Kenya (Robinson)

Kenya (Robinson) (born 1977) is an American multimedia artist whose work includes performance, sculpture and installation. Raised in Gainesville, Florida, (Robinson)'s work depicts themes of privilege and consumerism, exploring perceptions of gender, race and ability. Combining a variety of audio-visual elements and live performance, (Robinson)'s work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen, The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, and the 60 Wall Street Gallery of Deutsche Bank. She has lectured at Hampshire College, Long Island University, and the University of Florida.

An established blogger and Arts and Culture contributor to the Huffington Post, (Robinson), who chooses to have her last name placed in parentheses, documents her work on her Instagram account kenya9. She earned her MFA in Sculpture from the School of Art at Yale University in 2013. Her father worked in the military and (Robinson) has described her mother as being a "great beauty and bibliophile." After working for a few years as a freelance fashion designer in both Los Angeles and New York, (Robinson) began working as a studio assistant for visual artist Mike Cloud. Two years later, (Robinson) produced a variation of HAIRPOLITIC as a solo exhibition at the Thomas Center in her hometown of Gainesville.

In addition to these solo displays, (Robinson)'s work appeared in a number of group exhibitions during this time in New York and New Jersey. She also had a number of performance art pieces featured in notable venues, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Wall Street Gallery, Recess Activities, and the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts. While her visual work was also featured in a number of group exhibitions in New York, 2011 and 2012 saw (Robinson) engage in an increasing number of major performance art pieces.

Her work,"kenya eats a cracker," at the Kitchen, featured the artist eating a variety of cracker brands in a yellow raincoat. Her piece prompted praise from at least one critic. Andrew Russeth wrote that "(Robinson) seems wonderfully out of touch with the times," by ignoring the trend among performance artists to showcase the "glorification of long-term suffering ... or the celebration of middlebrow interactivity." Russeth went on to write that (Robinson) "twists the codes that govern our basic needs — shelter and food — in ambiguous ways and pushes them toward the precarious point when they may break." Her proposal was sent out by e-mail to artist colleagues in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

An installation of several works won the 2018 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art at the Orlando Museum of Art. Alex Rich wrote "Kenya's work is important. It takes a novel and memorable approach to the perennial, historical, and — sadly even here in 2018 — still too relevant theme of white straight male privilege. Any viewer who takes the time to engage with her work will be left reconceptualizing his or her own place in that hierarchy of gender and race and in the fitful journey toward inclusiveness."

CHEEKY LaSHAE

CHEEKY LaSHAE, described as a "fluid-identity karaoke singer," is a performance art piece which (Robinson) began in 2013 following the completion of her MFA. A reaction to the feeling of being "forced into a box" by her education, CHEEKY consists of a costume, worn by both (Robinson) and rotating audience members, in which one's face is entirely masked by a box like shape that leaves only the lower half of the body uncovered. "Whether you're performing femininity, masculinity, shyness, or extroversion, all of our movements in a social space are performative in nature, whether you're a performance artist or not," (Robinson) states.

The #WHITEMANINMYPOCKET project

, a project that began in 2013, is a work in which (Robinson) carries around a small figurine of a white male in her pocket with the goal of reminding herself: "you are more privileged than you think, no matter your gender, socioeconomic status or the color of your skin." When (Robinson) began the project the white man figurine lived publicly online through her Instagram account with a hashtag and series of photos that document its daily goings-on. As interest in the project has grown, (Robinson) has begun making a "tiny army of pocket-sized white men" figurines, which she often refers to as "talismen" and "charms."

Kenya spoke about the piece to the Huffington Post in 2015, stating that: "As someone who strongly identifies as a black, American person, all of the violence inflicted upon black bodies -- verbally, emotionally, physically, spiritually -- it's really overwhelming. I needed something. I needed to create privilege for myself because every message that I was receiving told me I wasn't privileged at all. But, you know what? I am breathing. I am able to express myself in a positive way. That is a big privilege, but sometimes I forget that."

Awards and residencies 2018 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art 2015 Creative Capital 'On Our Radar' (March – September 2015) Award, Triangle Arts Residency, Fountainhead Residency 2014 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Residency 2011-2013 ANALOG: Recess Activities, Inc., Online Residency, Smack Mellon 'Hot Picks' Artist Award. 2009- 2010 Visiting Artist, Harvestworks, WorkSpace Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Triangle Arts Workshop Residency