Jacolby Satterwhite experiments with movement, vogueing, 3D animation and drawing, by making dreamlike videos that explore his body, identity, culture, queerness, and imagination. Satterwhite established his artistic career as a painter but soon transitioned to creating animation, performing in front of a green screen and on the streets of NYC. Through the creation of visionary videos, Satterwhite is able to bridge the conversation between the digital realm and queer space. While creating these digital worlds, Satterwhite also bears in mind his mother (artist Patricia Satterwhite), her schizophrenia, and her collection of childhood drawings.

Satterwhite’s film making, animation, and movement practice are deeply informed by Fluxus and Surrealist notions concerning chance and irrational juxtapositions to create mythological, queer universes derived from American consumerism, pop culture, African folklore, ritual, and personal narratives. Birds in Paradise (2019) is a quintessential example of Satterwhite’s varied strategies. The five-part video installation comprising two-channel animations that features sounds derived from a cappella recordings by his late mother and is presented in a theatre of objects that echoes domestic spaces. Additionally, Satterwhite will be presenting in AB7 We are in hell when we hurt each other (2020) and Shrines (2020) to complete the trio of works.

Birds in Paradise, 2019
Two-channel HD video, sound, 18’20’’
© Jacolby Satterwhite / Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York

Shires, 2020
HD digital colour video, 13’37’’
© Jacolby Satterwhite / Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York

We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other, 2020
3D animation with sound, 24’22’’
© Jacolby Satterwhite / Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York