D. DENENGE DUYST-AKPEM
denenge.net
EDUCATION
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. MFA in Performance 2004
Smith College, Northampton, MA. BA in Studio Art 1997
Kendall College of Art & Design, Grand Rapids, MI. 1994-95
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS + PERFORMANCE + PROJECTS (* indicates solo):
Upcoming 2021
Memoirs of a…Unicorn, sculpture and set design for 2018 Bessie Award-winning production by Marjani Forté-
Saunders for Chicago premiere, MCA Chicago (anticipated Spring 2021)
2019
Dock 6 Design+Art 12, group exhibition at Dock 6 Collective curated by Dan Sullivan and Edra Soto including
works by Torkwase Dyson, Cathy Hsiao, LVL3, Chicago
New Age, New Age: Strategies for Survival, group exhibition curated by Julie Rodrigues Widholm featuring
Wan Chuku’s Mystical Yam Mounds, DePaul Art Museum, Chicago
Gold Nuggets For Us All! Site-specific sculpture to be installted at invitation of founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz,
Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington, DC
2018
*Decolonizing Mars: High Priestess of the Intergalactic Federation, Special Envoy to Mars, Library of Congress, DC
*The Ramm Riff: Constructing Future Forms with Black Light Primal Nun ‘A’, “No Guts, No Galaxy” Slide Show
Series, Rammellzee: Racing for Thunder exhibition, Red Bull Arts, NY
spore., sound performance based on sculptural score for invitational series activating Movement I, Bloom
exhibition by Cathy Hsiao, Goldfinch Gallery, Chicago
*Corpus Meum, site-specific sound installation for “Platforms Series: Architecture and Sound Panel”, The Arts Club of Chicago
The Golden Chain, voice of Yetunde for animated film by Adebukola Bodunrin and Ezra Claytan Daniels:
Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016, Whitney Museum permanent collection, NY, 2016
Ma(s)king Her, costume design for Honey Pot Performance, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, 2016
Luscious Garden for Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty curated by Camille Morgan, Hyde Park Art Center, 2015
Wan Chuku and the Mystical Yam Farm, WÁKÀTÍ:Time Shapes African Art, OSUMA, Stillwater, OK, 2015
Lake Shore Drive Residence. Condominium Renovation and Interior Design. Chicago, IL, 2014
Soundscape (for Drexciya), My Mythos, curated by Ingrid LaFleur, 11.11.11, Fe Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011
Gold Nuggets For Us All!, Art Loop Open, Hard Rock Hotel annex, Chicago, 2010
Burning Bridges (Gift #1) & The Dream (Gift #2). Xtreme Studio, A+D Gallery, Chicago, 2010
Weight of Words: Wearing, Washing, Self-Revolution exhibition, Unit B Gallery, San Antonio, TX, 2009
*Alter-Destiny 888, The LAB for performance+installation, Roger Smith Hotel, NY, 2008
Harlem School of New Social Realism, Participant, PERFORMA 07, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, 2007
*Rapunzel Revisited: An Afri-Sci-Fi Space Sea Siren Tale, 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work, MCA Chicago, 2006
Super Space Riff: An Ode to Mae Jemison & Octavia Butler, curated by Alison Peters Quinn, HPAC, Chicago, 2006
La Morena, Gallery 2, MFA Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2004
*Mutatis Mutandis, Dillard University Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA, 2003
Don’t Let Your Life Pass You By. Site-specific residential commission. Chicago and Glencoe, IL, 2001
SELECTED PANELS
2019
Panelist, 2019 Coney Family Fund, Award Selection Committee, Chicago Aritsts Coalition (CAC), Chicago
2018
Moderator, AFRICOBRA: Art for the People: A Conversation with Gerald Williams and Deva Newman, DuSable
Museum of African American History, with Southside Projections as part of Art Design Chicago
Roundtable: Contemporary Creative Practices and Design History, Chicago Design Conference, with co-panelists Tom Burtonwood, Barbara Karant, and Vernon Lockhart, facilitated by Maggie Taft, Chicago Design Conference curated by Bess Williamson and Jonathan Makinda, University of Illinois, Chicago
Moderator and Organizer, Take Root Among the Stars: Visionary Fiction and the Legacy of Octavia Butler,
with panelists A. Martine Whitehead, Chelsea Frazier, Hương Ngo, and Sami Schalk for UGDIV Prof Prac course “Take Root Among the Stars: The Legacy of Octavia Butler, Surviving the 21st Century & Beyond”
sponsored by 2018-19 Conversations on Art and Science, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Keynote Performance-Lecture, “Afro-Futurism and Time Travel” Symposium, Grey Center, University of Chicago
Panelist and Performance, “Alternative Futurisms” Becoming Interplanetary Symposium with NASA/Blumberg
Chair of Astrobiology Lucianne Walkowicz, Kluge Center at Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Nyugen Smith & D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem in Conversation, post-performance, Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, Harlem, NY
Panelist, “Post Now and Post New: Afro-Futurist Themes in Contemporary Art Practice” for In Their Own Form
exhibition curated by Sheridan Tucker Johnson, with panelists Jennifer Scott and Ingrid LaFleur, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
Platforms Series: Architecture and Sound Panel, The Arts Club of Chicago
Shape-shifting Across Disciplines: Sculpting Space and Afro-Futurism as Methodology, No Discipline Panel with Dean of Faculty Lisa Wainwright, Designed Objects Chair Tim Parsons, and Sculpture Chair Dan Price, College Art Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA
2017
Panelist, “Office Hours: Advice for Emerging Artists”, LAUNCH Invitational Residency Panel with Edra Soto,
Emanuel Aguilar (Patron Gallery), Dan Devening, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago
Panelist, “Decolonizing Art Education/Unsettling the Canon”, curated by Lisa Vinebaum, Flaxman Library
Bibliodérive with curators Eunsong Kim and Gelare Khoshogozaran of www.contemptorary.org
2016
Workshop Facilitator, “Alter-Destiny 888: Breaking the Legacy, Conjuring Futures”, With/Out ?Borders? II
Conference, curated by Dr. Lisa Brock, ARCUS Center for Social Justice Leadership, Kalamazoo College, MI
Mentor, “Mentor Meetings”, FIELD/WORK Residency, Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC), Chicago, IL
Panelist, “Women of Africobra” for “Black Arts Movement” Panel with Rebecca Zorach and Marissa Baker,
Midwest Art History Society Annual Conference, Chicago, IL
Speaker, “Afro-Futurism”, Black American History Month, Wilbur Wright College, Chicago, IL
Program Development and Panelist, Tools for Teaching, Career Development Office (now CAPX), SAIC
2015
Panelist, “Fashioning Technology: The Tactile Life of Makers”, Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty, Hyde Park Art Center
Moderated by curator Camille Morgan with Dieter Kirkwood, Taylor Hokanson, and Fo Wilson
Panelist, Sun Ra Astro-Black Mythology and Black Resistance Symposium, University of Chicago
Panelist, Afrofuturism, Regina Taylor’s stop.reset. programming for Goodman Theatre, Blue 1647
Panelist, “What Color is Nude: The Racial Future of Fashion”, Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair,
Milwaukee Art Museum, WI
2014
Panelist and Workshop Facilitator, Alter-Destiny 888, audience interactive, Black Radical Imagination and SAMI
(Students Against Mass Incarceration), Freedom Dreams…Freedom Now!, Social Justice Initiative, UIC
Speaker, “The MARS Project: Teaching Afro-Futurism as Methodology of Liberation”, Afro-Futurism & Pedagogy
Panel. Black to the Future: Black Culture Through Time and Space, Purdue University, IN
Panelist, “Voyaging the Fantastic: Afrosurrealism and Afrofuturism in Wangechi Mutu.” Wangechi Mutu:
A Fantastic Journey exhibition. Block Museum, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Virtual Introduction, Space Is The Place. Afro-Futurism film series. Watershed Art Center, Bristol, UK
Featured Speaker, “The MARS Project: Afro-Futurism as Methodology of Liberation”, WebVisions Chicago
Day-long Session Presenter, “Afro-Futurism” and “The MARS Project: Teaching Afro-Futurism as Methodology
of Liberation.” NEH Institute on Black Aesthetics and Sacred Systems. Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Speaker, “The MARS Project: Teaching Afro-Futurism as Methodology of Liberation.” WebVisions Portland (May).
SAIC Here + Now Dean’s Lecture Series: A Conversation with D. Denenge Akpem and Delinda Collier
2013
Intersectionality Critique Exchange on Afro-Futurism, with Delinda Collier, curated by Rashayla Marie Brown.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago, IL
2012
Performance-Lecture, “Constructing Future Forms: Afro-Futurism and Fashion.” Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL
Panelist, “What Color Is Nude: The Racial Future of Fashion.” Panel for Black Gossamer exhibition, moderated by
Camille Morgan. Conaway Center, Columbia College Chicago, IL and CAN-TV broadcast (March-April)
2007
Visiting Artist Presentation, Vaquera Serenade (Rise of La Cueruda Negra) with Diana Hinojosa, A+D Gallery
Artist Presentation and Community Discussion. Talking Point. Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Panelist, “Artists Who Take Initiative.” Power Tools 2 Conference, Career Development Office, SAIC, Chicago, IL
Conference Performance, La Morena, Yo Soy Chicago/I Am Chicago, curated by Coya Paz, University of Chicago
2003
Visiting Artist Lecture, Mutatis Mutandis Exhibition Lecture. Dillard University, New Orleans, LA
2002
Exhibition Panelist, Interrogating Diversity panel with Dawoud Bey and Chido Johnson. SAIC, IL
SELECTED PRESS + INTERVIEWS
2018
Rockett, Darcel. “Octavia Butler exhibit pushes students to showcase their visionary muscles.” Chicago Tribune.
December 12, 2018. Web.
Samuels Gibbs, Adrienne. “Stars Align for D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem.” SAIC Alumni News. Nov. 27, 2018. Web.
Nwangwa, Shirley. “One State to Another: Performance in Harlem Delves into Masquerade Tradition at Carnival”
review of Schomburg performance and conversation with Nyugen Smith. ArtNews. June 28, 2018. Web.
Bartels, Meghan. “Should We Colonize Space? Some People Argue We Need to Decolonize It Instead”, feature
Newsweek Tech and Science. May 25, 2018. Web.
Dozier, Rob. “Four Thoughts on the Future of Afrofuturism.” The Outline. June 2018. Web.
Ridell, Sam. Featured interviewee for Afro-Futurism video series. Inverse NY. March. Web.
Greig, Sabrina. “Chicago Artists+Archives Project: An Interview with D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem.” Sixty. Feb. Web.
2016
Anderson, Reynaldo. Listed in “Afrofuturism 2.0 and the Black Speculative Art Movement: Notes on a
Manifesto” Afrofutures UK Afro-Futurism series for How We Get To Next. (January)
“Sculpting Space as Methodology of Liberation: An Interview with D. Denenge Akpem” for Florence Okoye
Afrofutures UK Afro-Futurism series for “How We Get To Next.” January 30. Web.
2013
“Afro-Futurism.”Interview with Audra Wilson. Vocalo, WBEZ. September. Radio.
Featured interviewee. Ytasha Womack Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Print.
2012
“Black to the Future.” Interview with Tempestt Hazel Sixty Inches From Center. June. Web.
2011
Akpem, D. Denenge. Featured faculty profile. Harambee magazine, Columbia College. Fall 2011. Print.
2010
“Interview with D. Denenge Akpem.” Interview with Ytasha Womack. Post-Black: The Blog. Web.
2009
Judson, Ben. “Self-Revolution” exhibition review of Weight of Words. Glasstire.com. October. Web.
Macarena-Avila, Jesus. “La Llorona: The Weeping Woman. Intersections, Columbia College. Fall 2009. Print.
Wang, Jean. “Interview with ArtPrize Artists” MLive Blog, The Grand Rapids Press. Sept. 29, 2009. Web.
2008
Keeler, Stuart. “Service Media: Community as Collaborator.” Public Art Review, Vol. 19, No. 2, Issue 38, 2008.
Interview with Ayanna Jolivet McCloud and cover image from Vaquera Serenade, POLVO Summer 2008. Print.
2007
Chavis, Blair. Feature and interview about Vaquera Serenade. Chicago Public Radio, WBEZ. Fall 2007. Radio. Web.
Robertson, Cory. Vaquera Serenade (Rise of La Cueruda Negra). Newcity review. Oct. 29-Nov. 4, 2007. Print.
2006
“Takeover.” Interview with HPAC Curator Allison Peters. CAN TV21. April-June, 2006. Television.
A:LIST, listing in online forum, project of the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. Web.
“Glowing Tentacles, Anyone? Rapunzel Revisited” The List. Chicago Reader. June 2, 2006. Print.
Visual Art Selection of the Week: D. Denenge Akpem Rapunzel Revisited. FLAVORPILL. June 13, 2006. Web.
Hawkins, Margaret. “Breaking Boundaries: Hyde Park Art Center’s…” Chicago Sun Times. May 6, 2006. Print.
Stabler, Bert. Top Ten 2006 Exhibitions: Rapunzel Revisited: An Afri-sci-fi Space Sea Siren Tale at Museum of
Contemporary Art. Chicago Reader’s Best Of 2006 issue. Fall 2006. Print.
Wilk, Deborah. “New Art Examiners…Curators Anoint a Few Rising Stars.” Chicago Magazine. May 2006. Print.
2004
La Morena. Photo and text featured in the Performance Art issue. POLVO newsmagazine. Fall 2004. Print.
2002
Heidel, Michele. “The Color of Art: Interrogating Diversity at Betty Rymer Gallery.” F News. March 2002. Print.
2000
Byle, Ann. “Exhibit Reveals a Tale of Two Cultures.” The Grand Rapids Press. July 27, 2000. Print.
Steil, Michelle. “Family Ties.” The Paper. July 27-August 2, 2000. Print.
PUBLICATIONS + FEATURED ARTWORK IN PUBLICATIONS*
2020
Afrofuturity 2020. Artist’s book/text of essays and art, anticipated publication 2020. Print.
Mercy, Mercy Me: The Afro-Futurist Ecology. Volume for Art after Nature series edited by Caroline Picard and
Giovanni Aloi, University of Minnesota Press (anticipated publication 2020-21). Print.
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor. Afro-Futurist multi-media interactive artist’s book in collaboration with Pixel
Fable, Senongo Akpem, anticipated publication 2020-21. Print. Web.
Essay for monograph on the work of Africobra co-founder Jae Jarrell, Kavi Gupta Gallery, anticipated 2020. Print.
2019
“N’Vest-ing in the People: The Art of Jae Jarrell” catalogue essay via Kavi Gupta Gallery for AFRICOBRA: Nation
Time, 58th Venice Biennale, May 11-November 24, 2019, Venice, Italy.
“Sister Moon: A Lunar Poetic in X Stanzas”, exhibition essay for 50th anniversary of moon landing, curated by
Cathérine Hug, Kunsthaus Zurich, 2019.
*Crawford, Romi. Fleeting Monuments for the Wall of Respect. Chicago: Green Lantern Press, 2018. Work
featured: Mnemonic Studies: Mountains, Yam Mounds and Spaceships. Full color. Print.
2018
“Decolonizing Mars in the Afrofuturist Ecology.” Essay for Sixty Inches From Center, October 25, 2018. Web.
*Theaster Gates: How to Build a House Museum. Exhbition publication. Art Gallery of Ontario, 2018. Work
featured: inviational writing and work on paper from 2017 exhibition. Full color. Print.
*Cooper Cafritz, Peggy. Fired Up! Ready to Go!: Finding Beauty, Demanding Equity: An African American Life in
Art. The Collections of Peggy Cooper Cafritz. New York: Rizzoli Electa, 2018. Full color. Print.
2017
“Pedagogy. Place. Liberation.” Place Lab Salon Sessions. Essay on Ethical Redevelopment Principle #3:
Pedagogical Moments. January 26, 2017. Web. June 22, 2017. Print.
2016
“Sculpting Space as Methodology of Liberation: An Interview with D. Denenge Akpem” writing core interview text
for Florence Okoye, Afrofutures UK Afro-Futurism series for How We Get To Next. January 30. Web.
*Okoye, Florence. Featured soundworks in “Space Is the Place: A Crash Course in the Sounds of Afrofuturism”
Afrofutures UK Afro-Futurism series for How We Get To Next. (January)
2012
“Constructing Future Forms: Afro-Futurism and Fashion, Part One and Part Two.” Chicago Art Magazine.com.
Featured articles, February 1 and February 8, 2012. Web.
2011
“Are You Ready To Alter Your Destiny? Chicago and Afro-Futurism, Part One and Part Two.” Chicago Art
Magazine.com. Feature articles, July 2 and 7, 2011. Web.
*Tate, Greg, and LaTasha Diggs, eds. COO(n+) BIDNESS/SO4, Super Space Riff backdrop, premier issue. Print.
2010
Studio Chicago. Featured Artist Blogger for Xtreme Chicago city-wide series. July, 2010. Web.
2008
*POLVO newsmagazine, cover image from Vaquera Serenade (Rise of La Cueruda Negra). Summer 2008. Print.
2006
“Sweetest Day: Fiscal Flop or Secret Success?” The Business of Holidays, Lavin, Maud, editor. New York: Monacelli Press, 2004. Print.
*Adler, Tony. “Random Sky: Art Attack: Hyde Park Art Center.” Full page photo of Super Space Riff: An Ode to
Mae Jemison and Octavia Butler in VIII Stanzas. i4design Magazine. Fall 2006. Print.
COMMISSIONS: DESIGN + ARTIST COLLABORATIONS
2019
Assistance to AFRICOBRA co-founder Jae Jarrell on AFRICOBRA work for Toronto Biennale
2018
Assistance to AFRICOBRA co-founder Jae Jarrell on Smart Museum garment art acquisition for The Time Is Now!
Gold Nuggets For Us All! Site-specific sculpture to be installted at invitation of founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz
at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington, DC (upcoming)
2014 (date completed)
Lake Shore Drive Residence. Condominium Renovation and Interior Design. Chicago, IL
2012
Winter Wonderland Wedding Design: Ceremony & Reception Spaces. Mid-America Club, Chicago, IL
2011
i.c.stars, Inc. Interior Design. Commercial Headquarters, River North, Chicago, IL
South Shore Brownstone. Interior Design Consultation and Design Recipe. Residential. Chicago, IL
Edgewater Residence. Interior and Closet Design Consultation. Residential. Chicago, IL
2010-2014
Bronzeville Beauty Residences. Interior Design. Residential. Bronzeville, Chicago, IL
2009
Argyle Residence. Interior Design. Uptown-Andersonville, Chicago, IL
2004
The Motherboard. Commission. Interactive Sculpture for Stakeholders Conference, i.c.stars, Chicago, IL
Corporate Law Office Re-design. Interior Design. Attorney’s Office, O’Melveny & Myers, Washington, DC
2001
Don’t Let Your Life Pass You By. Residential Commission. Site-specific Sculpture. Chicago and Glencoe, IL
GRANTS + AWARDS
2018
Marion Kryczka Excellence in Teaching Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Faculty Enrichment Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (April)
2017
Faculty Enrichment Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (April)
2016
Diversity Advisory Group Inaugural Teaching Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, SAIC (May)
Faculty Enrichment Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (April)
Part-Time Faculty Development Grant, CiTE, Columbia College Chicago (February)
2014
Part-Time Faculty Development Grants, CiTE, Columbia College Chicago (April and October)
2014
Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Black Aesthetics and Sacred Systems, Directed by
Paul Carter Harrison, Dr. Candy Tate, Dr. Pellom McDaniels, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. July 2014.
3Arts Award 2012 Nominee, 3Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL
Critical Encounters 2011-12 Mini-Grant for “From Colony to Nation Time: Spooks, Censors and Sam Greenlee’s
The Spook Who Sat By The Door” with African American Cultural Affairs, HHSS, Columbia College Chicago
2010
Illinois Arts Council (IAC) Professional Development Grant
Neighborhood Arts Program Grant (NAP), Young Women’s LeadershipCharter School, DCASE, Chicago.
Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP), Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Center for Community Arts Partnerships (CCAP) Grant for Service Learning “Black Arts Movement” course
2008
Part-time Faculty Development Grant, CiTE, Columbia College Chicago, for Alter-Destiny 888
2007
Illinois Arts Council (IAC) Finalist Award
Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP), Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
2004
Anna Louise Raymond Juried MFA Fellowship Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2003 & 2002
Connecting Communities Leadership Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Marion Parry Travel Grant (Committee Award), School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1997
Gardner Prize in American Studies, Smith College American Studies Department, Northampton, MA
SELECTED TEACHING
Assistant Professor, Adjunct, Deptartment of Art History, Theory and Criticism, SAIC, 2014-Present
Courses newly developed and taught include: Afro-Futurism: Pathways to Black Liberation; Power to the People: Revolution and the Black Arts Movement; Survey of African Art; Ritual Art Performance in the African Diaspora; Take Root Among The Stars: The Legacy of Octavia Butler, Surviving the 21st Century & Beyond; Superhero Self
Faculty, Low-Residency MFA Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2016-Present
Courses include: Perception final art history course created and offered (2016-2019) for first graduating cohort Summer 2016 at invitation of Director Gregg Bordowitz; Sculpting Space: Design, Architecture, and Sacred Systems in Africa and the Diaspora (offered Spring 2017, 2018); Graduate Studio Seminar (2017-present)
Columbia College Chicago, Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences, Chicago, IL, 2006-2016
Visiting Guest Lecturer, 2010-Present for courses including: Experimental 3D: NextNature (Marlena Novak, AIADO, SAIC); Black Women’s Experiences (Misty DeBerry, DePaul); Advanced Dance (Darrell Jones, Columbia College)
RELATED EXPERIENCE: TRAVEL
Born and raised primarily in Nigeria: Mkar, Benue State and Jos, Plateau State
Resided in: Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Washington, DC, Chicago, IL
Travel and study in: Cuba, France, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Turkey, United States
Anticipated travel to: Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Antarctica, International Space Station (or other interstellar)