Artist Bio: Rashaad Newsome (b. 1979, New Orleans, LA)

Rashaad Newsome works in performance, photography, collage, video, sculpture and sound, developing mixed-media works that examine the intersection of pop and subculture forms. For Art Breaks, Newsome presents a new work in his ongoing SWAG the Mix Tape project, inspired by his interest in the language of Heraldry and the history of the mix tape from the early days of hip hop. Newsome received a B.A. in Art History at Tulane University before studying Film at Film Video Arts NYC as well as music production and programming at Harvestworks NYC. He has exhibited nationally and internationally at such institutions and Galleries as The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; MoMA PS1, New York, NY; The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; The Kitchen, New York; and Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. Upcoming projects include: FIVE 2012 (Hong Kong), Hong Kong International Art Fair, 5.18.12; SWAG THE MIX TAPE Vol. 2, 7.4.2012; Shade Compositions (SFMOMA), SFMOMA, 11.4.2012 and FIVE 2012 (The Drawing Center), The Drawing Center NY.

Rashaad Newsome lives and works in New York, NY.

Website:
http://rashaadnewsome.com/

Articles And Links:
New York Times: Rashaad Newsome Blending Hip Hop And Heraldry
The Creators Project: Rashaad Newsome
ArtnetTV: Rashaad Newsome
Arcade44: Five // Rashaad Newsome
AMMO Mag: Artist Profile
TMagazine: The Nifty 50
Performance Festival Diary

Artist Bio: Tala Madani (b. 1981, Tehran, Iran)
Tala Madani is a painter who uses stop-motion animation to present surreal situations, constructing bizarre and often humorous narratives. Her work highlights scenarios of cultural and gender difference and the connections between power, law, and language. For her piece for Art Breaks, titled Under Man, the artist presents viewers with a vulnerable figure who is aggressively pelted by objects until he ultimately decides to bury himself. Madani received her MFA from Yale University School of Art. She has had recent solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, and Pilar Corrias, London, and has been included in group shows in Europe and the United States including Speech Matters for the Danish Pavillion, Venice Biennale; Greater New York, MoMA PS1, New York; and Younger Than Jesus, New Museum, New York.

Tala Madani lives and works in Los Angeles.

Artist Bio: Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971, Camden, NJ)

Mickalene Thomas’ work challenges traditional notions of sexuality and femininity and explores the complexity of what it means to be a woman. Thomas works in a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, and video. Her study of art history, including classical forms of landscape and portraiture, informs her work for Art Breaks, titled Revay. Thomas earned her MFA from Yale University, and holds a BFA from Pratt Institute. In 2002-2003 she participated in the Artist-in-Residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem and in 2011 she was a resident at the Versailles Foundation Munn Artists Program in Giverny, France. She has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally at such institutions as the La Conservera Contemporary Art Centre in Ceutí, Spain; the Hare Museum in Tokyo, Japan; and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Forthcoming solo exhibitions in 2012 include “Origin of the Universe,” at the Santa Monica Museum of Art and at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Thomas is represented by Lehmann Maupin in New York, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, and Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago.

Mickalene Thomas lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Website:
www.mickalenethomas.com

Articles:
Life + Times: Soul Kitchen
Sundance Channel: Beginnings
Lipsticktracez: Mickalene Thomas, A Complex Vision
BOMB Magazine: Mickalene Thomas
PMc Magazine: Reconstructing The Glittering Female Gaze
Vice: Sharon Jones Meets Mickalene Thomas

Galleries:
Lehmann Maupin
Vielmetter