- thaniel ion lee - resume -
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date and place of birth - june/13/1976 - portsmouth, virginia
current location - new albany, indiana
contact - thanielionlee@gmail.com
Selected Exhibitions
2009/Up Coming
Not Yet Titled - split w/ Lilly Mcelroy - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville KY
KY jelly - group - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville KY
2008
Inner Noise - group - Caladan Gallery - Cambridge, MA - Web
Annual Artist Showcase - group - The Actors Theater - Louisville KY
Imagine art auction for St. Francis HS - group - Marriot - Louisville KY
All Your Questions Will Be Answered - solo - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville KY - Web
2007
Sex, Politics and Religion - solo - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville, KY
Different Strokes For Different Folks - split - Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center - Indianapolis IN
Seattle Erotic Art Festival - group - Seattle, WA
Kentucky eye & ear kontrol iv - group - Butcher Block Gallery - Louisville KY
2006
In My Skin: Self Portraits - group - Brewhouse Space 101 Gallery - Pittsburgh PA
2005
The Importance of Knowing Ones Self - solo - The en ROUTE gallery - Indianapolis IN
Annual Artist Showcase - group - The Actors Theater - Louisville KY
M - Art After Minimalism - group - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville KY
2004
To Find Comfort in Ones Own Skin - solo - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville, KY
The Language of Adam - group - New Center for Contemporary Art - Louisville KY
2003
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (Repeat) - Swanson Reed Contemporary - group - Louisville KY
Kentucky National 2003 - group - The Clara Eagle Gallery at Murray State University - Murray
KY
New Artist, New Work, New Name - group - Swanson Reed Contemporary - Louisville KY
Document - solo - Artswatch - Louisville KY
2002
w/ Paul Nuefelder - split - Harrison Center for the Arts - Indianapolis IN
cuntcorpusgimp w/ Beth Teaford - split - Artswatch - Louisville KY
2000
Handscapes - solo - The Howard/Minton room at Indiana University Southeast - New Albany IN
Grants/Awards
2007
Polaroid - 20 frames from the Polaroid collection
VSAI - artistic development grant
Collections
Cooperate/University Collections
University of Louisville, Kentucky
VSAI Main Indiana office, Indiana
Indiana University Southeast Library, Indiana
Private Collections
Louisville
Indianapolis
Reviews/Publicity
2008
print - LEO - United States of America
2007
print - LEO - United States of America
web - Flying Colours - Canada
web - The Aesthetic Poetic - United States of America
web - Davide Gazzotti - Italy
web - SiouxWIRE - Czech republic
web - La Meta Oscura - Italy
web - Wooster Collective - United States of America
2004
print - The Courier Journal - United States of America
2000
print - Horizon - United States of America
The Courier-Journal
Indiana artist confronts audience with images of disability
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By Amy Barnes November 16, 2004
Special to The Courier-Journal
They're "not pretty, they're not comforting, they're not gonna look good on your sofa or hanging next to your flower painting, they won't match your furniture, and they're not joyous."
Indiana artist Thaniel Ion Lee is unflinching when describing his new collection of works, a series of 12 30-by-45-inch black-and-white self-portraits going on exhibit Friday at Swanson Reed Contemporary gallery.
"To Find Comfort in One's Own Skin," a collection of photographs featuring various abstract close-ups of Lee's body parts, is "a hard sell," admits Lee. "But they're also hard to avoid. I hope the pictures make the audience think about their own bodies. I want my pictures to say, 'Here's what my hand looks like, now what does yours look like?'"
Though the photos are abstract, and the images are sometimes difficult to make out, the subject matter goes deeper than what simply lines the surface of Lee's images. Born with a congenital malformation of the limbs known as anthrogroposis, Lee, now 28, is unable to straighten his hands, has limited use of one arm and can move only certain fingers to grasp objects. He also has no biceps and no kneecaps, and he lacks the muscles needed to straighten his legs.
Nonetheless, Lee has been able to transform his disability into an extraordinary ability to create and communicate. Passionate about art since childhood, Lee learned to paint with acrylics at age 8 by holding a brush in his mouth and moving it across a canvas.
When that became more difficult and Lee found himself relying more and more on an assistant, he began experimenting with digital photography and graphic design, which he continues to learn while taking classes as a fine-art major at Indiana University Southeast.
Since Lee began taking classes there nine years ago, his work has appeared in shows at IUS and in the Vision, Strength and Sharing, Access arts gallery (VSA arts, formerly Very Special Arts Indiana) in New Albany, and locally in galleries such as Artswatch and Swanson Reed.
"Thaniel is an individual who very bravely has faced his challenges and has surpassed them. He's an extremely gifted artist and a very creative person who has a lot to tell us about who he is in addition to talking about his disability," said friend Jim Nulty, president and CEO of VSA arts of Indiana. Its mission is educating and advocating for individuals with disabilities through "quality arts experiences."
Much of Lee's early work dealt with issues related to being disabled, but until recently, according to Jay Jordan, curator of The New Center for Contemporary Art, "the subject matter was somewhat removed and less personal."
Now, "his work has reached a new level. ... One of the fascinating things about this is that he's really confronting (his disability) head-on. People with disabilities are really put on display... and we're taught not to stare, or people feel like they can't look. Thaniel is forcing people to actually confront who and what he is. The photographs are very compelling and visceral," said Jordan, who recently displayed three of Lee's newer works in The New Center's inaugural exhibit, a dialog of personal identities told through the eyes of the artists.
"His work today is saying sometimes more than people want to hear," said Nulty. "It makes you look at a disability that is often not pretty to look at. There's something in the way he's presenting it that's quite shocking.
"Thaniel's a good friend, and I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in his presence. I've been able to watch the way people react to him in restaurants. He's a totally sensitive young man, and you're much more aware of that once you get to know him. With this new work, he's able to put disability awareness right in front of you. A lot of people might be uncomfortable with it, and that's part of what he's trying to communicate."
Although sometimes admittedly shy in his social life, Lee often lets his art make a bold statement.
"Thaniel is a fearless risk-taker in his art, as well as in his life," said Chuck Swanson, co-owner of Swanson Reed Contemporary, who has been showing Lee's work for the past two years. "I've seen him play 'abstract harmonica' before an audience; he has also executed an entire painting with the paint brushes in his mouth, both as works of performance art. He is not afraid to be assertive, and he has a tremendous work ethic."
While many see his work as a brave context for discussing disability, Lee views it somewhat differently. "It's definitely very political and socially oriented ... but I think even if I didn't have a disability, I'd be one of those artists who runs around taking lots of pictures of myself. It only becomes about that because being disabled has been the most significant event that has shaped my life.
"In this show, though, it's a lot different, because I'm not hiding anything. It's a lot more powerful and in-your-face, and you can't avoid it. The work is a lot more subversive," Lee said.
Still, he said he would like the audience to think about the work in a new and interesting way. "I want them to say, 'Is this a series of self-portraits, or are they other people's portraits too?' Hopefully they won't get so hung up on the photos being about one person, and maybe it will help them think about their own bodies."
In addition to Lee's new series of self-portraits, the gallery also will hang 10 of his abstract figurative paintings, which he executed by tying a paintbrush to very long sticks and maneuvering it with his mouth. These, said Lee, "are the last of my paintings."
Although he is unsure what he will do with his fine-art degree, he said he hopes to continue working with digital design and possibly pursue related careers, but said it is his "backup plan" to making a living as an artist.
"Of course I would like to make a full-time living as an artist. I believe in what I'm saying with my work, and I literally stand behind it," he said.
Aside from working with photography, painting and attending classes, Lee said he spends most of his time with friends from the art community. "I can't get away from them," he jokes. "They've become my entire social circle, right down to the people I've dated."
"He's always one step ahead of the game," said friend and artist Maiza Hixson. "Thaniel is one of the most tenacious people I know. He deserves every bit of success he receives."
Of his work, Hixson said, "It challenges our own perceptions of beauty by overturning conventional stereotypes of bodily perfection. Thaniel's always got a great idea for an art project and has a very active imagination."