Kia LaBeija | |
|---|---|
 LaBeija in 2013 | |
| Born | Kia Michelle Benbow March 18, 1990 |
| Alma mater | The New School |
| Website | https://kialabeija.com |
Kia Michelle Benbow (Professionally known as Kia LaBeija or Kia; b. March 18, 1990) is an American fine artist. Her most well known series, 24, is a sociopolitical commentary on the effects of growing up as a young woman of color with HIV. [1] She is a former Mother of the Royal House of LaBeija. [2]
Kia LaBeija was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, New York. [3] [4] Her mother, Kwan Bennett, was born in Subic Bay, Philippines and is Filipino American. Her father, drummer Warren Benbow, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is African American. She has one brother, actor, producer, and artist Kenn Michael. She grew up in Manhattan Plaza and was in the dance program at Alvin Ailey. [3]
In 1993, LaBeija was diagnosed with HIV at the age of three, having contracted the virus through perinatal (mother-to-child) transmission. [3] Her mother, Kwan, passed away of AIDS-related illness when LaBeija was 14. [4] [1]
LaBeija studied the arts at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School in Manhattan. At the age of 19, while at The New School, she became involved in the house and ballroom scene. [4]
Kia LaBeija's work primarily is photography and dance. [5] Her series 24 investigates her relationship to growing up with HIV as a woman of color in New York City. [5] Her works have been included in group exhibitions, performances, and screenings at dozens of museums around the world including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Tate Modern, The Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Museum of The City of New York, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The International Center for Photography and The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art.
LaBeija's work was featured as part of Art AIDS America, a touring group exhibition looking at 30 years of art making around HIV and AIDS. The show gained controversial press as there were only 5 black artists out of the 107 featured, with LaBeija being the only black woman. [6] In January 2018, she was featured on the cover of Artforum . She achieved this without gallery representation, major art collectors, or a solo show. She is the 4th black woman to make the cover. [7] She is a recipient of a 2019 Creative Capital Award with her partner Taina Larot, [8] and was commissioned by Performa for its 2019 Performa Biennial. [9]
LaBeija came in the house and ballroom scene at the age of 19 in 2009 through a co-worker at Webster Hall. [10] She began walking balls officially in 2012 and walked as a LaBeija for the first time at the last Latex Ball at Roseland Ballroom. [4] She received the Hector Xtravaganza Xellence Award, named after her late gay father Hector Xtravaganza. In 2015, she was awarded the first Woman's Old Way Vogue of the Year. In 2016, she starred in band Pillar Point's music video "Dove". [11]
LaBeija appeared in the pilot episode of Ryan Murphy's Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated ballroom drama Pose as a principal dancer, [12] and was featured in Wu Tsang's film Into a Space for Love for Gucci and Frieze magazine. [13] Other credits include A-Z of Aaliyah for i-d Magazine and MAC [14] and Calvin Harris and Sam Smith's lyric video for "Promises". [15] In 2017, she was made Overall Mother of the Royal House of LaBeija, and stepped down officially in 2019.
Kia LaBeija is an advocate for many underrepresented communities, especially people living with HIV/AIDS. [3] She has been invited to speak at Harvard, MIT, The New School, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Cooper Union, The MoMa, New York University, the New York Public Library, and Stanford University. [3] POZ magazine placed her on the POZ 100 list of HIV/AIDS activists under 30. She has been featured on HIV Plus Magazine's 20 Most Amazing HIV Positive Women list. [16]
In 2019, LaBeija was honored by Performance Space New York. [17] She was listed in Dazeds 20 best photos of 2018 [18] and PAPER Predictions: 100 People Taking Over 2019. [7] She has been featured in W Magazine , Vogue Spain, Vanity Fair Italia, The New York Times, Numéro, Ascent, SLEEK, Paper Magazine , and Time Out New York .
She identifies herself as a queer cis-gender woman of color. She has been in a relationship with artist Taína Larot since 2014. [12]
William Roscoe Leake, better known as Willi Ninja, was an American dancer and choreographer known for his appearance in the documentary film Paris Is Burning.
Venus Xtravaganza was an American transgender performer. She came to national attention after her appearance in Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning, in which her life as a trans woman forms one of the film's several story arcs.
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Angie Xtravaganza was a co-founder and Mother of the House of Xtravaganza. A prominent transgender performer in New York City's gay ball culture, Xtravanganza featured in the acclaimed 1990 documentary film Paris is Burning.
Pepper LaBeija was an American drag queen and fashion designer. She was known as "the last remaining queen of the Harlem drag balls".
How Do I Look is a 2006 American documentary directed by Wolfgang Busch. The film chronicles ball culture in Harlem and Philadelphia over a ten-year period.
Founded in 1982, the House of Xtravaganza is one of the most publicly recognized "houses" to emerge from the New York City underground ballroom scene and among the longest continuously active. House of Xtravaganza members and the collective group is recognized for their cultural influence in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, nightlife, fashion, and community activism. House of Xtravaganza members continue to be featured in popular media and travel the world as ambassadors of voguing and the ballroom scene.
Aisha Diori is an Events Director, Community Mobiliser, HIV/AIDS Preventionist, educator, Talk Show Host, Event MC, Pan-Africanist, and has been named "Iconic Mother" in Ball culture. Her father is Abdoulaye Hamani Diori, a Nigerien political leader and business person, and her mother is Betty Graves, the first Ghanaian / Nigerian woman to own a travel agency in Nigeria.
Mika Rottenberg is a contemporary Argentine born US based video artist who lives and works in New York. Rottenberg is best known for her video and installation work that often "investigates the link between the female body and production mechanisms". Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally.
Juliana Huxtable is an American artist, writer, performer, DJ, and co-founder of the New York–based nightlife project Shock Value. Huxtable has exhibited and performed at a number of venues including Reena Spaulings Fine Art, Project Native Informant, Artists Space, the New Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and Institute of Contemporary Arts. Huxtable's multidisciplinary art practice explores a number of projects, such as the internet, the body, history, and text, often through a process she calls "conditioning." Huxtable is a published author of two books and a member of the New York City–based collective House of Ladosha. She is on the roster of the talent agency Discwoman, a New York based collective and talent agency that books DJs for parties and events around the world. She previously lived and worked in New York City, and has been based in Berlin since 2020.
Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza is a dancer, choreographer, and recording artist. He is one of the most widely recognized personalities to emerge from the NYC ballroom scene of the 1980s. He is best known for his work with Madonna.
Performa is a non-profit arts organization well-known for the Performa Biennial, a festival of performance art that happens every two year in various venues and institutions in New York City. Performa was founded in 2004 by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg. Since 2005, Performa curators have included Charles Aubin, Defne Ayas, Tairone Bastien, Mark Beasley, Adrienne Edwards, Laura McLean-Ferris, Kathy Noble, Job Piston, and Lana Wilson. The organization commissions new works and tours performances premiered at the biennial. It also manages the work of choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer.
Lola Flash is an American photographer whose work has often focused on social, LGBT and feminist issues. An active participant in ACT UP during the time of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, Flash was notably featured in the 1989 "Kissing Doesn't Kill" poster.
Crystal LaBeija was an American drag queen and trans woman who co-founded the House of LaBeija in 1968. The House is often credited as starting the house system in ball culture. She became a mother figure for homeless LGBTQ youth.
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