KHALEB BROOKS
Iris Project Resident: Nov. 5th - Nov. 17th, 2022
Meet-and-Greet Nov. 11th, 5pm - 7pm
@ The Douglas
1400 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Echo Park, CA
Khaleb Brooks is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and writer exploring storytelling as a means of healing collective trauma. By meshing the black queer figure with surreal environments in paintings, using printmaking to question the politics of desire and counteracting archival perspectives through sculpture they explore modes of resistance in liminal spaces. Their most recent exhibition Jupiter's Song at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool was based on a year long research project with a special focus on the middle passage. Using the museums archives they offered large cowrie vessels, representing the sinister relationships between body and object and offering a final resting place for formerly unacknowledged souls.
Prior to working as an artist full time, Khaleb was an international development practitioner working with the United Nations and a multitude of NGOs throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia. They consistently seek innovative ways to bring their passion for social justice to the creative sector. Khaleb, originally from Chicago is inspired by the perseverance of black families in overcoming poverty, addiction, abuse and gang violence as well as their own experiences of being transgender.