Chaédria LaBouvier

Chaédria LaBouvier (born July 5, 1985)[1][2] is an American curator and journalist. In 2019, LaBouvier became the first black woman to curate a solo exhibition for the Guggenheim and write a text for the museum. Her criticism of the museum led to them hiring their first full-time black curator in the same year.

Chaédria LaBouvier
Born1984/1985 (age 34–35)
U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationCurator
Journalist
Years active2007-present

Early life and education

LaBouvier was born in the United States. Her mother is Collette Flanagan, former IBM executive and founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality.[3][4] Her younger brother, Clinton Allen, was killed by Dallas police in March 2013.[5]

In 2007, LaBouvier received a B.A. in history from Williams College.[6] In 2014, she earned a masters of fine arts degree in screenwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[7]

Career

In November 2015, LaBouvier was hired by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as the first black woman in the history of the Guggenheim to organize a solo exhibition.[2] The exhibition, "Basquiat's Defacement: The Untold Story," opened in 2019 and covered not only Basquiat's work, but also the history of Michael Stewart, whose alleged death from police brutality inspired the painting, The Death of Michael Stewart.[8] Other paintings by Basquiat on the theme of police brutality and art featuring Stewart by Keith Haring, George Condo and Lyle Ashton Harris were also included in the exhibition.[9] The focus of the show on Stewart and the struggle of black men living in the United States set the show apart from other exhibitions on Basquiat according to WNYC.[10] The show ran for five months and had thousands of visitors.[11]

LaBouvier's interest in Jean-Michel Basquiat began at age 18, when she first began to research the artist.[9]

LaBouvier is also the first black author to write a text published by the museum.[12] After criticism from LaBouvier, the Guggenheim hired their first full-time black curator, Ashley James, in 2019.[11][13]

LaBouvier also works as a journalist and is an activist.[8][14] She has written for Elle, Refinery 29, New York Magazine, Allure and Vice.[7]

Personal life

LaBouvier is co-parenting her brother's twin sons.[15]

References
  1. LaBouvier, Chaédria (7 July 2016). "For Black Women, For Mourning and Expecting More From Whiteness". Medium.
  2. Mitter, Siddhartha (30 July 2019). "Behind Basquiat's 'Defacement': Reframing a Tragedy". The New York Times.
  3. "Claiming Williams: A Day of Learning". Williams Magazine. Spring 2015.
  4. "About Our Founder". Mothers Against Police Brutality. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. Munemo, Julia (9 April 2015). "Challenging Police Brutality". Williams College.
  6. "Getting a Read On: Basquiat and Black Lives Matter". Williams College Museum of Art. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  7. "Chaédria LaBouvier". Duke Forum for Scholars and Publics. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  8. McDonald, John (31 August 2019). "Death of an Artist". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via EBSCOhost.
  9. McClinton, Dream (2019-06-28). "Defacement: The Tragic Story of Basquiat's Most Personal Painting". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  10. Solomon, Deborah (28 June 2019). "Review: A Better Basquiat Show". WNYC. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  11. Greig, Jonathan (19 November 2019). "Blavity News & Politics". Blavity News & Politics. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  12. "Chaédria LaBouvier". The Root. 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  13. Kai, Maiysha (18 November 2019). "Amid Criticism and Controversy, the Guggenheim Museum Hires Its First Full-Time Black Curator". The Root. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  14. Myers, Megan Jeanette (2019). Mapping Hispaniola : Third Space in Dominican and Haitian Literature. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. p. 143. ISBN 0-8139-4309-4. OCLC 1090707115 – via Project MUSE.
  15. LaBouvier, Chaédria (15 June 2017). "I Became A "Parent" After My Brother Was Killed By Police". Refinery29.
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