Weed Killer, 2017. Single channel HD video. 16 minutes.

This work centers around Catherine Lord’s memoir The Summer of Her Baldness, an account of the author’s experience with breast cancer and chemotherapy and its effects on her body and relationships. The actress recites a monologue derived from the book that reflects the horrors of chemotherapy and its physical impact on the body. The monologue is intertwined with choreographic gestures shot with thermal imaging and set to an unsettling score. The film becomes an explora-tion of the intersection of queer identity, illness, and cross-generational dialogue, portraying a line between poisonous and curative substances.

Prince of Homburg, 2019. Single channel HD video. 23 minutes.

The Prince of Homburg, a play written in 1809 by Heinrich von Kleist, is a tale of a prince who is tricked while sleepwalking and falls into a string of hardships that question the give and take between personal freedoms and state control. This video utilizes an interspliced narrative structure that weaves interviews, found foot-age, and animation with a narration of Kleist’s play. Additionally, the exhibition displays a series of prints and sculptural works that together seek to link the nineteenth-century work with modern scenes of queer and trans characters exploring individual agency and personal desires.

BIOGRAPHY

Born: Bognor Regis, United Kingdom, 1987

Resides: Los Angeles, California; London, United Kingdom

Education: Goldsmiths College, University of London (2009)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019    “On Venus,” Serpentine Galleries, London.

            “The Prince of Homburg,” Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

            “The Foundation,“ LUMA Westbau, Zurich, Switzerland.

            “The Prince of Homburg,” Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland.

2018    “Hatefull to the Stomach, Harmefull to the Braine,” Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles.

2017    “Weed Killer,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

2015    “The Foundation,” Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; Spike Island, Bristol, United Kingdom; Chisenhale Gallery, London.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020    “Dancing Is What We Make of Falling,” Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Turin, Italy.

2019    “The Body Electric,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

            “Queer California: Untold Stories,” Oakland Museum of Art, California.

            “Lateral Recovery Position,” Béton Salon, Paris.

2018    “Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance,” Nottingham Contemporary, United Kingdom.

            “Between Bodies,” Henry Art Gallery, Seattle.

            “The Work Marathon,” Serpentine Galleries, London.

            “Made in LA,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

            “In and Out of Place,” Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

2017    “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon,” New Museum, New York.

            “Greater Together,” Australian Center for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.

            “The Public Body .02,” Art Space, Sydney, Australia.

            “Millennial Pink,” SDAI, San Diego.

            “Material Deviance,” SculptureCenter, Long Island City, New York.

2016    “Secret Surface,” KW Institute, Berlin.

            “British Art Show 8,” Touring Venues, United Kingdom.

2015    “Transformation Marathon,” Serpentine Galleries, London.

2014    “Europe Europe,” Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway.

            “L’heure Des Sorcieres, » Le Quartier, Puy-de-Dôme, France.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2020    Griffin, Jonathan. “To Crush Absolute: On Patrick Staff and Destroying the Institution,” Contemporary Art Review (February).

            Bennett, Alex. “With Acid, Rats, Flora: Patrick Staff,” Mousse (Winter).

            Campbell, Andy. Bound Together: Leather, Sex, Archives and Contemporary Art. Manchester University Press.

2019    Balsom, Erika, Lucy Reynolds, and Sarah Perks, eds. Artist Moving Image Since 1989. Yale University Press.

            Jacques, Juliet. “Trying to Survive on Venus,” Frieze.com (November 20).

            Sutherland, Calum. “Patrick Staff,” Artforum (October).

            Jones, Eliel. “Escape to Dreamland,” Guardian (June 27).

2018    Herman, Nick. “Patrick Staff: Hatefull to the Stomach, Harmefull to the Braine,” Brooklyn Rail (September).

2017    Smith, Giulia. “Kill or Cure?” Art Monthly (November).

            Wardell, Brandon. “Remedy and Poison,” AQNB (September).

2015    Dama, Francesco. “Queering the Tom of Finland Foundation,” Hyperallergic.com (March).

            Johanson, Francesca. “Patrick Staff,” Flash Art (October).