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Joa Blumenkranz (b. May 11, 1994) is a dollmaker, performer, sculptor, and painter who works within the realm of queer fabulation and transgender issues. They wonder about questions of gender, sexuality, and biology seen from their own situated knowledge as a transfeminine person. They seek to explore the illusion of 'selfhood', specifically in relation to sex and gender. They aim to depart from notions of essentialism, anthropocentrism, and the gender binary and speculate about a post-gender, post-human reality. In doing this, they employ a wide array of disciplines including needle-felting, illustration, choreography, and music, which come together in vibrant live performances and video pieces.

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They understand their artwork as a form of crafty queer worldbuilding that merges their lived experience as a marginalized/fetishized body with a sexy fantasy world of the beyond.

Their discourse is related to ideas presented in the works of Donna Haraway, Yuval Noah Harari, Baruch Spinoza, Eckhart Tolle, and Nina Arsenault, among others, who all challenge established notions of our patriarchal, dualistic, capitalist society. Their current practice intends to build on this by utilizing the metaphor of the hybrid/mutant/cyborg.

They are visually inspired by a combination of surrealism, fantasy, and pop culture. Pop stars like Björk, Kate Bush, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Peaches, Arca, and SOPHIE, as well as visual artists like Patricia Piccinini, Francis Upritchard, Greer Lankton, Sin Wai Kin, Salvador Dalí, Brian Froud, and Hayao Miyazaki inspire and relate to their visual expression.

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They are impacted by their upbringing in the 90’s and early 00’s in Denmark, where they were enmeshed in Nordic crafts and mythology and later immersed in the rise of the internet, which gave them the early tools to develop as a queer visual/performance artist.

Most recently, their projects have expanded to include costume design, music production, and text/poetry. Their intention is to reimagine performance art by transgressing hierarchical barriers between fine art and pop culture.

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EDUCATION:

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MA Contemporary Art Practice

Royal College of Art

London

2022-2023

 

BA (Hons) Fine Art: Sculpture

Camberwell College of Arts

London

2020-2022

 

Diploma in Studio Arts

Metàfora’s Studio Arts School

Barcelona

2017-2019

 

Byhøjskolen

Aarhus, Denmark

2015

 

Vejle Design og Kunstskole

Vejle, Denmark

2013-2014

 

STX Studentereksamen

Rosborg Gymnasium

Vejle, Denmark

2010-2013

 

Øse Efterskole

Denmark

2009-2010

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EXHIBITIONS:

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Do you buy this?

Ugly Duck, London

3/8 - 6/8/2023

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CAP Cinema

Prince Charles Cinema

27/7/2023

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RCA 2023 ('MA Contemporary Art Practice' degree show)

Royal College of Art, Battersea, London

29/6 - 3/7/2023

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Tate Modern Lates: Beyond Surface - Tactile Presence

Tate Modern, London

31/3/2023

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Baggage Claim

Staffordshire St, London

17/2 - 5/3/2023

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'BA Fine Art: Sculpture' degree show

Camberwell College of Arts, London

18/6 - 25/6/2022

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Queer Bodies

1B Window Gallery, London

1/6 - 30/6/2022

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Out There

Southwark Park Galleries, London

29/1 - 30/1/2022

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F THE BODY: Fabulating, Fluidifying, and Freeing

Ugly Duck, London

22/11/2021

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KIKI events

Atelier Güell, Barcelona

6/4/2019

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PASSAGE ACROSS NO-SPACES

Mutuo, Barcelona

29/10 - 10/11/2018

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TransTransTrans

SWAB Art Fair, Barcelona

28/9/2018

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I WANT ART TO BE ___

Mutuo, Barcelona

5/4 - 10/4/2018

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CONTACT:

Email: mammalucaart@gmail.com

Instagram: @joawhatisshe

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