Kevin Beasley

Through the material transformation of a synthesis of objects, ranging from clothing to studio happenings, Beasley reimagines both personal and wider cultural realities, eliciting new meaning within our shared histories.

Kevin Beasley’s Your face is/is not enough (2016) is a sculptural and performance-based installation at Tate Liverpool consisting of twelve repurposed NATO-issued gas masks stabilised by microphone stands and paired with altered megaphones. Encased in pigmented foam pierced with adornments that range from guinea fowl feathers to glass beads, and further altered by sculptural extensions made up of articles of clothing, each mask differs from the next. Transforming symbols of control, Beasley evokes gestures of empowerment and agency within individual and collective acts of protest, power and protection. This work was acquired by Tate in 2016 with the support of the Tate Americas Foundation, and this marks the first presentation at one of its sites.

Recent exhibitions include Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, USA (2017); Hammer Projects, Los Angeles, USA (2017); The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, USA (2016–17); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA (2016); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (2015); MoMA PS1, Long Island City, USA (2015); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (2015); Whitney Biennial, New York, USA (2014); and Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea (2014).

Kevin Beasley at Liverpool Biennial 2018

Your face is/is not enough, 2016
NATO-issued gas masks, microphone stands, altered megaphones, housedresses, altered T-shirts, women’s sweaters, du-rags, bandanas, Dashiki fabric, fitted baseball hat brims, laundry bag, Guinea-fowl feathers, glass beads, umbrella frame, altered hairdryer, window curtain, fabric paint, paper pulp, rubber, audio-visual cables, electrical wire, wire, polyurethane foam, resin
Exhibited at Tate Liverpool with performance on 14 July 2018