b. 1972, United States

Glenn Kaino Biography

Known for his collaborative projects with prominent cultural figures like Tommie Smith, Jesse Williams, and John Cage, artist Glenn Kaino takes a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporary issues.

Read More

Early Career

Los Angeles-born, Glenn Kaino attended the University of California, completing a BA at Irvine in 1993 and an MFA at San Diego in 1996. The following year, he co-founded Deep River, a foundational artist-run space in Los Angeles.

Other contributions to shaping the Los Angeles art scene followed as Kaino became a founding board member of LAXART in 2005, and later co-founded Active Cultures, the first cultural institution dedicated to the synergy of art and food.

Collaborative Activism

Geared towards responding to pressing social, political, and environmental issues, Glenn Kaino works in a collaborative manner across multiple fields of art. Among his artistic output are paintings, sculpture, monumental installations, performance, and feature films.

Influences of Arte Povera and Conceptualism feed into his work, as well as a fascination with history, contemporary culture, science, and the fruits of collaborative partnerships.

A key part of Kaino's practice has been long-term partnerships with a variety of musicians, composers, scientists, magicians, athletes, and actors, among others.

For nearly a decade, Kaino has collaborated with former athlete and civil rights icon Tommie Smith. Their collaboration led to various exhibitions and artworks, including Bridge (2013), a 30-metre-long installation made with multiple casts of Smith's arm raised in the iconic fist he made at the 1968 Olympics, and Invisible Man (Salute) (2018), a monument that simultaneously references and renders invisible that same moment through a life-size silhouette with a mirrored surface.

In 2016, Kaino began a long-term technological collaboration with actor and activist Jesse Williams, creating anti-colonial interventions by developing mobile games, apps, and other forms of cultural production.

Performance

Glenn Kaino's performance works are based on collaborative action. For Burning Boards (2007), Kaino invited artists, curators, writers, and chess masters to the Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria for a chess tournament. Playing with lit candles as chess pieces, meaning in the work came from the players finding common cause in overcoming the third opponent: time. The format has since been repeated multiple times, including at the Chess Hall of Fame.

Together with magician Derek DelGaudio, Kaino also co-founded A.Bandit, an experimental performance art collective that marries performance art practices and magic.

Sculpture

Collaborating with the elements, Glenn Kaino also produces sculptural installations that play on natural phenomena. For the 2021 installation Tidepools (2021), Glenn Kaino presents cloud chambers in which atmospheric particles are made visible. A theme in many of the artist's less overly activist works, the process of making the invisible visible ties back to Kaino's intent to shine a light on marginalised peoples and issues.

Public Art

A creator of large-scale temporary and permanent works, Glen Kaino has worked on several commissions for public spaces. In 2008, he unveiled Arch, a monumental public sculpture that commemorates the 250th anniversary of the City of Pittsburgh—now permanently installed at Pittsburgh International Airport. In 2021, Kaino received two large public art grants from the city of Los Angeles for projects at the city's MTA LAX Metro Connector and 6th Street Viaduct.

Exhibitions

Glenn Kaino's solo exhibitions include In the Light of a Shadow, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), North Adams (2021); Glenn Kaino: A Shout Within a Storm, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2017); Glenn Kaino: 19.83, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2014); Safe | Vanish, LAXART, Los Angeles (2010); and Laws Were Made for Rogues, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2006).

Glenn Kaino's group exhibitions include Stories of Resistance, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri (2021); With Drawn Arms, High Museum of Art, Atlanta (2018); Art In the Age Of ... Asymmetrical Warfare, Kunstinstituut Melly (FKA Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art), Rotterdam (2015); The Artists' Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles (2010); Southern Exposure: Works from the Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2008); Black Belt, The Studio Museum in Harlem (2003); and One Planet Under a Groove, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York (2001).

Michale Irwin | Ocula | 2021

Glenn Kaino
featured artworks

Kabuto (LA) by Glenn Kaino contemporary artwork sculpture
Glenn Kaino Kabuto (LA), 2023 Bronze and fabric
52.1 x 48.3 x 38.4 cm
Pace Gallery Request Price & Availability
Kabuto (It's Time) by Glenn Kaino contemporary artwork sculpture
Glenn Kaino Kabuto (It's Time), 2023 Bronze and fabric
44.5 x 38.1 x 34.9 cm
Pace Gallery Request Price & Availability
Tori by Glenn Kaino contemporary artwork painting
Glenn Kaino Tori, 2023 Oil on canvas
154.9 x 124.5 x 7.6 cm
Pace Gallery Request Price & Availability
Michael by Glenn Kaino contemporary artwork painting
Glenn Kaino Michael, 2023 Oil on canvas
154.9 x 124.5 x 7.6 cm
Pace Gallery Request Price & Availability
Spontaneous Combustion (03:11:06) by Glenn Kaino contemporary artwork installation
Glenn Kaino Spontaneous Combustion (03:11:06), 2017 Cotton flags, tarring solution, time
41 x 68 inches
Galerie Lelong & Co. New York Request Price & Availability

Glenn Kaino
recent exhibitions

Represented by this
Ocula Member Gallery

Pace Gallery contemporary art gallery in 540 West 25th Street, New York, United States
Pace Gallery Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Los Angeles, New York +6

Glenn Kaino in
Ocula Magazine

Learn more about the market for works
by Glenn Kaino.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Glenn Kaino
Stay ahead.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login