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Kean O’Brien

kean.obrien@gmail.com


 

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 GenocideAperture 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

  • Course: PHOT720  MFA Thesis Prep

  • Course: PHOT800  MFA Thesis Project

  • Course: PHOT191  BFA The Moving Image

  • Course: PHOT161  BFA Concepts In Photography

  • Course: PHOT600  MFA Historical and Critical Perspectives I & II

  • Course: PHOT171  BFA Theory and Criticism In Contemporary Photography

  • 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

  • Course: PHOA101 Principles of Photography

  • Course: PHOA102 Photojournalism

  • Course: PHOA201 Post Production

  • Course: PHOA202 Advanced Post Production

  • Course: PHOA300 Time Based Media

  • Course: DFVP101 Principles of Cinematography

  • Course: DFVP105 Survey of Digital Filmmaking

  • Course: DFVP201 Fundamentals of Editing

 

2011-2012 CONCORD

Artist Run Space in East LA Los Angeles, CA

Co-Founder

  • Fundraise, design and build the space with other co-founder

  • Create an online strategy and network for community

  • Ran functioning gallery 

  • Manage Artist-In-Residence Program

 

2010-2011 CAPSA Los Angeles, CA

Non-Profit High School Art Program

Instructor

  • Co-taught darkroom photography classes

  • Create curriculum

  • 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

  • Design and execute all student shows

  • Maintain schedule for program exhibitions

  • Assist in teaching post production of artwork

 

2010-2011 ASHLEY HUNT STUDIO Los Angeles, CA

Artist Studio

Studio Assistant

  • Assists artist with photography, design, conceptual work, installation

  • 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

  • Taught workshops on video editing to BFA photo students

  • Assists Chair of the Photography Department on organizational and technical needs

  • Active facilitator in BFA and MFA critiques

 

2009 AMMO BOOKS Los Angeles, CA

Contemporary Art book publisher

Artist Licensing

  • Books: The Contact Sheet

  • Communicates with artists’ about their work and involvement 

  • Maintain work, contacts and licenses

  • 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

  • Maintain equipment for BFA and MFA students

  • Organize and facilitate workshops


 

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