Sanford Biggers: Difference between revisions

'''Sanford Biggers''' (born 1970 in [[Los Angeles]]) is aan [[Harlem]]-basedAmerican [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]] artist who works in film/ and video, [[installation art|installation]], sculpture, music, and [[performance art|performance]].<ref name="autogenerated1">[https://213.121.208.204/modern/exhibitions/illuminations/artist_sanford.shtm Modern Exhibitions] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704184700/https://213.121.208.204/modern/exhibitions/illuminations/artist_sanford.shtm |date=July 4, 2011 }}</ref> AnA [[Los Angeles|L.A.]] native, he has lived and worked in [[New York City]] since 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rovetv.net/sb-press.html |title=Sanford Biggers/Notions |last=Schachter Rove |first=Kenny |accessdate=2010-07-12 |publisher=rovetv.net |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102123226/http://www.rovetv.net/sb-press.html |archivedate=2011-01-02 }}</ref>

Biggers was born in 1970 in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].<ref name = "NewYorkerProfile">{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/the-playful-political-art-of-sanford-biggers|title=The Playful, Political Art of Sanford Biggers|first=Vinson|last=Cunningham|date=8 January 2018|publisher=|via=www.newyorker.com}}</ref> He is the son of a neurosurgeon, his father, and of a teacher, his mother.<ref>{{Cite web|title= The Playful, Political Art of Sanford Biggers|url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/the-playful-political-art-of-sanford-biggers|website = newyorker.com|date= 8 January 2018|publisher = |accessdate = 2021-03-10}}</ref> He received a BA from [[Morehouse College]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], an MFA from the [[School of the Art Institute of Chicago]], Illinois and attended [[Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture]] in 1998.<ref name="NewYorkerProfile"/> Biggers says that due to a lack of art major classes at Morehouse, he was required to take the majority of his classes at the all-women [[Spelman College]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = On the Record With ... Sanford Biggers|url = httphttps://www.bet.com/newsarticle/national/2014/02/20lhibyc/on-the-record-with-sanford-biggers.html|website = BET.com|publisher = |accessdateaccess-date = 2015-11-11|lastlast1 = Biggers|last2 = Keith|firstfirst1 = Sanford|first2 = Amy Elisa|date = 2014-02-20|authorlink = Sanford Biggers}}</ref>

Biggers first received critical attention when his collaborative work with David Ellis, ''Mandala of the B-Bodhisattva II'', was included in the exhibition "Freestyle", curated by [[Thelma Golden]] at the [[Studio Museum in Harlem]] in 2001.<ref>Lesage, Dieter & Wudtke, Ina. "Black Sound White Cube." Löcker Verlag (June 11, 2010).</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bleckner |first=Ross |url=http://bombsite.com/issues/107/articles/3266 |title=BOMB Magazine: Rashid Johnson by Sanford Biggers |publisher=Bombsite.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref><ref name="artnews1">{{Cite web |last=Yablonsky |first=Linda |url=http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1096 |title=ARTnews |publisher=ARTnews |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025200928/http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1096 |archivedate=2010-10-25 }}</ref> Since, his works have been presented internationally including the [[Tate Modern]] in London, the [[Renaissance Society]] in Chicago,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Intro.The-Here-and-Now.35.html|title=Sanford Biggers at the Renaissance Society|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120908132651/http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Intro.The-Here-and-Now.35.html|archivedate=2012-09-08}}</ref> Prospect 1 in New Orleans and the [[Whitney Biennial]], [[the Kitchen]] and Performa 07 (curated by [[Roselee Goldberg]]) in New York.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="artnews1"/><ref name="artforum1">{{Cite web|url=http://artforum.com/new.php?id=23725&pn=archive |title=/ archive |publisher=Artforum.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref> Biggers's art frequently references African-American [[ethnography]], [[hip hop music]], [[Buddhism]], African spirituality, Indo-European [[West African Vodun|Vodoun]], [[jazz]], [[Afrofuturism]], urban culture and icons from [[Americana (culture)|Americana]].<ref name="berkeley1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/197 |title=BAM/PFA - Art Exhibitions - Sanford Biggers / MATRIX 197 |publisher=Bampfa.berkeley.edu |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611215120/http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/197 |archivedate=2010-06-11 }}</ref><ref name="sbcaf1">{{Cite web|author=Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum |url=http://www.sbcaf.org/exhibitions/past/archive2010/Mar_2010.html |title=• Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum &#124;&#124; EXHIBITIONS • |publisher=Sbcaf.org |date= |accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref><ref name="whitehotmagazine1">{{Cite web|url=http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/2010-interview-with-sanford-biggers/2054 |title=WM &#124; whitehot magazine of contemporary art &#124; April 2010, Interview with Sanford Biggers |publisher= |date= |accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vcu.edu/arts/paintingprintmaking/dept/solventSpace.html |title=Bachelors Degree Program |publisher=Vcu.edu |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707093732/http://www.vcu.edu/arts/paintingprintmaking/dept/solventSpace.html |archivedate=2010-07-07 }}</ref> He claimshas said that tohe placeplaces "no hierarchy on chronology, references or media"<ref name="timeout1">{{Cite web|url=http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/art/70814/sanford-biggers |title=Sanford Biggers - Time Out New York |publisher= |date= |accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref> and his work has been characterized by meditation and improvisation.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> 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.<ref name="berkeley1"/><ref name="sbcaf1"/> In order to make the viewer an active element, Biggers often turns his sculptures into performances.<ref name="timeout1"/>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/visualarts/sanford_pr.php |title=Sanford Biggers Public Art at Harvard |publisher=Ofa.fas.harvard.edu |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627180150/http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/visualarts/sanford_pr.php |archivedate=2010-06-27 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vcu.edu/arts/sculpture/dept/news/news_archive.html |title=VCU Sculpture + Extended Media |publisher=Vcu.edu |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528111820/http://www.vcu.edu/arts/sculpture/dept/news/news_archive.html |archivedate=2010-05-28 }}</ref>

He was previously an Assistantassistant Professorprofessor at [[Columbia University]]'s Visual Arts program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/art/app/arts/visual_arts/faculty.jsp |title=Visual Arts Faculty - Columbia University School of the Arts Graduate MFA Programs |publisher=Pp.cc.columbia.edu |accessdate=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107222448/http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/art/app/arts/visual_arts/faculty.jsp |archivedate=January 7, 2009 }}</ref>

In 2019, Biggers was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://current.nyfa.org/post/182403554613/event-sanford-biggers-karl-kellner-and-min-jin |title=NYFA 2019 Hall of Fame Event |date=29 January 2019 |accessdate=2019-03-28}}</ref> In 2010, Biggers was awarded the Greenfield Prize at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, a two-year residency and commission of new work.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Greenfield Winners|url = http://greenfieldprize.org/awardees/greenfield-winners/#2010|website = www.greenfieldprize.org|access-date = 2016-04-05}}</ref> The commission formed the centerpiece of ''Sanford Biggers: Codex'', a 2012 solo exhibition at the [[John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art|Ringling Museum]]<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sanford Biggers: Codex|url = https://ringling.org/events/sanford-biggers-codex|website = www.ringling.org|access-date = 2016-04-05}}</ref> curated by [[Matthew McLendon]].

In 2009 he received the William H. Johnson Prize<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sanford Biggers Wins 2009 William H. Johnson Prize|url = http://artforum.com/news/id=23725|website = www.artforum.com|access-date = 2016-04-05}}</ref> 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 in 2008 received the [[Creative Capital]] Award in the discipline of Visual Arts.<ref>(http://creative-capital.org/projects/view/23) {{dead link|date=January 2023}}</ref> Biggers was an [[Eyebeam (organization)|Eyebeam]] [[artist-in-residence]] in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sanford Biggers {{!}} eyebeam.org|url = http://eyebeam.org/people/sanford-biggers|website = eyebeam.org|access-date = 2016-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = iniva: Sanford Biggers|url = http://www.iniva.org/library/archive/people/b/biggers_sanford|website = www.iniva.org|access-date = 2016-02-01}}</ref>

inIn 2018 Biggers was interviewed by Vinson Cunningham, a writer for the ''[[New Yorker (magazine)|New Yorker]]'' magazine, about his impact on contemporary political art and his role in the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement.<ref>{{cite webmagazine|last1=Cunningham|first1=Vinson|title=The Playful, Political Art of Sanford Biggers:An under-sung artist upends received ideas about race and history.|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/the-playful-political-art-of-sanford-biggers?CNDID=30462369&spMailingID=12874080&spUserID=MTMzMTgzMTA1MjA0S0&spJobID=1340338860&spReportId=MTM0MDMzODg2MAS2|websitemagazine=The New Yorker|accessdate= 2018-02-04|language=en|date= 2018-01-08}}</ref>

* "Vex" — [[Baldwin Gallery]], Aspen, Colorado. June 27-2027–20, 2014

==References Collections ==