Amelia Ishmael | |
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Occupation(s) | Academic, art critic, artist, curator, editor, music journalist, radio producer, writer |
Known for | Visual art, music |
Academic background | |
Education | Kansas City Art Institute (BFA) Art Institute of Chicago (MA) |
Influences | Robert Walser, Jérôme Lefèvre, Kevin Muhlen, Shamim Momin |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Music journalism,art criticism,sociology,musicology |
Sub-discipline | Art history,contemporary art,black metal,feminism,history of photography,music theory,new musicology |
Notable works | Helvete:A Journal of Black Metal Theory "Black Thorns in the White Cube" |
Notable ideas | Black metal theory |
Website | www |
Amelia Ishmael is an artist,curator,music journalist,scholar,and lecturer specializing in black metal,contemporary art,and art criticism. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and New Media from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Arts in Modern Art History,Theory,and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has contributed to publications,including One+One Filmmakers Journal , Art in Print , Newcity ,ArtSlant,Art Papers,Review,Art21,Cacophany,Becoming the Forest,and FNews Magazine. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] She is the co-editor of and a curator for the interdisciplinary journal Helvete:A Journal of Black Metal Theory,which specializes in black metal theory,and is the editor for the radio publication Radius. [1] [9] Her curated exhibitions include "Black Thorns in the Black Box" (with Bryan Wendorf) and "Black Thorns in the White Cube". [10] [11]
Ishmael first encountered metal music at the age of 14,when she was living in Florida. [12] A friend from her art class introduced her to the band Six Feet Under,and shortly afterward another friend gave her a compilation of songs by Arcturus,Emperor,Cradle of Filth,Samael,and Pink Floyd. [1] This piqued her interest in black metal,and when she relocated to Kansas City in the late 1990s she attended shows by the local black metal band Descension. [12] During her undergraduate studies she created sound and multimedia art installations,basing many of them off of themes from the Odyssey . [10] For her Master's thesis she wrote on black metal in contemporary art,work in which her installation "Black Thorns in the White Cube" was grounded. [10] [12] The piece explored how contemporary artists draw upon the languages,iconography,and narratives of black metal –what Ishmael calls the "mythology" of black metal. [10] [11] Reviewers,along with Ishmael herself,noted that some prior exposure to the black metal music scene was helpful for understanding the exhibition. [11] [12]