Artist: Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo)
Exhibition title: TRANNY
Venue: Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, Germany
Date: January 14 – February 26, 2022
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Galerie Barbara Weiss is pleased to present TRANNY – an exhibition of new works by Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo). This is the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery.
TRANNY comprises 19 text works applied directly to the wall in vinyl. Among them are slang and derogatory terms for trans women, which are annotated with explanatory notes from the artist. There are messages of empowerment installed alongside overheard moments of transphobia. A line of inquiry runs throughout the exhibition, consisting of rhetorical questions, pointed questions to potential sexual partners, and questions that appear directed to the audience – asking them to examine their relationship towards the trans community as well as their understanding of themselves. Kuriki Olivo has produced these texts in oversized, impact font and installed them from floor to ceiling. In doing so, she has amplified a discourse to an unignorable scale.
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo) is a conceptual, performance and installation artist. Her work often draws on the emotional resonance of found objects and shared experiences to explore existential themes like love, intimacy, mortality, power relations and states of being. Until 2018 her works were created anonymously – the name Puppies Puppies revealed neither gender or origin, nor whether a group or just a single individual was behind the pseudonym. Stepping away from this unattributed artistic persona became central to of a series of works beginning in 2018 that coincided with the transitioning of the artist to Jade Kuriki Olivo. In the years since, her activist practice and commitment to the rights of BIPOC transgender, gender non conforming, two spirit + minorities has increasingly become a focal point in her artistic work. In recent years, Kuriki Olivo has used exhibition invitations to draw attention to issues surrounding this community, as well as inviting artists to exhibit either alongside her or in her place.
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo) recently had solo exhibitions at Kunsthaus Glarus (2021), Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2019), and Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg (2019). Her work was included in the 2017 Whitney Biennial, and the 9th Berlin Biennale (2016). She has an upcoming solo exhibition at MoCA Cleveland, which will open on January 26, 2022, as well as a solo project taking place at Performance Space New York in February 2022.
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, vinyl text on wall, Dimensions variable, This example: 77 x 230 cm | 30 3/8 x 51 1/8 in
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), I’M SORRY MY IDENTITY IS A PART OF MY WORK/ I THINK BECAUSE SOCIETY NEVER LETS ME/ FORGET/ FULLY/ THAT I’M A TRANS WOMAN/ DAY IN AND DAY OUT, 2022 vinyl text on wall Dimensions variable, This example: 280 x 485 cm | 113 3/4 x 191 in
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), I LOOK AT TRANS HISTORY AND WE ARE EITHER ARRESTED, ERASED, FORCED TO HIDE, OR CONSIDERED MENTALLY ILL (FOR BEING TRANS/GNC/TWO SPIRIT+) WHY PERPETUATE THIS HISTORY?, 2022, vinyl text on wall, Dimensions variable, This example: 84 x 180 cm | 33 x 70 7/8 in
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), TRANNY, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), WOMAN, 2022, vinyl text on wall, Dimensions variable, This example: 7 x 67 cm | 18 x 170 in
Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), DOES THE GENDER THAT YOU WERE TOLD YOU WERE/ HAS THAT UPSET YOU? DID IT OR DOES IT FEEL LIKE IT DIDN’T OR DOESN’T FIT?/ LIKE PEOPLE TREATED YOU ONE WAY BUT IT WASN’T YOUR CHOICE., 2022 vinyl text on wall, Dimensions variable, This example: 109 x 176 cm | 43 x 69 1/4 in
