KIA LABEIJA

FEAR IS ONLY A FRACTION OF LOVE

APR 8 - JUN 24, 2018

Kia LaBeija
Kia LaBeija Featuring The Moon, 2018
pigment print on Hahnremühle bartya rag paper
45 x 28 in (114.3 x 71.1 cm)

Kia LaBeija
Untitled #7, 2018
pigment print on Hahnremühle bartya rag paper
26 3/4 x 39 in (67.9 x 99.1 cm)

Kia LaBeija
Untitled #5, 2018
pigment print on Hahnemühle baryta rag paper
17 x 24 in (43.2 x 61 cm)

Royale Projects is proud to debut the first solo exhibition of works by Kia LaBeija. The exhibition Kia LaBeija: Fear Is Only A Fraction Of Love introduces the newest photographic series featured recently on the cover of Artforum.

Kia LaBeija was born in New York, New York in 1990. She is currently based in Los Angeles, California. LaBeija received a BA in The Arts from The New School in New York, where she studied photography under George Pitts. Her work explores her personal narrative and the relationship between space, trauma, and the female body. LaBeija is a classically trained dancer who studied at The Ailey School. She developed a love for theater and costume growing up in New York’s theater district and studying at the Professional Performing Arts School. Her role as Overall Mother of the Iconic House of LaBeija has established her as a world renowned Voguer, dancer and performance artist. As an active member of New York City’s Ballroom community, she has explored the art of Voguing as a performance and community-based practice.

The artist’s works have been included in group exhibitions, performances, and screenings at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Museum of The City of New York, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / The New York Public Library, International Center for Photography, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; La MaMa Galleria, Tacoma Art Museum, Zuckerman Museum of Art, The City University of New York, Bronx River Arts Center, Clifford Chance, and ONE Archives Gallery and Museum. LaBeija has visual and written contributions in forthcoming publications for Visual AIDS’s DUETS – In Conversation series with Julie Tolentino and Triple Canopy’s issue 24, Risk Pool. In 2014, LaBeija was honored with the Visual AIDS Vanguard Award for her commitment to art activism, AIDS advocacy, HIV prevention, education and support of artists with HIV/AIDS.