Kris Graves ’04
Kris Graves ’04 is an artist and publisher based in New York and California.
A photo by Graves was featured on the cover of National Geographic’s 2020 Year in Pictures issue.
Graves creates artwork that deals with societal problems and aims to use art as a means to inform people about cultural issues. Using a mix of conceptual and documentary practices, Graves photographs the subtleties of societal power and its impact on the built environment.
He explores how capitalism and power have shaped countries—and how that can be seen and experienced in everyday life. Graves also works to elevate the representation of people of color in the fine art canon; and to create opportunities for conversation about race, representation, and urban life. He photographs to preserve memory.
Graves has been published and exhibited globally, including Museum of Modern Art, New York; Getty Institute, Los Angeles; and National Portrait Gallery in London, England; among others. Permanent collections include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Getty Institute, Schomburg Center, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Brooklyn Museum; and The Wedge Collection, Toronto; amongst others.
Graves founded MONOLITH EDITIONS, a Black-owned publishing house dedicated to showcasing work from artists of color across mediums that address issues of race, identity, equity, gender, sexuality, and class.
Graves also sits on the board of Blue Sky Gallery: Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, Portland; and The Architectural League of New York as Vice President of Photography.
Collections
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Canaday Library, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
The Wedge Collection, Toronto, Canada
Residencies
2019 Artist in Residence, Light Work, Syracuse, New York
Awards
2017 Anne Wilkes Tucker Young Photographers Endowment, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
2017 Aperture Portfolio Prize Shortlist, Aperture Foundation, New York
2015 Juror’s Selection, Center Forward 2015, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
Exhibitions / Performances
Solo / Two-Person Exhibitions
2020
TBD, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Testament Project, Austin Central Library, Texas
2019
Testaments, Peddie School, New Jersey
2017
The Testament Project, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
The Testament Project, Art on Paper X Sasha Wolf Projects, New York, New York
2016
The Testament Project, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania
The Testament Project, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
The Testament Project, NorteMaar, Brooklyn, New York
The Testament Project, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2013
Discovered Missing, Pocket Utopia, New York
2012
Permanence, Pocket Utopia, New York
2011
Second Nature w/ Kared Rudd, Baang & Burne Contemporary, New York
2010
A Queens Affair w/ Eric Hairabedian, Farmani Gallery, New York