K8 Hardy
Exhibition: K8 Hardy - Fashionfashion 2002 - 2006
Dates: 9/17 - 10/11/2014
Opening: Wednesday, September 17, 6-8pm
For her first solo exhibition at Higher Pictures, K8 Hardy presents Fashionfashion, 2002-2006.
The show consists of four monumental zines, each measuring 30 x 23 inches. This is the first exhibition of Fashionfashion in the United States. John Kelsey writes:
(Hardy) released a series of zines called Fashionfashion, featuring mostly cut-and-paste images of herself, posed and styled (by herself) in grotesque, brutally collaged fashion/lifestyle editorials (by herself). For these riot grrrlesque publications, Hardy exploited her own exploitation working as a stylist’s assistant, scavenging outfits at thrift stores (or making them herself), and wearing make-up more in the clown/horror vein than what mainstream women’s magazines call beauty. In one memorable self-portrait from this time, Hardy spread her legs wide for the camera while menstruating through underwear printed with a repeating dollar sign motif. She called this her “money shot.” [1]
K8 Hardy was born in Fort Worth, Texas and lives and works in New York. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and has been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial and MoMA PS1 in New York, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, Texas, Tate Modern in London and most recently at Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst und Medien in Graz, Austria. She is a founding member of the queer feminist journal and artist collective LTTR and the New York-based activist group W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy). The artist holds degrees from Smith College and the Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts at Bard College and is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Studies Program.
For more information please contact Stephen Javaras at 212.249.6100.
[1] Kelsey, John. “Information in Drag.” How To: Untitled Runway Show. Paris: DoPe, 2013. 111. Print.