Martine Syms (born 1988) is an American artist residing in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, specializing in various mediums including

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, video, installation, and

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

. Her artistic endeavors revolve around themes of identity, particularly the representation of the self, with a focus on subjects like feminism and black culture. Syms frequently employs humor and social commentary as vehicles for exploration within her work. In 2007, she introduced the term "''Conceptual Entrepreneur''" to describe her artistic approach. Martine Syms is represented by Sadie Coles HQ and Sprüth Magers.

Early life

Martine Syms was born in 1988 in

. She grew up in the Altadena suburb of the city alongside her three siblings. During her formative years, she received homeschooling from her parents between the ages of 7 and 12. Recognizing her passion at a young age, Syms expressed her aspiration to become an artist early on. Reflecting on her homeschooling experience, Syms has commented on the challenges of accessing quality education in her area, stating, "''The area I grew up in didn't have the best public schools, and it was hard to get all of us into the same private school—for a lot of racist reasons, from what it sounds like''." Both of Syms' parents fostered her creative development, with her mother having an interest in art and writing and her father being an amateur photographer. As part of her artistic journey, she participated in the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) at CalArts. In 2007, Syms earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

(BFA) degree in film, Video, and New Media from the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

. She later pursued a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

(MFA) degree at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, completing her studies in 2017.

Career

From 2007 to 2012, Syms was a co-director of Golden Age, an

artist-run space An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

in Chicago. In 2015, Syms participated in the New Museum Triennial ''Surround Audience''. During the same year, her video titled "''Notes on Gesture''" was exhibited at Bridget Donahue Gallery 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 largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the Machine Project in Los Angeles. The video delves into the significance of seemingly little bodily gestures in shaping one's identity. Syms collaborated with Willo Perron and Associates in assisting with the writing of

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's speech at the 2015

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, where he announced his candidacy for the 2020 Presidential Election. In 2016, Syms presented the performance piece "''Misdirected Kiss''" at the Storm King Art Center in New York's

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

, as well as at the Broad Museum in

. The work's title is inspired by the 1904 film "''The Misdirected Kiss''." Incorporating elements reminiscent of a

TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

, the performance critically examines issues related to language and representation. In the same year, Syms held a solo exhibition at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, titled "''Martine Syms: Fact & Trouble''," which featured her video series "''Lessons''." In 2017, Syms had a solo exhibition at 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 ...

in New York, titled "''Projects 106: Martine Syms''," which revolved around a feature-length film called "''Incense, Sweaters & Ice''." Additionally, Syms was shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize and received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant in the same year. Syms joined the faculty of the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

in September 2018 and was awarded the Graham Foundation Fellowship for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. She also received the Future Fields Commission in time-based media from the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Syms founded Dominica Publishing, an artists' press dedicated to exploring Black identity in contemporary art and visual culture. In 2022, Syms made her directorial debut with the film '' The African Desperate'', which premiered at the

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

. The distribution rights for the film were acquired by the streaming service

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

Conceptual Entrepreneur

The concept of artists seeking financial self-determination is a recurring theme in modern and contemporary art. Artists such as

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

, Marcel Broodthaers,

Piero Manzoni Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work anticipated, and directly influenced ...

, David Hammons, and Joe Scanlan have explored this idea. Scanlan, in particular, articulated this concept in his text "''People in Trade''," which highlights the business potential of conceptual art. Scanlan argues that artists with unique skills and production methods, such as Agnes Martin and David Hammons, embody personal branding, value-adding, and just-in-time production principles. These artists have often been overlooked for their contributions to state-of-the-art business innovations. Syms embraces the notion of self-determination through a sustainable institution, influenced by her interest in independent music and black-owned businesses. Her artwork has been showcased in various venues, including

Human Resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

, Bridget Donahue Gallery, the New Museum, Kunsthalle Bern, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Index Stockholm, MOCA Los Angeles, and MCA Chicago. Currently, Syms holds a teaching position at the

Work

Syms' artistic practice delves into contemporary Black identity, queer theory, and the significance of language. Her exploration takes shape through various mediums such as video, performance, writing, etc. She often incorporates found footage from contemporary media to convey her thematic concerns. Syms values the concise nature of video as a means of transmitting important information and considers herself a collector of "orphaned media." For instance, she examines the role of smartphones as tools for constructing identity, even though she abstains from using social media. Syms finds enjoyment in exploring how self-constructed identities manifest through these platforms. In her artistic process, Syms frequently utilizes gallery spaces to create multimedia

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

s. She possesses diverse technical skills, including self-taught coding supplemented by classes at the Armory Center for The Arts in Los Angeles. Satire is a source of inspiration for Syms, employing parody and sarcasm to convey her artistic messages. She describes her working style as project-driven, adapting her approach throughout the creative journey.

Publications

In 2011, Syms contributed to the Future Plan and Program project by publishing ''Implications and Distinctions''. This publication examines the performance of black identity in contemporary cinema and was part of a collaborative effort led by Steffani Jemison. In 2013, Syms published ''The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto'' on

Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

. The manifesto advocates for black diasporic artistic producers to focus on creating culture that envisions a realistic future on Earth. Syms emphasizes the challenge of imagining a world without fantasy realms or escapism, urging a contemporary and futuristic perspective. Quoting DuBois and Ol' Dirty Bastard, she reflects on the notion of "twoness" and how it feels to be seen as a problem. In 2014, Syms released ''Most Days'', featuring a table read of her screenplay that depicts an average day in the life of a young black woman in 2050 Los Angeles. The album's score was composed by Neal Reinalda.

Personal life

Syms participates in soccer as a player for Sativa Football Club, assuming the position of midfielder.

Collections, Lectures and Exhibitions

Public Collections

Source: *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, Chicago IL, USA *

Carré d'Art The Carré d'art at Nîmes in southern France houses a museum of contemporary art and the city's municipal library. Constructed of glass, concrete and steel, it faces the Maison carrée, a perfectly preserved Roman temple that dates from the very ...

, Musée d'art contemporain, Nîmes, France * Guggenheim Museums and Foundation, New York NY, USA *

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

, Los Angeles CA, USA * JFABC Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, Chicago IL, USA * Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, Chicago IL, USA * KADIST, Paris and San Francisco CA, USA * LACMA

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

, Los Angeles CA, USA * Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds, England * MCA Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago IL, USA * MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA, USA * MoMA

, New York NY, USA * Museum of Modern Art Library, New York NY, USA * Perez Art Museum, Miami FL, USA * San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio TX, USA *

Serralves Foundation Serralves is a cultural institution located in Porto, Portugal. It includes a contemporary art museum, a park, and a villa, with each one of these being an example of contemporary architecture, Modernism, and Art Deco architecture. The museum, d ...

, Porto, Portugal *

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 NY, USA *

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

, Minneapolis MN, USA *

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 ...

, New York NY, USA

Lectures and Conferences

Source: *

William Greaves William Garfield Greaves (October 8, 1926 – August 25, 2014) was an American documentary filmmaker and a pioneer of film-making. After trying his hand at acting, he became a filmmaker who produced more than two hundred documentary films, and w ...

: Psychodrama, Interruption, and Circulation, Lewis Center for the Arts,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, Princeton NJ, co-organized with Fia Backström, Feb 21, 2020 * with Colin Self, Sadie Coles HQ, London, Oct 1, 2018 * ''March Meeting 2018: Active Forms'', Sharjah Art Foundation, Shuwaihen, Sharjah, UAE, Mar 17-19, 2018 * ''Experience It: Martine Syms'', A conversation with Martine Syms, Sharon Hayes and Jon Rafman, The Lab with

California College of the Arts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...

, San Francisco CA, USA, February 26, 2018 * ''Lounge'' Talk, ''Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions'', Tokyo Photographic Museum, Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2018 * Martine Syms and Rizvana Bradley in conversation, Raven Row, London, England, April 23, 2017 * ''Friday Flights at the Getty'', Getty Center, Los Angeles CA, USA, August 26, 2016 * ''Martine Syms'', Todd Madigan Gallery & Department of Art at

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

, Bakersfield CA, USA, February 16, 2016 * ''Tip of Her Tongue: Martine Syms 'Misdirected Kiss, The Oculus Hall at The Broad, Los Angeles CA, USA, January 21, 2016 * A Pilot For A Show About Nowhere, PNCA Mediatheque, Portland OR, USA, May 12, 2015 * ''Seven on Seven'', 7th Edition: Empathy & Disgust, Rhizome, New York NY, USA, May 2, 2015 * ''Lessons of the Tradition'',

at Long Beach, Long Beach CA, USA, 2015 * ''Quality Television'', Light Industry, New York NY, USA April 28, 2015 * ''Lessons of the Tradition'',

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

, Claremont CA, USA, 2015 * ''Nite Life'', O, Miami Poetry Festival, Miami FL, USA, 2015 * ''In the Archives, Contemporary Artists Books'', Los Angeles CA, USA, 2015 * ''Lessons of the Tradition'',

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

, Richmond VA, USA, 2014 * ''Black Radical Imagination II'', REDCAT, Los Angeles CA, USA, November 14, 2014 * ''Black Vernacular: Lessons of the Tradition'',

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

, London, England, October 17, 2014 * ''Do You Follow? Art in Circulation'', Rhizome/ICA Institute of Contemporary Art London, London, England, Oct 15-17, 2014 * ''Black Vernacular: Lessons of the Tradition'', Oberlin College & Observatory, Oberlin OH, USA, April 29, 2014 * ''Most Days'', Moogfest Biennial, Asheville NC, USA, April 26, 2014 * ''Black Vernacular'', Insights 2014 Design Lecture Series,

, Minneapolis MN, USA, March 18, 2014 * ''Direct Design'', Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN, USA, 2014 * ''Most Days'', Arts Incubator,

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, Chicago IL, USA, 2014 * ''Direct Design'',

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

, Los Angeles CA, USA, 2014 * ''Becoming Artists: Critique, Originality & Identity - Managing Biography: Negotiating Audience'',

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, New Haven CT, USA, February 8, 2014 * ''New Paradigms in Digital Media 'Mainstreaming' a DIY Culture'',

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, Baltimore MD, USA, April 13, 2013 * ''Conceptual Entrepreneurism'', Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, USA, 2013 * ''Black Vernacular: Reading New Media'',

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

, Austin TX, USA, 2013 * ''Science Fiction & What It Feels Like To (Already) Live In the Future'', Actual Size, Los Angeles CA, January 11, 2013 * ''Real Talk'',

, Valencia CA, USA, November 5, 2012 * ''Reading Politics'', Summer Forum, Chicago IL, USA, 2012 * ''The Didactic Possibilities of Film Titles'', Houston Museum of African American Art, Houston TX, USA, 2011 * ''Artist/Authors'', The Gregory School, Houston TX, USA, 2011 * ''Implications & Distinctions'', Project Row Houses, Houston TX, USA, 2011 * ''Future Plan and Program'' - Lecture by Steffani Jemison and Martine Syms, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View TX, USA, April 19, 2011

Solo exhibitions

* Armory Center for the Arts (Pasadena, CA), ''Martine Syms, The Queen's English,'' 2014
Locust Projects
(Miami), ''Art on the Move: Nite Life,'' 2015'
White Flag Projects
(Saint Louis, Missouri), ''Martine Syms,'' 2015 * Machine Project (Los Angeles, CA), ''Notes on Gesture,'' 2015
Bridget Donahue
(New York), ''Martine Syms: Vertical Elevated Oblique,'' 2015 *Audain Gallery (Vancouver, Canada), ''Borrowed Lady'', 2016 *

(Los Angeles), ''Martine Syms: Black Box,'' 2016 * Karma International (Beverly Hills, California), ''Martine Syms: com port ment,'' 2016 * Institute of Contemporary Art (London, England), ''Martine Syms: Fact & Trouble'', 2016 *

(New York), ''Projects 106: Martine Syms,'' 2017 *

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

(London, England), ''VNXXCAS: Martine Syms,'' 2017 *CONDO: Bridget Donahue hosted by Sadie Coles HQ (London, England), ''The Easy Demands,'' 2017
Bridget Donahue
(New York), ''Martine Syms: Big Surprise,'' 2018 *

Graham Foundation The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 non-profit that "fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Graham realize ...

(Chicago IL), ''Incense Sweaters & Ice'', 2018 *

(Chicago IL), ''SHE MAD: Laughing Gas,'' 2018 * Sadie Coles HQ (London, England), ''Grand Calme,'' 2018 *

(Porto, Portugal), ''Contemporary Projects: Martine Syms,'' 2018 *Secession (Vienna, Austria), ''Boon,'' 2019 *Institute of Contemporary Art at

(Richmond VA), ''Shame Space'', 2019 * Sadie Coles HQ off-site: 24 Cork Street (London, England), ''Ugly Plymouths'', 2020 *SLAM ,

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...

(St. Louis MO), ''New Media Series'', 2020 *5239 Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles CA), New York, and Sadie Coles HQ (London, England), ''Ugly Plymouths,'' presented by Bridget Donahue, 2020 *Bergen Kunsthall (Bergen, Norway), 2021

Group exhibitions

* The Green Gallery (Milwaukee), ''YOU CAN DEPEND ON THE SUNSHINE: Paul Cowan, Marco Kane, Martine Syms'', 2007 * New Museum (New York), ''Museum as Hub: Alpha's Bet Is Not Over Yet'', 2011 * MCA Chicago, ''We Are Here: Art & Design Out of Context,'' 2011 *

The Green Gallery The Green Gallery was an art gallery that operated between 1960 and 1965 at 15 West 57th Street (Manhattan), 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The gallery's director was Richard Bellamy (art dealer), Richard Bellamy, and its financial backe ...

(Milwaukee), ''Three Card Monte'', 2011 * Public Fiction (Los Angeles), ''Act II: The Props'', 2012 * Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), ''First Among Equals,'' 2012 * Badlands Unlimited, Apple iTunes, ''How to Download a Boyfriend'', 2012 *Acid Rain TV (New York), ''The Didactic Possibilities of Film Titles'', 2012 *Young Art (Los Angeles), ''Mise-En-Scéne'', 2012 * Transfer Gallery (New York), ''gURLs'', 2013 *Aran Cravey (Los Angeles), ''Rhetoric'', 2014 * New Museum (New York), ''First Look: Martine Syms: Reading Trayvon Martin'', 2014 *356 Mission (Los Angeles), ''Another Cats Show'', 2014 * REDCAT (Los Angeles), ''Small New Films'', 2014 *

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

(New York), ''Black Radical Imagination'', 2014 * Studio Museum (Harlem, New York), ''Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art'', 2014–2015 * Project Row Houses (Houston, Texas), ''How We Work'', 2015 *Todd Madigan Gallery (

), ''Open House'', 2015 *ACTRE TV acretv.org, ''Tele-novela,'' 2015 *Chan Gallery,

(Claremont), ''Candice Lin/Martine Syms'', 2015 *ICA Institute of Contemporary Art London (London, England), ''Artists' Film Club: Avant-Noir, Volume 2'', 2015 *Bureau (New York), ''The Daily Show'', 2015 *

(Minneapolis), ''Intangibles'', 2015 * New Museum (New York), ''2015 Triennial: Surround Audience'', 2015 *The Coming Community, Artspace NZ (Auckland, New Zealand), ''Potentially Yours'', 2016 * Astrup Fearnley Museet (Oslo, Norway), ''Los Angeles - A Fiction'', 2016 *Galerie Conradi (Hamburg, Germany), ''Umwelt Inversion'', 2016 *Oakville Galleries (Oakville, Canada), ''Down To Write You This Poem Sat'', 2016 *Occidental Temporary (Paris, France), ''Cool Memories'', 2016 *

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

(New York), ''Public, Private, Secret'', 2016 *

(Los Angeles), ''Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only'' * Atlanta Contemporary (Atlanta), ''It Can Howl'', 2016 *

HOME A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

(Manchester, England), ''Imitation of Life: Melodrama and Race in the 21st Century'', 2016 * Whitechapel Gallery (London, England), ''Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)'', 2016 *Index Stockholm- The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation (Stockholm, Sweden), ''Autobiography'', 2016 * Franklin Street Works (Stamford), ''Cut-Up: Contemporary Collage and Cut-Up Histories through a Feminist Lens'', 2016 *K11 Art Foundation pop-up space (Hong Kong), ''.COM/.CN'', presented by K11 Art Foundation and Klaus Biesenbach and Peter Eleey, 2017 * Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (Lisbon, Portugal), ''Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)'', 2017 *ICA Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia (Philadelphia), ''Speech/Acts'', 2017 *Artspace (Sydney, Australia), ''The Public Body'', 2017 *The Mistake Room (Los Angeles), ''Analog Currency'', 2017 * Chateau Shatto (Los Angeles), ''At This Stage'', 2017 * Palazzo Contarini Polignac (Venice, Italy), ''Future Generation Art Prize @ Venice 2017'', organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, 2017 * The Kitchen (New York), ''That I am reading backwards and into for a purpose, to go on:'', 2017 *

Trinity Square Video Trinity Square Video (TSV) is an artist-run centre in Toronto, Canada. It is a space to re-imagine media art and is known for supporting the production and exhibition of video-based work at the intersection of art and technology. It was founded ...

(Toronto, Canada), ''What does one do with such a clairvoyant image?'', 2017 * Raven Row (London, England), ''56 Artillery Lane'', 2017 *Galerie PCP (Paris, France), ''Our Words Return in Patterns (Part 1''), 2017 * Whitney Museum (New York), ''Whitney Biennal'', as part of the John Riepenhoff installation, 2017 * Musée d'art Contemporain de Lyon (Lyon, France), ''Los Angeles - A Fiction'', 2017 * Pinchuk Art Centre (Kyiv, Ukraine), ''Exhibition of 21 Artists Shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2017'', 2017 * Public Art Fund (New York), ''Commercial Break'', 2017 *Dazibao (Montreal, Canada), ''I Am the Organizer of My Own Archive'', 2017 *

Team Gallery Team Gallery was a contemporary art gallery located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, with an additional project space in Venice, Los Angeles, California. It was founded by José Freire and Lisa Ruyter in 1996. Team represented such a ...

(New York), ''The Love Object'' ''(organized by Tom Brewer)'', 2017 *

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...

(Ann Arbour MI), ''Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 To Today'', 2018 *Madre museo d'arte contemporanea Donnaregina (Naples, Italy), ''Per_forming a collection. The Show Must Go_ON'', 2018 *FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial For Contemporary Art, Toby Devan Lewis Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, ''An Evening of Queen White'', 2018 *Gwangju (South Korea), ''The 12th Gwangju Biennale Exhibition: Imagined Borders'', 2018 * Grunwald Gallery, School of Art, Architecture + Design (Bloomington IN), ''Out of Easy Reach'', 2018 *Kunstverein (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), ''Succession Sounds'', 2018 *

(New York), ''Eckhaus Latta: Possessed'', 2018 *

Allen Memorial Art Museum The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) is an art museum located in Oberlin, Ohio, and it is run by Oberlin College. Founded in 1917, the collection contains over 15,000 works of art. Overview The AMAM is primarily a teaching museum and is aimed at ...

(Oberlin OH), ''Radically Ordinary: Scenes form Black Life in America Since 1968'', 2018 *

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

(Basel, Switzerland), ''Unlimited'', 2018 *The Gallery, Michael's (Santa Monica CA), 2018 * Gallery 400 and DePaul Art Museum (Chicago IL), ''Out of Easy Reach'', 2018 *Kadist Foundation (Paris, France), ''This is Utopia, to Some'', 2018 *''A Lone'', installed adjacent to Capitol Hill Link rail station within city-wide project, Seattle WA, 2018 *Gordon Robichaux (New York), ''A Page from My Intimate Journal (Part 1)'', 2018 *Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan), Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions 2018, ''Mapping the Invisible'', 2018 *ICA Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (Boston MA), ''Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today'', 2018 * The Shed (New York), ''Manual Override'', 2019 * Yuz Museum (Shanghai, China), tongewölbe T25 (Ingolstadt, Germany), ''In Production: Art and the Studio System'', 2019 * Stony Island Arts Bank (Chicago IL), ''In the Absence of Light: Gesture, Humor and Resistance in The Black Aesthetic: Selections from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection'', 2019 * Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco CA), ''The Body Electric'', 2019 *Luma Westbau, (Zürich Switzerland), ''It's Urgent! – Part II'', 2019 *Gladstone Gallery (New York), ''Dry Land'', 2019 *

(Los Angeles), ''Celebration of Our Enemies: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection'', 2019 *Los Angeles, ''The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA's Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art'', 2019 *R & Company (New York), ''Chairs Beyond Right & Wrong'', 2019 *

(New York), ''Whitney Biennial 2019'', 2019 *Schinkel Pavillon (Berlin, Germany), ''Straying from the Line'', 2019 *FuturDome (Milan, Italy), ''Hypertimes'', 2019 *Lismore Castle Arts (Waterford, Ireland), ''Palimpsest'', 2019 * Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis MN), ''The Body Electric'', 2019 *ICA Institute of Contemporary Art at

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 ...

(Philadelphia PA), ''Colored People Time: Mundane Futures'', 2019 *MDC MOAD Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design (Miami FL), ''The Body Electric'', 2020 * The Luminary online (St. Louis MO), ''Self Maintenance Resource Center 2020'', 2020 *TOWER MMK, MMK Frankfurt, (Frankfurt am Main Germany), ''Sammlung'', 2020 *Gucci x Daelim Museum (Seoul, South Korea), ''No Space, Just a Place. Eterotopia'', 2020 *

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

(Auckland, New Zealand), ''Honestly Speaking: The Word, the Body and the Internet'', 2020 * de Young Museum (San Francisco CA), ''Uncanny Valley: Being Human in the Age of AI'', 2020 *

(Princeton NJ), ''William Greaves, Sondra Perry, Martine Syms,'' organized by Martine Syms, 2020 * MIT List Visual Arts Center (Cambridge MA), ''Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, Banal Presents'', 2020 *Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery, UC University California Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz CA), ''We Are Not Aliens: Arthur Jafa, Martine Syms, and Afro-Futurism 2.0'', as part of ''Beyond the End of the World: Approaches in Contemporary Art Seminar'', 2020

References

External links

Official websiteMartine Syms , HOW TO SEE Projects 106 with Martine Syms, The Museum of Modern ArtFlashartonline.com

Archive.kchungradio.orgVimeo.comDominica Publishing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syms, Martine 1988 births Living people Artists from Los Angeles School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American women artists 21st-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American women 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American women