Alumnus Derick Whitson ‘17 in Solo Exhibition ‘Sugar (Chapter II)’

By
Brittany Nguyen
April 02, 2021

Kaiser Gallery presents Sugar (Chapter II), a solo exhibition featuring alumnus Derick Whitsons ’17,  in Cleveland, Ohio. This follows after Whitson’s show Sissy Boys Only (Chapter I)

Whitson’s work continues to explore the status of the gendered form and answer associations created as a fetishized object in performance through cultural affiliations. Standards of social media implications and social contemporary photographic platforms are celebrated, critiqued, and questioned as he continues to produce staged imagery that’s in communication with historical platforms of portrait image making.

Whitson is an artist currently living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Working primarily in photography and video, Whitson explores the history and relationships of clowning, drag queens and black/white face to explore the social constructs of race, gender, and sexuality. He works within the realms of Photography, Video & Performance.

The exhibition opens up for view on June 12th and will remain open until August 8, 2021. 

Whitson earned his MFA at Columbia University and BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design. Working within the realms of Photography, Video & Performance. Whitson’s work has been published in Miami New TimesHuffington PostThe Advocate Magazine, and Photo-Emphasis. Whitson has participated in many residencies across the US, including programs at Mass MoCA, The Fountainhead (Miami), and the AICAD/New York Studio Residency Program. Whitson is also a current recipient of the Foundation For Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, the 2019 Enfoco Photography Fellowship, and The 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Photography Fellowship.