Weekly Artist Feature | Sanford Biggers

Sanford Biggers is a contemporary interdisciplinary artist whose work spans film, video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance. By blending diverse media, he challenges established narratives and explores the complexities of history, culture, and identity. Biggers' art invites viewers to reconsider traditional symbols and beliefs, fostering dialogue and reflection

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Sanford Biggers (born September 1970) is an American interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans installation, film, sculpture, drawing, performance, and music. Born in Los Angeles, California, Biggers is currently based in New York City, where he also teaches at Columbia University. His work is known for weaving together spiritual, historical, and cultural narratives, often confronting the complexities of American history and Black identity.

Drawing on a wide range of influences—from hip-hop and Buddhism to Afrofuturism and quilting traditions—Biggers creates layered artworks that challenge viewers to reconsider established truths. His evocative use of materials and symbolism opens space for dialogue about memory, trauma, and transformation. Biggers’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, solidifying his place as a vital voice in contemporary art.

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Click here to learn more about the artist →

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Highlights:

• He earned a BA from Morehouse College and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
• He was a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin and later at the Studio Museum in Harlem
• In 2020, he was commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation to create Oracle, a monumental sculpture installed at the entrance of Rockefeller Center.
• He received the 2017 Rome Prize in Visual Arts and has been honored with awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and Creative Capital.
• His work has been shown in major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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Click the link to learn more about Sanford Biggers‍and his work through his website and Instagram account

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Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

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• "Unsui (Cloud Forest), 2025" – Rhode Island, USA (February 2025 – December 2025)
• "A Tesseract, A Talisman" – David Castillo Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA (March 20 – June 14, 2025)
• "Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics" – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California, USA

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Selected Past Exhibitions

• "Sanford Biggers: Of many waters…" – Orange County Museum of Art, California, USA (2022)
• "Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch" – The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA (2020–2021)
• "Sanford Biggers: Soft Truths" – Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, USA (2020)
• "Sanford Biggers: Selah" – Marianne Boesky Gallery Art, New York, USA (2017)
• "Sanford Biggers: Shuffle, Shake – Everson Museum"  – Urban Video Project (UVP) and Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, USA
• "Sweet Funk – An Introspective" – Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA (2011-2012)

Artworks