Jacolby Satterwhite
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Jacolby Satterwhite (born 1986, South Carolina) is an American
contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
ist who creates immersive installations. He has exhibited work at the
Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...
, the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
,
Louis Vuitton Foundation The Louis Vuitton Foundation ( French: ''Fondation d'entreprise Louis-Vuitton''), previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (''Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création''), is a French art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group L ...
in Paris, the
New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...
and the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York, the
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated t ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, and the
Pérez Art Museum Miami Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...
. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.


Early life and education

Satterwhite was born in 1986 in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
. His mother was self-taught artist Patricia Satterwhite. As a child, he would watch
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
's video anthology
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
tape every day after school. Music videos by Deee Lite,
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
, Jackson,
Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...
,
Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and m ...
,
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
and
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
also influenced his aesthetic. He began working with technology at the age of 11 when he got his first
personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
; prior to that he owned consoles from
Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily ...
,
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
,
SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania an ...
,
32X The 32X is an video game accessory, add-on for the Sega Genesis video game console. Codenamed "Project Mars", it was designed to expand the power of the Genesis and serve as a transitional console into the History of video game consoles (fifth ...
,
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
,
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...
, and
Sony PlayStation is a Video game, video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of Home video game console, home video game consoles produce ...
. Satterwhite also attended the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. Satterwhite received his BFA degree from
Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...
in 2008; and he attended the
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...
the next year. He received an MFA degree from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
in 2010.


Career

Satterwhite's work often utilizes his mother's schematic drawings/inventions of ordinary objects influenced by
consumer culture Consumer culture describes a lifestyle hyper-focused on spending money to buy material or goods. Consumer culture became prominent in the United States during the rapid economic growth of the Roaring Twenties following the end of World War I ...
, medicine, fashion,
Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
, mathematics, sex, philosophy, astrology, and matrilineal concerns. Patricia Satterwhite, who died in 2016, was diagnosed with
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
and was a prolific drawer. Satterwhite has also shown/performed in group exhibitions including at
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York;
MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution at 2201 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...
, Queens; the Smithsonian, Washington DC; The Kitchen, New York; Rush Arts Gallery, and Exit Art. In 2016, he was awarded the United States Artist Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellowship. He served as a contributing director for the
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
that accompanied
Solange Solange may refer to: People with the given name * Solange Knowles (born 1986), American R&B/soul singer * Solange of Bourges (d. 880), Christian saint * Solange (psychic) (1952–2021), Italian TV personality, psychic and commentator * Solange A ...
's 2019 visual album ''When I Get Home'', in 2019. His visual work accompanied Solange's song "Sound of Rain." Satterwhite directed ''Pygmalion's Ugly Season'', a short film accompaniment to
Perfume Genius Michael Alden Hadreas (born September 25, 1981), better known by his stage name Perfume Genius, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Hadreas's music explores topics including sexuality, his personal struggle with Crohn's disease, dome ...
's 2022 studio album '' Ugly Season''. Jacolby Satterwhite's work occupied the Great Hall at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York in 2023. The commission titled “A Metta Prayer” encompassed video installations and large-scale projections influenced by paintings in the MET collections and the artist's upbringing and interest in digital and performance art. In 2025, The
Pérez Art Museum Miami Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...
, Florida, is showcasing Satterwhite's work ''En Plein Air: Diamond Princess'' (2015), a
3D animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern ...
video, as part of its digital arts biennial, ''Intertidal'', on view through PAMMTV, the museum's video and digital arts streaming platform. Jacolby Satterwhite's work is being featured alongside works by
Yucef Merhi Yucef Merhi (born February 8, 1977) is a Venezuelan artist, poet and computer programmer based in New York.Carlo Zanni''INTERVIEW WITH YUCEF MERHI'', Centre international d'art contemporain de Montréal's online magazine, No.18, 2004. Early life ...
, Keisha Rae Whiterspoon, and the artist duo LIZN'BOW, among others.


Exhibitions


Solo shows

In 2012 Satterwhite presented an exhibition entitled ''Jacolby Satterwhite'' at the Hudson D. Walker Gallery in
Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...
. The next year, the exhibition ''Island of Treasure'' at Mallorca Landings in
Palma De Mallorca, Spain Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
, included the ''
Reifying Desire Reifying Desire is a six-part video series by American artist Jacolby Satterwhite, which was on view in the 2014 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Satterwhite created 230 3D modeled versions of his body, animated figures, and his mot ...
'' video series (2011-14), which was in turn included in the 2014
Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...
. The series combined
3D animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern ...
and live action, the work explores themes of memory and personal history in a virtual dreamlike environment. In 2018, Satterwhite had a solo exhibition at New York’s Gavin Brown’s enterprise which featured the
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for his concept album, ''Blessed Avenue,'' based on the parts of songs his late mother recorded on cassettes. Satterwhite had his first solo museum exhibition in 2019, at
The Fabric Workshop and Museum The Fabric Workshop and Museum, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a non-profit arts organization devoted to creating new work in new materials and new media in collaboration with emerging, nationally, and internationally recognized artis ...
, in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, titled, "Jacolby Satterwhite: Room for Living," curated by Karen Patterson, after a two-year residency there.
Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...
, Carvaggio, and ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' were some of the influences he cited in the work. The watertub and the handwriting around one element of the exhibition were designed by Satterwhite’s late mother, Patricia. The show was reviewed in the ''New York Observer'' and ''
Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinki ...
''. Satterwhite opened a second solo show, “You're at home,” at Brooklyn’s
Pioneer Works Pioneer Works is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit cultural arts center in the Red Hook, Brooklyn, Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City that was founded by artist Dustin Yellin in 2012. Pioneer Works includes a large exhibition spac ...
on October 4. The work was formed around a concept album originally commissioned by the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
which used songs his mother recorded into a tape recorder. Together with guest musicians, such as experimental pop artist Lafawndah and cellist Patrick Belaga, Satterwhite and Teengirl Fantasy’s Nick Weiss expanded Patricia Satterwhite's original a cappella recordings from the 1990s into happy and melancholic pop songs. "It takes a low-fi form of expression–folk music recorded onto cassette tapes at home in the 1990s–and elevates it all the way to a 3D animated virtual reality, experimental performance piece and concept album," he told Frieze magazine's Michael Bullock.


Group shows

Satterwhite exhibited works in the ''Matriarch's Rhapsody'' exhibition and ''Triforce'' at the Bindery Projects in
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
. The same year he exhibited works from the ''Matriarch's Rhapsody'' in exhibitions including his first solo show in New York, ''The Matriarch's Rhapsody'', Monya Rowe Gallery, in January, ''The House of Patricia, Satterwhite'' at the Mallorca Landings Gallery in Palme De Mallorca in February, and ''Grey Lines'' at Recess in New York City in August. In 2014 he showed work in the exhibition "WPA Hothouse Video: Jacolby Satterwhite," curated by Julie Chae at the Capitol Skyline Hotel. Chae described Satterwhite's work as "visually spectacular, strange, and boldly combines humor with darker elements". The exhibition included the work ''Country Ball,'' which is in the public collection of the
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
. In the same year, he had an exhibition at OhWOW Gallery (now Morán Morán) in Los Angeles, titled ''How Lovely Is Me Being As I Am,'' the title of which he attributed to his mother's unique use of language''.'' Satterwhite's work was featured in the 2014
Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...
at the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
. In 2015 and 2016, Satterwhite was part of the traveling exhibition ''Disguise: Masks and Global African Art,'' a collaboration between the
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
(on display from June 18 to September 7, 2015 in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
) and from April 29 to September 18, 2016 at the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
. The exhibition focused on African masquerade and the power of the mask and costume as a proactive and playful way to engage about current social problems centering around class, gender, and issues of power and to give insight into the future. The exhibition presented contemporary and historical works from the
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
that worked in dialogue and ranged in mediums from
video installation Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...
to photography and sculpture.


Honors and awards

*2016
United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...
Fellowship *2013 Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant *2013 Arts Matters Grant *2013–2014 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace Artist-in-Residence *2013 Recess Art, Sessions Residency *2012–2013
Fine Arts Work Center The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise that supports emerging visual artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The Work Center was founded in 1968 by a group of American artists and writers to support promising individual ...
Fellowship 2nd Year *2012 Headlands Center for the Arts - Artist in Residence *2011–2012 Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship 1st Year *2011 Electronic Television Center Finishing Funds Grant *2011 Center for Photography,
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
*2011 Van Lier Grant, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Studio LLC program *2011 Queer, Art, Mentorship Fellowship *2010–2011
Harvestworks Harvestworks is a not-for-profit arts organization located in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's ...
Artist In Residence, New York, NY *2010 Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship *2009 Cosby Fellowship to Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture *2007 Grand Prize Winner for Driven exhibition at the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
's S. Dillon Ripley Center


Collections

* Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma,
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, Finland *
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York City, New York *
Studio Museum in Harlem The Studio Museum in Harlem is an African-American art museum at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African A ...
, New York City, New York * The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York *
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
, Seattle, Washington *
San Jose Museum of Art The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum in downtown San Jose, California, United States. Founded in 1969, the museum holds a permanent collection with an emphasis on West Coast artists of the 20th and 21st cent ...
, San Jose, California


References


External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20150507101411/http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/2014Biennial/JacolbySatterwhite *http://rhizome.org/editorial/2014/jan/9/artist-profile-jacolby-satterwhite/
Satterwhite's Vimeo account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satterwhite, Jacolby 1986 births Living people People from Columbia, South Carolina Maryland Institute College of Art alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni American printmakers Animators from South Carolina American performance artists American video artists African-American printmakers 21st-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American artists African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists