PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST: NIKITA GALE NIKITA GALE IS AN ARTIST LIVING AND WORKING IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND HOLDS A BA IN ANTHROPOLOGY WITH AN EMPHASIS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES FROM YALE UNIVERSITY AND EARNED AN MFA IN NEW GENRES AT UCLA. GALE’S WORK APPLIES THE LENS OF MATERIAL CULTURE TO CONSIDER HOW AUTHORITY IS NEGOTIATED WITHIN POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS. GALE’S WORK EMPLOYS OBJECTS AND MATERIALS LIKE BARRICADES, CONCRETE, MICROPHONE STANDS, AND SPOTLIGHTS TO ADDRESS THE WAYS IN WHICH SPACE AND SOUND ARE POLITICIZED. GALE’S BROAD-RANGING INSTALLATIONS BLUR FORMAL AND DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES, ENGAGING WITH CONCERNS OF MEDIATION AND AUTOMATION IN CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE. THROUGH APPROACHING REPRODUCTION AS A MECHANISM THAT CONNECTS HUMANS TO A DESIRE FOR EXTENSION AND AMPLIFICATION THROUGH BOTH BIOLOGICAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, THE ARTIST’S WORK POINTS TO THE WAYS THAT TECHNOLOGY NOT ONLY FUNCTIONS AS AN EXTENSION AND AMPLIFICATION OF THE BODY BUT ALSO AS A MEANS BY WHICH LABOR AND VIOLENCE ARE DISPLACED AND CONCENTRATED. BY ENGAGING WITH MATERIALS THAT ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY ACOUSTIC AND PROTECTIVE LIKE FOAM AND TERRY CLOTH, GALE’S RECENT WORK CONSIDERS THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE AS A SOCIAL ARENA AND EXAMINES THE WAYS IN WHICH SILENCE, NOISE, AND VISIBILITY FUNCTION AS POLITICAL POSITIONS AND CONDITIONS. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE: IN A DREAM YOU CLIMB THE STAIRS, CHISENHALE, LONDON (2022); END OF SUBJECT, 52 WALKER, NEW YORK (2022); THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE, 56 HENRY, NEW YORK, NY (2022); SOME WEATHER, CIRCA AND CHISENHALE GALLERY, LONDON, UK; TOKYO, JAPAN AND SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (2021); PRIVATE DANCER, CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES, USA; AND AUDIENCING, MOMA PS1, LONG ISLAND CITY, USA (BOTH 2020.) GALE IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE FOCA FELLOWSHIP (2021), REMA HORT MANN FOUNDATION EMERGING ARTIST GRANT (2017), THE TOBY DEVAN LEWIS FELLOWSHIP, UCLA (2016) AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS SOUTHERN CONSTELLATIONS FELLOWSHIP (2013). GALE IS REPRESENTED BY 56 HENRY (NEW YORK), COMMONWEALTH & COUNCIL (LOS ANGELES), AND REYES FINN (DETROIT). #NIKITAGALE #CELINEBYHEDISLIMANE