Jacolby Satterwhite Is Going Public

How does a busy artist get the job done? Amid a demanding appearance and performance schedule, artist Jacolby Satterwhite works to finish his latest animation, Reifying Desire 6 (2014), in time for the 2014 Whitney Biennial. In the window of the Recess workspace in Soho, Satterwhite dances in a silver catsuit, enticing passers-by to perform in front of a green screen for a new video work.

With upcoming projects and performances at Art Basel Miami and Sundance New Frontier, Satterwhite describes this particularly challenging time in his professional life: “Knowing when to stop, knowing when to say no, it’s just all these rules that aren’t written down for you, and you have to figure it out for to yourself through trial and error.” On top of his pre-existing commitments, Satterwhite is invited by curator Stuart Comer to be part of the prestigious, career-defining Whitney Biennial exhibition. With less than three months to finish his longest animation to date, Satterwhite goes into creative hyperdrive at his Lower Manhattan Cultural Council studio in the Financial District.

Satterwhite maintains a Red Bull-fueled, 24/7 work schedule, pausing only to sleep on this studio floor and completing his new work the day before the opening. With its intricately-wrought digital landscapes and elaborate personal symbology, Satterwhite hopes Biennial viewers recognize the deep-seated formalism underlying the “impulsive perversions and strangeness” of Reifying Desire 6 (2014). After the adrenaline rush and press attention of the Biennial opening, Satterwhite is back at work in his Lower Manhattan Cultural Council studio, laboring on yet another computer-intensive project.

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