Diana Chire

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Diana Chire is a Los Angeles-based Somali artist and director who first received national attention when she presented herself nude in her exhibit at the 2015 Frieze Art Fair in London. [1] [2] [3] [4] Her art themes feature gender, sexuality and the nature of racial identity. [5]

Biography

Chire was born in Somalia, and moved to London, England, when she was five. [6] [7] She studied at Westminster University. [1] She is the editor and publisher of arts newspaper She-Zine. [8]

Chire is known for her performance artworks that focus on black female identity, exposing the gender imbalances in the art world, [9] and for using her own body as a medium. [1] [3] [6] [10] She shaved her head in 2016, explaining that as she became more comfortable with using her body as a medium, she felt she no longer needed to wear weaves or straighten her hair to be beautiful. [7] She stitched her weave onto pillowcases. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Lawrence, Vanessa. "How British Artist Diana Chire Uses Her Body as a Feminist Medium". W Magazine.
  2. "An Interview with the Video Artist and Curator Diana Chire in her Hackney Studio, London". Arteviste. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Diana Chire invite les artistes femmes à se réapproprier leur corps". www.iggymagazine.com (in French). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. "TAKE! EAT!". SUITCASE Magazine. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. "Women Artists by Simone Steenberg". Vogue.it (in Italian). 12 July 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Artist Diana Chire on listening to black women's rage - Notion Magazine". Notion Magazine. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "This artist shaved her head to get back to her roots". Vice.com. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. GQ. "Jeff Koons' Louis Vuitton bags are like marmite" . Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  9. "The guerilla exhibition promoting women artists on the doorstep of Frieze". Vice.com. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  10. "Who is Diana Chire?". Coeval Magazine. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  11. "This artist shaved her head, then stitched her weave onto pillowcases". Lost At E Minor. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.