Trained as a sculptor, Kaino came of age in the late 1980s – early 1990s, at the height of the culture wars. Working closely with teachers and mentors who at the time were engaged in a critically important reevaluation about the role of identity and politics in contemporary art, Kaino emerged as a member of the first generation of artists of color in the U.S. to begin to consider the ways through which contemporary art could be responsive to the conceptual turn while remaining faithful to the political project of artists and activists of prior decades.[2]
Early career
Developing his practice at the height of the Internet boom, Kaino began to explore ideas of systems as a way to bring distinct wisdoms and knowledge forms into the language of contemporary art. Informed by the process of kitbashing, akin to a model-maker's process of reassembling standard models and structures into new and innovative forms, Kaino began to approach his sculptural process as a form of conceptual kit-bashing—appropriating the languages, logics, production processes, and value systems of various fields of study to apply them to his artistic process as a way to consolidate improbable materials.[3]
Artwork
Kaino's work ranges across a wide range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, video, and performance.
Kaino's most well-known works include Desktop Operations, a large-scale sand castle structure he debuted at the 2004 Whitney Biennial;[4]In Revolution, a kinetic sculptural illusion encompassing a rapidly spinning Aeron chair that unveils the image of a chalice as it rotates inside its incubator;[5]Untitled (Reverse Inverse Ninja Law), a large-scale levitating hammer sculpture made from thousands of small Zapatista dolls made through a collaboration with Zapatista activists in Chiapas;[6]The Burning Boards, a sculptural moment first shown at the Whitney Museum at Altria that encompasses a chess tournament played with burning candles; Safe, a sculpture made from amassed secrets[clarification needed] that visualizes secrecy in material form;[7]Arch, a large-scale sculpture commissioned by the City of Pittsburgh and the Heinz Endowment;[8] and In Every Grain, a sculptural environment in which he used air and sand to construct an ephemeral and temporary city-like sculpture for the US Pavilion at the 13th International Cairo Biennale in 2013, where he represented the US.[9]
Kaino's most recent installation, Sails, was commissioned for Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, to be opened in August 2024.[10]
In addition to his studio practice, Kaino has collaborated with a wide range of organizations and companies on creative projects. An expansion of his ongoing interest in finding platforms in which art and creativity expand beyond the boundaries of the cultural institution, Kaino has worked with Universal Music Group on Farmclub.com and Napster 2.0.[13]
Kaino has also helped create various experimental venues to support the work of other artists. Working with collaborators Daniel Joseph Martinez, Rolo Castillo, and Tracey Shiffman, Kaino co-founded the seminal artist-run gallery Deep River in Los Angeles in 1997.[14] Throughout its five years of existence, it was a beacon for artists and experimental practices in Los Angeles. Kaino was also a founding board member of LA><ART[15] and more recently he created the performance art duo A.Bandit with magician Derek DelGaudio.[16]
Represented the US at the 13th annual Cairo Biennale, which ran from December 2012 to February 2013.[27]
Personal life
Glenn Kaino is married to fashion designer Corey Lynn Calter. They live in Los Angeles with their two daughters, Stella and Sadie, along with their dogs, Gilbert and Winston.[28]
References
^"Glenn Akira Kaino". Studio Museum in Harlem. March 27, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
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