Allison Janae Hamilton

Allison Janae Hamilton (born 1984) is a contemporary American artist who works in sculpture, installation, photography and film.

Allison Janae Hamilton
Hamilton in front of her installation, "The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm," at Storm King Art Center in 2018
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Lexington, Kentucky
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbia University, New York University, Florida State University
Websiteallisonjanaehamilton.com

Early life and education

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Hamilton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1984 and raised in Florida, with family rooted in Tennessee and the Carolinas.

Hamilton received her MFA in visual arts from Columbia University, PhD in American studies from New York University, MA in African-American studies from Columbia University and two BS degrees from Florida State University.[1]

Work

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Hamilton's relationship with the locations of her upbringing and family roots forms the cornerstone of her artwork, as particularly seen in her engagement with the landscapes of Northern Florida and Western Tennessee. Using plant matter, layered imagery, complex sounds, metal, and found objects, Hamilton creates immersive spaces that consider the ways that the American landscape contributes to our ideas of "Americana"; and social relationships to space in the face of a changing climate, particularly within the rural American south.[2]

Hamilton is known as an interdisciplinary artist, whose artwork ranges from immersive multi-channel film installations, monumental outdoor sculpture, and environmental portraits. Hamilton refers to landscape as the "central protagonist" in her work, rather than a backdrop, and through the blending of land-centered folklore and personal family narratives, she engages haunting yet epic mythologies that address the social and political concerns of today's changing terrain.[3][4]

Hamilton has presented solo exhibitions at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Joslyn Art Museum, and has also exhibited her work at Storm King Art Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and others. In 2021, Hamilton presented an immersive film artwork, Wacissa, on 73 screens in Times Square in New York City.[5] She is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award[6] and a Rema Hort Mann Foundation grant.[7] She was a 2013-2014 fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program, sponsored by the Whitney Museum of American Art.[8] She has been awarded artist residencies at the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York),[1] Recess (New York)[9] and Fundación Botín (Santander, Spain).[10] Work by the artist is held in public collections such as the Menil Collection, Nasher Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art, the Hood Museum of Art and the Speed Art Museum.

In 2023, Hamilton's work was included in the Spirit in the Land traveling exhibition and publication, organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The show is on view at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida, in 2024.[11][12][13]

Hamilton is represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York and Aspen).

Selected solo exhibitions

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Selected collections

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References

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  1. ^ a b Kima Hibbert. "Studio Visit: Allison Janae Hamilton". Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  2. ^ "'The Landscape is a Witness' Aunjanue Ellis Talks with Allison Janae Hamilton". The Bitter Southerner. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
    - "Art Museum Announces New Acquisition of Allison Janae Hamilton Sculptural Work" (PDF) (Press release). Syracuse University Art Museum. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Allison Janae Hamilton: Pitch". Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Biography". Allison Janae Hamilton. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Wacissa: Midnight Moment". Times Square Arts. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Announcing the 2019 Creative Capital Awards". Creative Capital. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  7. ^ "2017 Emerging Artist Grant in New York City" (Press release). Rema Hort Mann Foundation. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Whitney Independent Study Program: Critical Studies Symposium". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Recess Presents: Wonder Room" (PDF). Recess. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  10. ^ "15 artistas procedentes de 10 países participarán en el Taller de Artes Plásticas de Villa Iris de la artista Joan Jonas en Santander" [15 artists from 10 countries will participate in the Villa Iris Plastic Arts Workshop of the artist Joan Jonas in Santander] (in Spanish). Fundación Botín. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Spirit in the Land". Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  12. ^ "Spirit in the Land • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  13. ^ Schoonmaker, Trevor (2023). Spirit in the land: Exhibition, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 2023. Durham, North Carolina: Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. ISBN 978-0-938989-45-5.
  14. ^ "Allison Janae Hamilton | A Romance of Paradise | March 27 - April 24, 2021". Marianne Boesky Gallery. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Waters of a Lower Register". Creative Time. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Allison Janae Hamilton - Passage". Atlanta Contemporary. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Allison Janae Hamilton: Wonder Room". Recess. 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Blackwater Creature III". Hood Museum. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Recent Acquisition: Allison Janae Hamilton". Nasher Museum of Arts at Duke University. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Yard Sign with Yellow and White Constellation, Yard Sign with Blue Constellation". Nevada Museum of Art. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  21. ^ "'Remixing the Hall' presents new research, new acquisitions, and new voices". Williams College Museum of Art. Retrieved 31 August 2022.