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Brendan Fernandes, born in Nairobi, Kenya 1979. Currently based in Chicago, his practice addresses issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest, andother forms of collective movement. Constantly seeking to create new spaces and forms of agency, Fernandes’work often takes on hybrid forms: part ballet, part queer dance party, part political protest always rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity.
Fernandes is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program (2007) and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Robert Rauschenberg Residency Fellowship (2014), a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2020), an Artadia Award(2019), a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant (2019), and most recently, the PlatformAward (2024). In 2024, he was also honored with the Creative Voice Award by Arts Alliance Illinois. His work has been presented at prestigious venues such as the 2019 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum ofContemporary Art Chicago, Chicago; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; theNational Gallery of Canada,Ottawa; and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, MAC;among many others.
Fernandes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art,Theory, and Practice at Northwestern University. He is represented by Monique MelocheGallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York. Recent and upcoming projectsinclude performances and solo presentations at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis,MO; the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO; the Fabric Workshop andMuseum, Philadelphia, PA; and Prospect.6, New Orleans, LA. In spring 2026, a major newcommission and solo exhibition will debut at the Driehaus Museum in Chicago.
