Joa Blumenkranz (b. May 11, 1994) is a dollmaker, performer, sculptor, and painter who works within the realm of queer fabulation and transgender issues. They wonder about questions of gender, sexuality, and biology seen from their own situated knowledge as a transfeminine person. They seek to explore the illusion of 'selfhood', specifically in relation to sex and gender. They aim to depart from notions of essentialism, anthropocentrism, and the gender binary and speculate about a post-gender, post-human reality. In doing this, they employ a wide array of disciplines including needle-felting, illustration, choreography, and music, which come together in vibrant live performances and video pieces.
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They understand their artwork as a form of crafty queer worldbuilding that merges their lived experience as a marginalized/fetishized body with a sexy fantasy world of the beyond.
Their discourse is related to ideas presented in the works of Donna Haraway, Yuval Noah Harari, Baruch Spinoza, Eckhart Tolle, and Nina Arsenault, among others, who all challenge established notions of our patriarchal, dualistic, capitalist society. Their current practice intends to build on this by utilizing the metaphor of the hybrid/mutant/cyborg.
They are visually inspired by a combination of surrealism, fantasy, and pop culture. Pop stars like Björk, Kate Bush, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Peaches, Arca, and SOPHIE, as well as visual artists like Patricia Piccinini, Francis Upritchard, Greer Lankton, Sin Wai Kin, Salvador Dalí, Brian Froud, and Hayao Miyazaki inspire and relate to their visual expression.
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They are impacted by their upbringing in the 90’s and early 00’s in Denmark, where they were enmeshed in Nordic crafts and mythology and later immersed in the rise of the internet, which gave them the early tools to develop as a queer visual/performance artist.
Most recently, their projects have expanded to include costume design, music production, and text/poetry. Their intention is to reimagine performance art by transgressing hierarchical barriers between fine art and pop culture.
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EDUCATION:
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MA Contemporary Art Practice
Royal College of Art
London
2022-2023
BA (Hons) Fine Art: Sculpture
Camberwell College of Arts
London
2020-2022
Diploma in Studio Arts
Metàfora’s Studio Arts School
Barcelona
2017-2019
Byhøjskolen
Aarhus, Denmark
2015
Vejle Design og Kunstskole
Vejle, Denmark
2013-2014
STX Studentereksamen
Rosborg Gymnasium
Vejle, Denmark
2010-2013
Øse Efterskole
Denmark
2009-2010
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EXHIBITIONS:
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Do you buy this?
Ugly Duck, London
3/8 - 6/8/2023
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CAP Cinema
Prince Charles Cinema
27/7/2023
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RCA 2023 ('MA Contemporary Art Practice' degree show)
Royal College of Art, Battersea, London
29/6 - 3/7/2023
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Tate Modern Lates: Beyond Surface - Tactile Presence
Tate Modern, London
31/3/2023
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Baggage Claim
Staffordshire St, London
17/2 - 5/3/2023
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'BA Fine Art: Sculpture' degree show
Camberwell College of Arts, London
18/6 - 25/6/2022
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Queer Bodies
1B Window Gallery, London
1/6 - 30/6/2022
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Out There
Southwark Park Galleries, London
29/1 - 30/1/2022
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F THE BODY: Fabulating, Fluidifying, and Freeing
Ugly Duck, London
22/11/2021
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KIKI events
Atelier Güell, Barcelona
6/4/2019
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PASSAGE ACROSS NO-SPACES
Mutuo, Barcelona
29/10 - 10/11/2018
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TransTransTrans
SWAB Art Fair, Barcelona
28/9/2018
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I WANT ART TO BE ___
Mutuo, Barcelona
5/4 - 10/4/2018
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CONTACT:
Email: mammalucaart@gmail.com
Instagram: @joawhatisshe