Kim Abeles

Kim Victoria Abeles
Born	(1952-08-28) August 28, 1952 Richmond Heights, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Multidisciplinary artist, professor emeritus
Years active	1980s–present
Known for	Activist art, feminist art

Kim Victoria Abeles (born August 28, 1952) is a multidisciplinary American artist and holds the title of professor emeritus. Originating from Richmond Heights, Missouri, she currently resides in Los Angeles. Renowned as an activist artist, Abeles creates works that intertwine objects with the social and political struggles they symbolize, drawing attention to contemporary issues. She is also acclaimed for her contributions to feminist art. Her exhibitions have spanned 22 nations, and she has been honored with notable awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. Between 1998 and 2009, Abeles instructed courses in public art, sculpture, and drawing at California State University, Northridge, earning emerita status in 2010.

Early life and education

Kim Victoria Abeles was born in Richmond Heights, Missouri and spent part of her formative years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an experience that influenced her piece The Smog Collector. Growing up amid Pittsburgh's steel industry and relocating to the smog-laden environment of Los Angeles in 1978 informed her artistic focus on urban and environmental concerns. By 1980, the existence of sweatshops near her Los Angeles studio further shaped her commitment to art rooted in tangible social realities. She identifies herself as a "concept seeker" and "object maker," as reflected in works like Smog Collectors.

Abeles obtained a BFA degree in painting from Ohio University and completed a MFA in studio art at the University of California, Irvine in 1980. Her thesis explored Shingon Buddhism, incorporating constructions featuring kimono. Art critics associate her early creations with the California assemblage movement pioneered by artists such as Edward Kienholz and Wallace Berman, citing Kienholz's The State Hospital as a significant influence.

Work

Abeles employs a variety of media including recycled materials, drawing, multimedia installations, sculpture, and experimental techniques. Her creative process is deeply research-driven, involving thorough immersion into each subject prior to creation. She characterizes her art as emerging from urban experiences that document both historical and current social issues through sculptural and installation forms. Starting with an initial concept or individual, she delves into the topic extensively before producing work that serves as a poetic visual expression.

Her oeuvre tackles social and environmental themes such as HIV/AIDS, pollution, gender dynamics, domestic abuse, feminism, civil rights, and labor concerns. Utilizing humor and metaphor, Abeles explores these topics with a primary emphasis on civil rights, feminism, and environmental matters. Through diverse media and inventive methods, she fuses activism with artistic aesthetics.

Collaborative work

Abeles has collaborated with educational institutions and art organizations including The Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati, Community Arts Resource in Santa Monica, Orange County Museum of Art Teen Council, the California Science Center, and the CU Museum of Natural History in Boulder. Significant partnerships involve the Bureau of Automotive Repair, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, and the Lakota Indian communities of South Dakota.

Additionally, she has engaged with agencies focused on pollution management, museums, and healthcare clinics to promote awareness on various social issues.

The Smog Collector

In 1987, Abeles' project titled Smog Collector attracted widespread attention both nationally and globally, receiving coverage from outlets such as Newsweek, National Public Radio, CBS Evening News, and The Wall Street Journal. After relocating to her Los Angeles studio and witnessing the pervasive smog, she devised a method involving stencils and adhesives to capture particulate matter from the air, forming meaningful visual representations. This initiative was sparked by her activism against a nearby factory releasing formaldehyde. Abeles remains actively engaged in expanding this body of work.

Her artistic journey in this series is chronicled in the publication Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020.

To Sit As Ladder (In Honor of Rosa Parks)

Focusing on human rights themes, Abeles incorporates portraits that merge text, cartographic elements, sketches, and objects. Her 1991 sculptural piece, To Sit As Ladder (In Honor of Rosa Parks), presents a chair inscribed with text narrating the life story of Rosa Parks.

HIV/AIDS Tarot

Abeles created a set of HIV/AIDS Tarot cards that integrate imagery with textual content to explore the social and medical challenges surrounding AIDS. Only seven cards were produced in both English and Spanish, which were utilized during a 1992 public health initiative in Los Angeles.

The Golden Mile

The Golden Mile is an expansive 120-foot photographic installation located in the United Kingdom, showcasing images taken between 2003 and 2006 that reflect perspectives from both East and West. This project received support from Arts Council England, West Midlands, and The Public.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights era, Abeles developed installations featuring bronze replicas of King's work boots alongside photographs depicting footwear worn by various activists. Exhibited at prominent intersections throughout Los Angeles, this series is influenced by Xernona Clayton’s collection of shoes from peace march participants.

Pearls of Wisdom: End the Violence

Commissioned by the nonprofit organization A Window Between Worlds (AWBW), Abeles collaborated with 800 survivors of domestic violence who crafted pearls that embody their personal narratives. Employing materials such as mylar paper, yarn, bandages, fiber optic cables, paint, and individual "irritants," the project focuses on empowerment through healing rather than victimization. Abeles portrays these women as resilient figures whose beauty emerges through recovery instead of trauma.

Citizen Seeds

Citizen Seeds is a permanent public artwork installed in 2020 along the Playa to Park trail, funded by Los Angeles County Arts & Culture. The installation features seed sculptures made from diverse media that symbolize community bonds, environmental themes, and local stories.

Exhibitions

Abeles has presented her work across twenty-two countries including Vietnam, Thailand, the Czech Republic, England, China, and South Korea. Her pieces have been displayed at institutions such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Museum of Arts and Design in New York; National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro; and Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco. She has also represented the United States at Fotografie Biennale Rotterdam and at Antwerp’s Cultural Centre of Berchem.

In 1993, she debuted Kim Abeles: Encyclopedia Persona A-Z, an exhibition curated by Karen Moss at the Santa Monica Museum of Art and sponsored by The Fellows of Contemporary Art alongside the United States Information Agency throughout South America.

Her Encyclopedia Persona exhibition at Santa Monica Museum of Art featured an extensive retrospective spanning fifteen years with eighty works including sculptures, installations, and artist books.

While recognized internationally, Abeles frequently showcases her art within various neighborhoods across Los Angeles—such as Downtown LA, Highland Park, Glendale, Pasadena, and Santa Monica—selecting locations thoughtfully to engage local communities on pressing social matters. This strategy reflects her activist approach aimed at fostering change beginning at the grassroots level.

List of Solo Exhibitions

Within the past five years, Abeles has showcased her work in the following solo exhibitions:

• Nicholas and Lee Begovich Gallery at California State University Fullerton (2021)
• Community Room, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California (2018)
• Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California (2017)
• Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk during the LA Art Show at the Convention Center, Los Angeles, California (2017)
• Seaver Gallery, Marlborough School, Los Angeles PØST, Los Angeles, California (2016)

Awards

Abeles's accolades include prestigious honors such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, grants from the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, recognition by the California Community Foundation, and awards from the California Arts Council.

External links

• Figure/Ground interview with Kim Abeles, dated December 6, 2013