Kendalle Getty

Kendalle Getty (born October 1, 1988), also known as Kendalle Fiasco and Kendalle Aubra, is an American multimedia artist, advocate, and creative producer. Her interdisciplinary practice incorporates painting, sculpture, performance, poetry, music, and design, often exploring themes of identity, ritual, mortality, and language. Getty is known for installations such as Hostile Home and Mirror of Influence, which use materials including wax, mirrors, and crystal furniture to examine inheritance, psychological landscapes, and transformation.

Early life and education

Getty was born in Los Angeles, California, to real estate developer Cynthia Beck and composer and philanthropist Gordon Getty. Previously known as Kendalle Fiasco and Kendalle Aubra, she was raised primarily outside the public spotlight and has cited her delayed awareness of her familial connections as an influence on her exploration of identity and lineage in her work.

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in video art and sculpture from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where she was selected for the senior honors studio program. During this time, she began creating installation-based work focused on themes of memory, psychology, and symbolic healing.

Career Getty’s early projects included the Angry Feminist Pin-Up Calendar (2018), a reimagining of traditional pin-up imagery that centered women, non-binary people, and survivors of violence. She also participated in performance poetry events under stage names including Kendalle Fiasco and Kendalle Aubra.

In 2023 she presented Hostile Home, an installation series exploring themes of domestic space, neglect, and ornamentation.

Artistic practice

Getty’s work incorporates symbolic materials, personal mythologies, and sculptural interventions to investigate emotional and psychological landscapes. Her installations often blend luxurious or ornate objects with references to domestic space, familial dynamics, and transformation. Notable projects include:

Writers have noted that Getty’s work draws on psychoanalytic theory, including Lacan’s mirror stage, as well as semiotics (known as the study of signs and symbols) and feminist art history.

Philanthropy and advocacy

Getty is actively involved in arts philanthropy and cultural initiatives. She serves as:

The chair of the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation A member of the Performa Commissioning Council A supporter of the Poetry Society of New York

Her work in these areas supports experimental performance, contemporary art, and poetry.

Creative production

In addition to her fine art practice, Getty works as a creative producer:

Short Film Direction: Directed multiple short films including Happy Birthday, Mr. President (2008), a disruption of visual literacy with pop-political undertones; Political Apathy (2007), capturing the camp and schizophrenia of Postmodernism with the abject, drawn-out view of reality television—or, television reality; and Friday (2007), a study in abjection and Freud’s Uncanny. Getty also worked as the Executive Producer of Child Actor (2023), featuring the artist formerly known as Glüme.

Music Video Direction: Directed and produced Brittany, a visual project featuring Sean Ono Lennon.

Ritual Candle Series: Crafted a line of hand-poured candles embedded with symbolic objects, described by Document Journal as functional artworks tied to her installations. Musician: Released multiple tracks under the name Freudian Slit.