronx Academy of Art and Dance | Bronx, NY June 14th 2014
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival | La MaMa Experimental Theatre | New York, NY May 16th - 18th 2014
The Road to Mastery Ball | MoMa PS1| New York, NY April 20th 2014
2013 Wet N’ Wild Benefit for AMFAR with Fergie feat. The House of Labeija | Tao Restaurant New York, NY December 2013 Selected Panel Discussions/Public Programming
2015 The Artist’s Voice: Kia Labeija | The Studio Museum in Harlem | New York, NY December Sold-out solo artist talk at Studio Museum highlighting Kia Labeija’s body of work
Kia Labeija Presents FAME | Queer Art Film, IFC | New York, NY November 2015
New York City Vogue and Ballroom culture | VICE Headquarters | New York, NY November 2015
In This House: AIDS, Art and Activism in the Vogue Ball Scene | La Mama Galleria | New York, NY September 2015
Positively Resilient | The Audre Lorde Project | New York, NY March 18th 2015
2014 You've Never Seen Pain Expressed Like This | The Tramway, featuring Miss Prissy, Pony Zion Garcon & Danielle Goldman | Glasgow, Scotland September
Tea Time: Mapping Informational Networks of Women Living with HIV | Eugene Lang, The Newschool for Liberal Arts | New York, NY March 19th
EN VOGUE: GAYLETTER Pride Ball Discussion Panel | The Wythe Hotel | Discussing Jenn Nkiru’s short film on the ballroom scene | New York, NY June
International Ballroom Convention 2014: House of Labeija | Chahama Harlem Gallery | New York, NY April 2014
The Personal and the Political: Loosing Parents to AIDS | Part of Why We Fight: Remembering AIDS Activism Exhibition | New York Public Library, New York, February
2013 Race & the Colonial Impulse: Queer Performance Practices | The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University | New York, NY November 2013
(Re)Presenting AIDS: Culture and Accountability | Along with The Pop Up Museum of Queer History and Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies CUNY Graduate Center | New York, NY August
Documentary | Film
2015 What it’s really like to live with HIV today | Refinery 29 | New York, NY December 2015
We’re Still Here | Director: Grissel Granados | Film about children born with HIV | Los Angeles, CA July 2014
2013 En Vogue | Director: Jenn Nkiru | Choreographer: Danielle Polonco | Cinematographer: Bradford Young | New York, NY September 2013
Dirty 30 | Director: Hannelore Williams | Film on how HIV is perceived 30 years after the epidemic began | New York, NY October 2013
Teaching
2015 Hold That Pose - Voguing and Self Portraiture Workshop | GMHC | New York, NY October 2015
Vogue Classique | Illadelph Legends Festival, Destiny Arts Studio | Oakland, CA June 2015
The Bronx is Voguing Workshop | The Bronx Museum | Bronx, NY March 2015 2014 A Day With(Out) Art: Voguing Workshop | Queens Museum | New York, NY December
Vogue Master Workshop | The Academy at Urban Arts Partnership | New York, NY November 2014
Vogue Baby Steps | PS 137 | New York, NY October 2014
Vogue Performance Workshop | Funktion Dance Complex | Edison, NJ September 2014
Vogue Workshop with Legendary Pony Zion | Glasgow Kelvin School | Glasgow, Scotland September 2014
Vogue Performance | GMHC - Vogue Lounge | New York, NY September 2014
Elements of Vogue |The Shade Tour | ODC & Dance Mission | San Francisco, CA August 2014
Featured Publications
2015 “Kia Labeija Tracks the Influence of HIV/AIDS on Contemporary Art” | The Creators Project, VICE | By Antwaun Sargent | September 2nd | http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/ blog/kia-labeija-tracks-the-influence-of-hiv-aids-on-contemporary-art
“Vogueing is Still Burning up the Dance Floor” | The New York Times | By Brian Schaefer | July 23rd | http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/22/arts/dance/20150726- vogue.html
“Power in the Crisis: Kia Labeija’s Radical Art as a 25 Year Old, HIV Positive Woman of Color “ | VICE | By Hugh Ryan | June 6th | http://www.vice.com/read/power-in-the-crisis- kia-labeija-456
“Kwans Song and the Allure of Immortality” | A&U Magazine | By Sean Black | May 1st | http://www.aumag.org/2015/05/01/kia-labeija/