Drawing on African, Asian and Native American ritual practices, 1970s Process Art and black vernacular expression, Artist Fellow Sanford Biggers creates hybrid works of art to explore cultural syncretism—the reconciliation of different belief systems. His sculpture, performances and videos draw into harmony seemingly disparate theologies, social philosophies and aesthetics by blending the texts, rituals and modes of visual representation used to enunciate these systems of belief in native contexts. Biggers will present twelve recent projects in both/andnoteither/or, while producing a new performance and video in collaboration with the choir of Baltimore’s Douglas Memorial Community Church and local gamelan musicians.

About the Artist: Sanford Biggers was born in 1970 in Los Angeles. He received his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta (1992) and his M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1999). He has had recent solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2004); Contemporary Art Museum, Houston (2003); University of California, Berkeley Art Museum (2002); Cabaret Mago, Nagoya, Japan (1997); and Wight Gallery, UCLA (1996). His work has been included in group exhibitions such as Black President, New Museum of Contemporary Art (2003); the 2002 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art (2002); Freestyle, The Studio Museum in Harlem (2001); One Planet Under a Groove, The Bronx Museum of the Arts (2001); and the P.S.1 National and International Studio Program, Clocktower Gallery, New York (2000).