Kean O’Brien
EDUCATION
2011 Master of Fine Arts, School of Photography, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
2008 Bachelor of Arts, School of Photography and Performance, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
EXHIBITIONS / SCREENINGS / PERFORMANCES
2022
In Finite Space, Commissioned mural for the City of West Hollywood
2021
Mapping A Genocide, Interconectivitty, Highland Park Art Center, IL
In Finite Space, Waterloo Arts Center, Cleveland, OH
2020
Mapping a Genocide, Aperture Summer Open, Fotografiska NYC
Beyond Subjectivity, PhotoLA, Los Angeles, CA
2019
FTM Searching, Czong Institute of Contemporary Art, South Korea
2018
UnFunction, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, RI
Beyond Subjectivity, Nuit Rose, Toronto, CA
Beyond Subjectivity, Fire In The Mountains, Jackson, WY
Get Well Soon, Nous Tous Space, Los Angeles, CA
Distance Makes The Heart Grow Harder, Dorset, VT
2017
Mapping A Genocide, PhotoLA, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Mapping A Genocide, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Genocide Project. The Gay and Lesbian Canadian Archive, Toronto, Canada
Genocide Project, Waterloo Arts, Cleveland, OH.
Curator: Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead, The Geffen Contemporary at MoCA, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Curator of Transient, Los Angeles and The City of West Hollywood, CA
Man And His Dog, LA Photo, Los Angeles, CA.
Man and His Dog, Venice Arts, CA.
2013
Hope, Queer Arts Collective, Fuzz and Crumbs. CalArts, Valencia, CA.
2012
Man And His Dog, Barnsdall Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
I Use Male Pronouns, The City of West Hollywood, CA.
2011
FTM Search(ing), Screening- REDCAT theater, Los Angeles, CA.
Curator of Transient, Valencia and Los Angeles, CA.
FTM Search(ing). The Farley Building- CalArts MFA show, Los Angeles, CA.
2010
FTM Search(ing), Screening- Queer Mondays, Highland Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
Curator of In Relation to Each Other, CalArts, Valencia, CA.
I Can’t Feel It Anyway, Risky Sex Conference, Emory College, Atlanta, GA.
2008
I Can’t Feel It Anyway, SAIC gallery, Chicago, IL.
Metabolic Growth, SAIC gallery, Chicago, IL.
QueerAbilities, Screening- SAIC, Chicago, IL.
Metabollic Growth, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2006
Be This, Around The Coyote, Chicago, IL.
Gender Sculpture, Studio B., Three Oaks, MI.
Gender Sculpture, Columbia College, Chicago, IL.
2005 Photo Gender Italia, SRISA, Florence, Italy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2021 Rosemary, Pete. “Artist To Share Work.” SIU Carbondale News, 8 November 2021. Web.
“Tracing Trauma”, Trains zine, Tiny Splendor Press. 2021
2020
Ed. Quinn, Therese, and Lauren De Jesus. Fwd: Museums: Home. StepSister Press, 2020.
By Museums and Exhibition Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago
"Can Photographs Provide Information When Truth Is Disrupted?" Weblog post. https://aperture.org/editorial/2020-aperture-summer-open-artists/ N.p., 1 Nov. 2014. Web.
O'Brien, K., & Maritescu, C. (2020). Homecoming: A Project of Tracing Trauma and Building Community. In T. Quinn & L. De Jesus (Eds.), Fwd: Museums: Home (pp. 69-90). Chicago, IL: StepSister Press.
Faculty Editor in Chief, FAYN Magazine, Los Angeles
2019
O’Brien, Kean and Leonard Vilchis. Ed. Corina Maritescu. American Studies
Quarterly Journal. Boyle Heights and The Fight Against Gentrification As State Violence.
Faculty Editor in Chief, FAYN Magazine, Los Angeles
2018
“Tracing Trauma.” On The Bus, BazBam Press, 2018, pp. 100–105.
Faculty Editor in Chief, FAYN Magazine, Los Angeles
2016
Ed. Sarah Brophy, Janice Hladki. Pedagogy, Image Practices, and Contested
Corporealities, Routledge, Feb 5, 2016. Print.
Gottesdiener, Sarah Faith and Killian, Nicole, eds. Issues #2. Vol. 2. Los Angeles: Pixel Pact Pack, 2016. Print.
Faculty Editor in Chief, FAYN Magazine, Los Angeles
The American Culture of Guns and Prisons, FAYN Magazine, Los Angeles, 2016.
2015
LaFleur, Liss. "Disrupting Bodies, Disrupting Narratives." NMC MediaN. Journal of The New Media Caucus, 15 June 2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Gottesdiener, Sarah Faith and Killian, Nicole, eds. Issues #1. Vol. 1. Los Angeles: Pixel Pact Pack, 2015. Print.
Manson, Caden, and Jemma Nelson, eds. Contemporary Performance Almanac 2015.Vol. 2. N.p.: Contemporary Performance, 2014. Print.
Museum of Transgender History and Art (MOTHA) http://www.buzzfeed.com/motha/transgender-art-culture-in-2014-15ig3
2014
O’Brien, Kean and Whitney, Emerson. Transient. Minneapolis: Book Mobile, 2014. Print.
“West Hollywood: Transient Exhibition.” Web log post. Niipy.com. N.p., 1 Nov. 2014. Web.
“Transient Exhibition Los Angeles.” Web log post. Alejandrosantiagophotography.com. Ed. Alejandro Santiago. N.p. , 22 Nov. 2014. Web.
“Transient Panel Discussion.” Web log post. Timeout.com. N.p., 24. 2014. Web.
“ ‘Transient’ Mobile Exhibit Shares Ideas About Transgender Identity.” Web log post. Wehoville.com. N.p., 12 Nov. 2014. Web.
“FTM Searching: Trans YouTube Culture: FTM Search(ing), By Kean O’Brien.” Wild Gender. Ed. Emerson Whitney. N.p., 13 Feb. 2013. Web.
Manson, Caden, and Jemma Nelson, eds. Contemporary Performance Almanac 2013, Vol. 1. N.p.: Contemporary Performance, 2013. Print.
“Man And His Dog, By Kean O’Brien.” Wild Gender. Ed. Emerson Whitney. N.p. 9 April. 2013. Web.
2012
Eunjung Kim (2012): Why Do Dolls Die? The Power of Passivity and the Embodied
Interplay Between Disability and Sex Dolls, Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 34:3-4, 94-106
2011
Into My Seas, CalArts MFA Thesis Catalog
“Creating in the Queer Diaspora.” Web log post. Kean O’Brien- FTM FUCK FEST and Developmental Emotional Complexity. N.p., 31 Jan. 2011. Web.
SELECTED ARTIST LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS
2020
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of New Mexico
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of Lebanon, Beirut
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of Arizona, Tucson
2019
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of California, Santa Cruz
Artist Lecture, Art of Freelance, Los Angeles, CA
National Women’s Studies Association Conference, San Francisco CA
American Studies Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii
2017
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of Illinois Chicago- Museum Studies Dept.
Guest Lecture, CalArts, Valencia, CA
2016
Visiting Artist Lecture, SFAI, CA
2015
Visiting Artist Lecture, Long Beach State University, Long Beach, CA.
College Arts Association, New Media Caucus Panel, NYC.
2014
Curator and Moderator, Transient Exhibition panel at the city council chambers,
West Hollywood,CA.
Artist/Curator Presentation, The City of West Hollywood Art Council, West Hollywood, CA.
2013
Artist Presentation for faculty and students, The Art Institute of California, Inland Empire, CA.
2011
Queer Caucus, In conjunction with CAA, NYC.
2010 Queer Visibility Conference, Studies in Sexuality, Emory College, Atlanta, GA.
Visiting Artist Lecture Series, The School of The Art Institute of California, Chicago, IL.
GRANTS / AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2020 Upcoming: Jentel Artist Residency, WY
2018 Marble House Projects, Dorset, VT
2016 Artist Grant Review Panel, The City of West Hollywood, CA
2015 Artist Grant, Genocide Project, The Gay and Lesbian Canadian Archive, Toronto, Canada
2014 Curatorial Grant, Transient Exhibition, The City of West Hollywood, CA.
Curatorial work featured on city billboards, West Hollywood, CA.
Art Farm Residency, Marquette, NE.
2010 Dean’s Reserve Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
Artist Grant, Queer Visibility Conference, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Diversity Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
2009 Photography Department Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
Academic Scholarship, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
Merit Scholar, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
2008 Ox-Bow Residency, Saugatuck, MI.
Photography Project Grant, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2007 Merit Scholarship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Academic Scholarship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Incentive Scholarship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2004 Photography Projects Grant, Columbia College, Chicago, IL.
WORK EXPERIENCE
May 2015 – March 2020
THE NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY Los Angeles, CA
Photography Department
Co-Chair of Photography
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Course: PHOT720 MFA Thesis Prep
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Course: PHOT800 MFA Thesis Project
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Course: PHOT191 BFA The Moving Image
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Course: PHOT161 BFA Concepts In Photography
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Course: PHOT600 MFA Historical and Critical Perspectives I & II
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Course: PHOT171 BFA Theory and Criticism In Contemporary Photography
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Course: PHOT391 BFA Senior Thesis
August 2016
California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA
Art Department
Adjunct Faculty
- Course: ART473 Seminar in Photo - Based Art, Deconstruction and Decolonization
2012-2014 THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles, CA
Photography and Filmmaking Departments
Adjunct Professor
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Course: PHOA101 Principles of Photography
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Course: PHOA102 Photojournalism
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Course: PHOA201 Post Production
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Course: PHOA202 Advanced Post Production
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Course: PHOA300 Time Based Media
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Course: DFVP101 Principles of Cinematography
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Course: DFVP105 Survey of Digital Filmmaking
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Course: DFVP201 Fundamentals of Editing
2011-2012 CONCORD
Artist Run Space in East LA Los Angeles, CA
Co-Founder
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Fundraise, design and build the space with other co-founder
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Create an online strategy and network for community
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Ran functioning gallery
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Manage Artist-In-Residence Program
2010-2011 CAPSA Los Angeles, CA
Non-Profit High School Art Program
Instructor
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Co-taught darkroom photography classes
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Create curriculum
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Co-taught alternative processes and group critiques
2011 CSSSA Los Angeles, CA
State funded art program for High School students in California
Exhibition Coordinator & Assistant Teacher
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Design and execute all student shows
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Maintain schedule for program exhibitions
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Assist in teaching post production of artwork
2010-2011 ASHLEY HUNT STUDIO Los Angeles, CA
Artist Studio
Studio Assistant
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Assists artist with photography, design, conceptual work, installation
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All administrative duties, research, archives, digital/video archives
2009-2011 CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS Los Angeles, CA
School for Visual Arts
Workshop Instructor/Graduate Teaching Assistant
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Taught workshops on video editing to BFA photo students
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Assists Chair of the Photography Department on organizational and technical needs
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Active facilitator in BFA and MFA critiques
2009 AMMO BOOKS Los Angeles, CA
Contemporary Art book publisher
Artist Licensing
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Books: The Contact Sheet
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Communicates with artists’ about their work and involvement
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Maintain work, contacts and licenses
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Research new artists and hold creative meetings for the Editor
2007-2008 SAIC Chicago, IL
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
Equipment Cage and Tech Assistant
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Maintain equipment for BFA and MFA students
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Organize and facilitate workshops