Sam Vernon (born 1987)[1] is an installation and performance artist. She works in various media to create her artwork, including sculpture, paintings and photographs. She is interested in "honor[ing] the past while revising historical memory" through works that explore her own personal identity.[2] Several of her art pieces also convey a certain narrative, and this is done through Vernon's various Xerox drawings.

Sam Vernon
Born
New York City
NationalityAmerican
EducationCooper Union, New York City
Yale University, Connecticut
Known forinstallations
Websitesamvernon.com

Early life edit

Sam Vernon was born in Brooklyn, NY and attended Suitland High School.[3]

Education edit

Sam Vernon earned her BFA from The Cooper Union in 2009 and her MFA in Painting/Printmaking at Yale School of Art in 2015.[4]

Career edit

 
Vernon in 2017

Vernon was included in the 2013 group exhibition Pattern Recognition at MoCADA.[5][6] In 2016 she presented the large installation How Ghosts Sleep (Seattle) at the Seattle Art Museum in 2016.[7] She contributed to Jeffrey Deitch's 2016 Coney Art Walls project.[8]

In September 2016, Vernon presented the installation Rage Wave in a partner program between Interstitial gallery in Georgetown and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.[9] The work was featured in both Interstitial and Seattle Presents gallery. The multimedia piece involved xerox copies of photographs, drawings and writings exploring themes of systematic racism and exploitation in African American history.[10]

Vernon's often large-scale work draws on themes of oppression, nightmares, and memories.[11] Vernon makes drawings, installations, paintings and sculptural components. Her installation and performances evoke African-American history through her exploration of personal narrative and identity.[12]

Vernon is an assistant professor at California College of the Arts, where she teaches printmaking.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Sam Vernon". Coney Art Walls. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "Artist Bio - sam vernon". www.samvernon.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  3. ^ Spivack, Miranda S. (May 3, 2016). "Against Tough Odds, a High School Arts Program Fosters Success". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Williams, Tom. "Artist Sam Vernon on Monday's Access Utah". Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Keck, Catie (July 26, 2013). "Pattern Recognition Opens at MoCADA". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Looking for the Tradition of Black Abstraction at MoCADA | Artinfo". Artinfo. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. ^ Frank, Priscilla (June 24, 2015). "Global African Artists Explore The Meaning of Disguise in the 21st Century". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Harrington, Jaime Rojo & Steven (June 15, 2016). "Artists Bring 22 New Murals To Coney Art Walls 2016". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  9. ^ "Seattle Office of Arts & Culture presents Rage Wave by Sam Vernon". artbeat.seattle.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  10. ^ "The Crashing of Sam Vernon's Rage Wave in Seattle". The Stranger. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  11. ^ "15 Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Art World". Complex. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  12. ^ "Colonial history explored in "Rage Wave" by Sam Vernon at Gallery 44, Centre for Contemporary Photography | Artinfo". Artinfo. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "CCA Portal – Sam Vernon". portal.cca.edu. Retrieved March 10, 2018.