SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23
4:00—5:00 PM (ET)
ZOOM LINK: https://temple.zoom.us/j/99136273475
What is queer theory? What does "queer materiality" mean? How do contemporary artists engage with these ideas and integrate them into their work?
If you're curious to learn more, please join us for a virtual panel conversation with artists Soso Capaldi, Feather Chiaverini, and Jesse Harrod. The discussion will be moderated by Kyle Herrington, a Philadelphia-based curator who champions emerging, underrepresented, and queer artists and collectives.
This program is presented in conjunction with BIRDS OF A FEATHER, Feather Chiaverini's solo exhibition at 2nd Story. The exhibition is open through December 5, 2025.
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PANELISTS
Soso Capaldi (they/them) is a black, queer artist exploring ideas of religion and spirituality. They work with any medium they can get their hands on. With the help of the creatures in their work, they are hoping to land softly and create safe spaces for themselves and others on paper and in the physical world. Capaldi earned their MFA in ceramics from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture and a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Penn State University.
Feather Chiaverini (he/they) is a fiber and performance artist from South Florida currently based in Philadelphia, PA. He explores how queer theory, horror, class, and pop culture shape our identities and how these tools can be used flexibly to shape the self. Inspired by the theater and everyday hustle of his family’s costume shop, he uses costumes as material rather than adornment, creating immersive installations, soft sculptures, and digital environments that reimagine our horizons. Chiaverini's work has been presented at 2x Grizzley, Blah Blah Gallery, James Oliver Gallery, Trout Museum of Art, N’namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Ice Box Project Space, among others. He taught classes at Oxbow School and currently adjuncts at Tyler School of Art, where he is also the Residency Director of the Queer Materials Lab. He received a BFA from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, MI and an MFA from Temple University Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA.
Jesse Harrod (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist based between Philadelphia and New York. Working across sculpture, painting, and stop-motion animation, Harrod reimagines forms of gendered, sexual, and disabled embodiment. Recent solo exhibitions have been presented by Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia; Bowtie Projects, Los Angeles; Drake Hotel, Toronto; and Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY. Harrod’s work has been featured in group exhibitions at SculptureCenter, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, which also commissioned a work in 2021. They are a recipient of a Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship and a Temple University Faculty Award for Creative Achievement. Harrod has held residencies at the Rauschenberg Residency, Headlands Center for the Arts, Banff Centre, and others. Born in South Africa and raised in Canada, they hold an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University.
Kyle Herrington is a curator, writer, and arts administrator who has been practicing professionally for over 15 years, focusing primarily on projects that center the work of emerging and mid-career artists operating within queer, marginalized, or underrepresented practices and contexts. Kyle holds significant experience serving the stakeholders and audiences of community-facing arts organizations, most notably during his 11 years at the Indianapolis Art Center where he served as the Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Events from 2014 – 2020. In 2023, he was the Curator-in-Residence at the Fire Island Artist Residency, where he now serves on the Board of Directors, and currently works as an independent curator based between Philadelphia and the Midwest. Kyle holds a BFA in Fine Arts from Ball State University and an MA in Curatorial Studies from The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.