Kim Victoria Abeles

Kim Victoria Abeles (born August 28, 1952) is an American interdisciplinary artist and professor emeritus. She was born in Richmond Heights, Missouri, and currently lives in Los Angeles. She is described as an activist artist because of her work's social and political nature. In her work, she’s able to express these issues and shine a light on them to larger audiences. She’s able to show the significance of the issues by creating a piece that involves an object and adds the struggle attached to it, which represents what is happening in current events. Abeles has exhibited her works in 22 countries and has received a number of significant awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Early life and education Kim Victoria Abeles was born in Richmond Heights, Missouri. As a child, she spent some time living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an experience which she says influenced her work The Smog Collector.

Kim Victoria Abeles received her BFA in painting from Ohio University and earned a MFA in studio art from the University of California, Irvine in 1980. In connection with her thesis, about Shingon Buddhism, she created constructions incorporating kimono. Kim Abeles commented on her art as, "results from the urban experience, chronicling historical and contemporary issues housed in sculpture and installation." Her work begins with a singular person or idea and through her own independent research and exploration will delve into her chosen topic until she feels comfortable beginning her artwork. She describes her artwork as the poetic spirit in a visual language.

Many of her projects address contemporary social and environmental issues. Kim Abeles explores such topical issues through humor and metaphors. Most of her work has revolved around three central themes: civil rights, feminism, and the environment. With her range of media and distinctive styles, Kim Abeles seamlessly unites her call for activism with her work aesthetics through new innovative techniques.

Collaborative work

Abeles has worked with several educational organizations and schools to collaborate on installations and exhibitions. She has worked with the multiple art centers like: The Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati, Community Arts Resource in Santa Monica, Orange Country Museum of Art Teen Council, the California Science Center, and the CU Museum of Natural History in Boulder. Her more defining collaborators include the Bureau of Automotive Repair, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, and the Lakota Indians of South Dakota.

The Smog Collector In 1987, her work Smog Collector caught national and international attention, mentioned in Newsweek, National Public Radio, CBS Evening News, and The Wall Street Journal. She considers the work an ongoing series to which she is currently contributing. Her work was memorialized in the book, Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020.

To Sit As Ladder (In Honor of Rosa Parks)

In some of her works pertaining to human rights, Abeles has taken a subjective approach that includes a presentation of individuals' portraits through text, maps, drawings, and objects. An example is her 1991 sculpture To Sit As Ladder (In Honor of Rosa Parks) which displayed a chair with text to represent the life of Rosa Parks.

HIV/AIDS Tarot Abeles' HIV/AIDS Tarot cards incorporate both image and text and discuss issues pertaining to the socioeconomic and medical aspects of AIDS. Only seven cards were issued, not a complete Tarot deck. They were printed in both English and Spanish and used as part of a public health information program in Los Angeles in 1992.

The Golden Mile The Golden Mile is a 120 foot long photographic visual art piece located in the UK. The piece consists of photographs capturing both the East and West (stretching from the years 2003 - 2006) laid out and displayed at opposing ends. This installation was funded by Arts Council England, West Midlands, and The Public.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes The initial inspiration for Walk a Mile in My Shoes was the political work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Searching for images of King's actual shoes, Abeles was deeply affected when she viewed civil rights activist Xernona Clayton's "profound collection of shoes belonging to members of the peace marches." The installations she created at the intersections of Jefferson Blvd. and Rodeo Rd. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. included bronze casts of King's work boots as well as photographs of national and local activists' shoes.

Pearls of Wisdom: End the Violence Created for a nonprofit organization, A Window Between Worlds (AWBW), Kim Abeles gathered 800 participants who are domestic violence victims to share their stories and design a pearl. The pearl-making process requires mylar paper, yarn, bandage, fiber cable, paint, and an "Irritant"; any object can be an irritant depending on the maker that denotes their experience. Abeles encapsulates a powerful message through her work:

"These women are not survivors, but rather, they are champions in the athletic and spiritual sense."

Citizen Seeds Citizen Seeds is a public, permanent art installation created in 2020 that follows along the Playa to Park trail, funded by the Los Angeles County Arts & Culture. This piece features different sculptures of seeds created through mixed media in which the community, environments, and local journeys are illustrated and represented. Abeles' work has been shown at National Center for Atmospheric Research; Museum of Arts and Design in New York; National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro; and, Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco. She has also been a United States representative in Antwerp for Fotografie Biennale Rotterdam and Cultural Centre of Berchem.

Kim Abeles took her art to the road in 1993 with the release of Kim Abeles: Encyclopedia Persona A-Z. The collection, curated by Karen Moss of the Santa Monica Museum, was sponsored by The Fellows of Contemporary Art in North America and United States Information Agency in South America.

Her art show Encyclopedia Persona'', at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, featured a 15-year survey of her work; including 80 of her sculptures, installations and artist's books. Community Room, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA (2018) Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College , Costa Mesa, CA (2017) LA Art Show, Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk at the Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA (2017) Marlborough School, Los Angeles PØST, Los Angeles, CA (2016)

Awards Abeles is the recipient of a number of awards from the Guggenheim Fellowship, the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation, the California Community Foundation, and the California Arts Council.