KRIS PIERCE
Please Scream Inside Your Heart (Demo), 2020
Realtime 3D, custom software, live updating news feeds on vertical display
The Reality Show (4 Channel Demo), 2023
Tolex, casters, custom cabling, sound bar, print on acrylic, baltic birch, grill cloth, commercial display, 4 channel HD projection. 9 Minute Loop
The Reality Show (2023) explores the idea of mimetic desire as it manifests through the figure / body in virtual space amid the rapid emergence of AI. The central figure in the work, breaks down how game logic intersects with online behavior as a technique for manipulating emotion in hopes of controlling the relationship between real world users and programs that we interact with every day. More and more our relationships are occurring across digital platforms, and they have an undoubtable influence on our sense of self, body image, and how we present ourselves. This creates a divide between our online and physical personas. As relationships move into an online space, they become beholden to the digital systems they exist inside, systems that are designed and controlled by tech companies. These companies utilize these game logic methodologies as a way to control our relationships online. The emergence of AI further complicates this dynamic in that it unlocks the ability to replicate and iterate on things that proliferate across the social web. Images, videos, human dialogue, music, and more can all be effortlessly fabricated with AI, creating a deeper divide between what is real and what is perceived as real. Additionally in the work, the main male character exists within a dream state (the digital world), or as the “sandman”. The chorus of singers that perform the Chordettes famous song “Mr. Sandman” serve to affirm this role and contribute to the abstract nature of the online, technology driven space where it becomes impossible to distinguish fact from fiction, reality from illusion.
Formally, the piece uses a large variety of new technology including brand new methods of motion capture, animation, AI generated music, AI generated video and more and runs across 4 synced video channels. I personally performed the main characters' facial motion capture and the motion capture for the singing chorus. While the script is written by myself, the dialogue performance is generated by AI, along with the music in the graphic interstitials and the short, often bizarre, video clips peppered through the piece. The video is driven by a centralized sculpture that evokes an era before we became inundated with the complicated social space that technology brings.
Formally, the piece uses a large variety of new technology including brand new methods of motion capture, animation, AI generated music, AI generated video and more and runs across 4 synced video channels. I personally performed the main characters' facial motion capture and the motion capture for the singing chorus. While the script is written by myself, the dialogue performance is generated by AI, along with the music in the graphic interstitials and the short, often bizarre, video clips peppered through the piece. The video is driven by a centralized sculpture that evokes an era before we became inundated with the complicated social space that technology brings.
The Reality Show (Installation, Houston Sculpture Month), 2023
Tolex, casters, custom cabling, sound bar, print on acrylic, baltic birch, grill cloth, commercial display, 4 channel HD projection. 9 Minute Loop
Tolex, casters, custom cabling, sound bar, print on acrylic, baltic birch, grill cloth, commercial display, 4 channel HD projection. 9 Minute Loop
Mirror Carousel, 2023
Acrylic, enamel on Baltic birch and canvas . 81 X 60 inches
Acrylic, enamel on Baltic birch and canvas . 81 X 60 inches
The imagery in this series reinterprets the chauvinistic cartoons popularized in mid-20th-century American magazines, comics, and newspapers. These cartoons reinforced a Western male archetype whose problematic behaviors—often dismissive, misogynistic, or exploitative—were consistently shrugged off as mere "locker room talk" or excused as harmless cases of "boys being boys." By doing so, these illustrations subtly upheld and perpetuated entrenched power dynamics and societal inequalities.
Just as contemporary internet memes can reinforce cultural stereotypes and social hierarchies through humor, these vintage cartoons once functioned similarly, shaping perceptions about acceptable behavior and success. The suited businessman of that era embodied a vision of achievement tied closely to capitalism, power, and privilege, with humor deriving primarily from belittling or excluding marginalized groups. Despite this troubling dynamic, nostalgia persists for this imagined "golden era," ignoring the harmful social structures beneath its polished surface.
Today's resurgence of this archetype appears not only in politics and industry but also in tech culture and media, embodied by powerful figures who inhabit detached worlds of wealth and privilege. These contemporary elites continue a historical legacy of entitlement, often treating genuine societal engagement as an ironic or disposable concern, echoing the casual arrogance of their mid-century predecessors.
This body of work critically revisits that visual history, setting up dialogues between past images and present realities. Through this process, the pieces invite viewers to reconsider the persistent, often overlooked threads linking past and present cultural attitudes. The work seeks to challenge the accepted historical narrative, fostering reflection on how these seemingly innocuous cartoons continue to shape our understanding of power, privilege, and identity today.
Just as contemporary internet memes can reinforce cultural stereotypes and social hierarchies through humor, these vintage cartoons once functioned similarly, shaping perceptions about acceptable behavior and success. The suited businessman of that era embodied a vision of achievement tied closely to capitalism, power, and privilege, with humor deriving primarily from belittling or excluding marginalized groups. Despite this troubling dynamic, nostalgia persists for this imagined "golden era," ignoring the harmful social structures beneath its polished surface.
Today's resurgence of this archetype appears not only in politics and industry but also in tech culture and media, embodied by powerful figures who inhabit detached worlds of wealth and privilege. These contemporary elites continue a historical legacy of entitlement, often treating genuine societal engagement as an ironic or disposable concern, echoing the casual arrogance of their mid-century predecessors.
This body of work critically revisits that visual history, setting up dialogues between past images and present realities. Through this process, the pieces invite viewers to reconsider the persistent, often overlooked threads linking past and present cultural attitudes. The work seeks to challenge the accepted historical narrative, fostering reflection on how these seemingly innocuous cartoons continue to shape our understanding of power, privilege, and identity today.
Cosmic Rerun, 2024
Acrylic on MDF, print on acrylic, walnut, tolex, grill cloth, clear casters, speakers, Baltic birch, arcade buttons, amplifier, custom cabling, custom power cable, black light, HD video on commercial display . 26 minutes 47 seconds 54 x 18 x 32 inches
Acrylic on MDF, print on acrylic, walnut, tolex, grill cloth, clear casters, speakers, Baltic birch, arcade buttons, amplifier, custom cabling, custom power cable, black light, HD video on commercial display . 26 minutes 47 seconds 54 x 18 x 32 inches
A hybrid of sculpture and video, Cosmic Rerun collapses generational aesthetics into a work that explores the friction between the promise of past generations and the difficulty in realizing them. The conceptual thread of the work is driven through a “cosmic” video mixtape that weaves together themes of affirmation, utopia, class and its evolution within popular culture since the 1960s. The work’s cadre of narrators provide a modern lens in which to reflect upon the dynamics between the establishment, and a promise from the love generation. It is an attempt to find a way to understand the present by looking at the past. The work functions as a mechanical totem, a monolith of cables, buttons, circuit boards, speakers and more. Autonomously functioning, broadcasting its signal from the past and into the future, whose message rewrites itself in the context of current events.
Spooky Action at a Distance (Installation), 2022
Acrylic and enamel on panel, commercial display, custom power cable, HD loop 25 minutes 192 X 48 inches
Acrylic and enamel on panel, commercial display, custom power cable, HD loop 25 minutes 192 X 48 inches
Pepper's Ghost (Installation), 2024
Acrylic, enamel, t-molding, MDF, marquee lights, light fixtures, Baltic birch, custom cabling, custom power cable, mirror 84 x 35 X 35 inches (Photo by Kevin Todora)
Acrylic, enamel, t-molding, MDF, marquee lights, light fixtures, Baltic birch, custom cabling, custom power cable, mirror 84 x 35 X 35 inches (Photo by Kevin Todora)
Vampire Jukebox (Realtime Projection Demo), 2022
Baltic birch plywood, speakers, faux fur, tolex, casters, Formica, digital print on acrylic, stereo amplifier, power strip, iPad mini, Arduino uno, stepper motor, tablet stylus, webcam, custom cabling, real-time twitter data, custom software, and real-time 3D projection.
Fierce individualism exists as the heart of American identity. It’s at the center of social behavior, how we perceive our idealized reality, and at times polarizing conflict. Modern social platforms, provide a stage where you are the #maincharacter, curating your persona in compliment to any number of motivations…innocent, sinister, or otherwise. Exploring the recent internet phenomenon referred to as “Main Character Syndrome”, this work threads together a variety of sources including real-time data from Twitter, and an endless TikTok scrolling sculpture, to explore this individualism, its hard coded presence in American culture, and the motivations behind the cultural capital it produces.
Vampire Jukebox (Installation), 2022
Baltic birch plywood, speakers, faux fur, tolex, casters, Formica, digital print on acrylic, stereo amplifier, power strip, iPad mini, Arduino uno, stepper motor, tablet stylus, webcam, custom cabling, real-time twitter data, custom software, and real-time 3D projection.
Baltic birch plywood, speakers, faux fur, tolex, casters, Formica, digital print on acrylic, stereo amplifier, power strip, iPad mini, Arduino uno, stepper motor, tablet stylus, webcam, custom cabling, real-time twitter data, custom software, and real-time 3D projection.
User Flair (Installation Excerpt), 2022
Acrylic + enamel on panel, toggle clamp, ISBN 1-4391-6734-6, custom power cable, HD loop on commercial display . 19 Min 35 Sec . 48 X 48 inches
Acrylic + enamel on panel, toggle clamp, ISBN 1-4391-6734-6, custom power cable, HD loop on commercial display . 19 Min 35 Sec . 48 X 48 inches
Stacked Drum Majors in Suits (Installation), 2022
Custom fabricated bass drums, tolex, birch, leather, cotton, acrylic & enamel on mylar . 23 x 20 X 90 inches
Custom fabricated bass drums, tolex, birch, leather, cotton, acrylic & enamel on mylar . 23 x 20 X 90 inches
Data Miner, 2023
Acrylic, enamel on Baltic birch and canvas . 50 X 40 inches
Acrylic, enamel on Baltic birch and canvas . 50 X 40 inches
Interlude, 2019
2 Channel Networked HD Video . 9 Minutes 23 Seconds
2 Channel Networked HD Video . 9 Minutes 23 Seconds
Interlude (2019) explores the freedom that one finds in anonymity, specifically on the Internet. The core content of the work comes out of confessions people make on internet chat boards. Sad, funny, optimistic, desperate; these anonymous confessions span the entire range of human vulnerability. The internet offers an environment where people feel empowered to connect and share very personal things about themselves in an effort to realize something they can’t find in the physical world. That's very interesting to me. On the flip side, since it’s a public space, there is a voyeuristic component where one can interlope in and out of these peoples’ lives; or in my case, co-opt their words into another context. That's certainly a consideration when developing the work. It's the nature of the connected world, a world where control is given, capitalized on and then sacrificed to the larger network of people engaged in it. Ultimately, we find ourselves connected in unexpected ways, the post-internet era could be defined by that—good or bad. Freedom is a door that swings both ways.
- Patrick Kelly, OJAC Director and Curator, email interview with Kris Pierce
Yay!, 2024
Acrylic, enamel, neon on birch tondo + custom cable 42 inches
Acrylic, enamel, neon on birch tondo + custom cable 42 inches
Very Good Work, 2022
Acrylic + Enamel on Canvas . 60 X 60 inches
Acrylic + Enamel on Canvas . 60 X 60 inches
Boiling a Ship in the Sea, 2017
HD Video . 4 Minutes + Audio Mixtape . 40 minutes
The 1982 film Tron centers on Kevin Flynn, portrayed by Jeff Bridges, who is unexpectedly transported into a video game and forced to inhabit the digital avatar Clu (Codified Likeness Utility). Trapped inside the game's oppressive digital environment, Flynn must navigate contests designed by the system's authoritarian Master Control Program before embarking on a mission to free the corrupted virtual world. The film offers a prescient exploration of identity, blurring distinctions between physical and digital selves. By its conclusion, Bridges’ digital avatar emerges as more fully realized and compelling than Flynn’s original real-world persona. This narrative subtly reflects our contemporary entanglement with digital identities.
Today, digital spaces create strange alliances: video games and graphic violence coexist alongside family photographs, political discourse, pornography, and cat videos, woven together within a global network. This interconnected environment has become the primary stage for cultivating relationships, as we regularly invest ourselves in the various platforms powering our social existence. Increasingly, our identities fracture into dual personas—the physical and the digital self. Our digital avatars serve as intimate yet casual proxies, accumulating social currency and emotional significance. As we deepen our investments in these virtual representations, the boundaries between digital and physical realities grow increasingly complex and ambiguous.
The artwork Boiling a Ship in the Sea (2017) navigates these conflicting identities through a protagonist who experiences alienation within the layered dynamics of digital existence. Utilizing the visual and narrative language of the "FPS" (First-Person Shooter) game genre, the work leverages the immediacy and intimacy of a first-person perspective, a viewpoint that closely mirrors our real-world interaction. This perspective facilitates a partial transference of our consciousness into the digital environment. Shifting between first-person immediacy and third-person narrative distance, the piece draws connections between viewers’ physical identities and on-screen characters, intensifying the character's role as a conduit for the viewer's emotional and psychological experiences.
Through this oscillation, Boiling a Ship in the Sea investigates how virtual experiences imprint themselves upon our physical consciousness. Digital flows of information—spanning social conflict, global awareness, entertainment, and interpersonal intimacy—channel their emotional weight onto our real-world selves via digital proxies. Ultimately, the artwork interrogates the transformative impact of digital identities on contemporary human experience, inviting reflection on how we navigate the evolving landscape of selfhood in the 21st century.
Today, digital spaces create strange alliances: video games and graphic violence coexist alongside family photographs, political discourse, pornography, and cat videos, woven together within a global network. This interconnected environment has become the primary stage for cultivating relationships, as we regularly invest ourselves in the various platforms powering our social existence. Increasingly, our identities fracture into dual personas—the physical and the digital self. Our digital avatars serve as intimate yet casual proxies, accumulating social currency and emotional significance. As we deepen our investments in these virtual representations, the boundaries between digital and physical realities grow increasingly complex and ambiguous.
The artwork Boiling a Ship in the Sea (2017) navigates these conflicting identities through a protagonist who experiences alienation within the layered dynamics of digital existence. Utilizing the visual and narrative language of the "FPS" (First-Person Shooter) game genre, the work leverages the immediacy and intimacy of a first-person perspective, a viewpoint that closely mirrors our real-world interaction. This perspective facilitates a partial transference of our consciousness into the digital environment. Shifting between first-person immediacy and third-person narrative distance, the piece draws connections between viewers’ physical identities and on-screen characters, intensifying the character's role as a conduit for the viewer's emotional and psychological experiences.
Through this oscillation, Boiling a Ship in the Sea investigates how virtual experiences imprint themselves upon our physical consciousness. Digital flows of information—spanning social conflict, global awareness, entertainment, and interpersonal intimacy—channel their emotional weight onto our real-world selves via digital proxies. Ultimately, the artwork interrogates the transformative impact of digital identities on contemporary human experience, inviting reflection on how we navigate the evolving landscape of selfhood in the 21st century.
Almost Baroque (Installation Stills), 2020
6 Channel Networked 4K+ Video, 60fps . 9 Minute 45 Second Loop
6 Channel Networked 4K+ Video, 60fps . 9 Minute 45 Second Loop
Assorted drawings
16"X20 mixed media on illustration board, 12"X9" mixed media on watercolor paper
16"X20 mixed media on illustration board, 12"X9" mixed media on watercolor paper
Free Food (Excerpt), 2018
Stacked 2 Channel HD Video . 4 minutes 40 seconds
Stacked 2 Channel HD Video . 4 minutes 40 seconds
In the familiar square format of Instagram, Free Food (2018) presents a spinning, dizzying parade of computer-generated wealth and decadence. A three-tiered cake, square watermelon and rolls of banknotes tucked into a golden fruit bowl - all 3-D modeled and rendered - melt or burst into ostentatious sequences of luxury goods and edible indulgences, from perfume bottles and gold chains to ring pops and potato chips. Intrigued by the history of exotic food as a status symbol as well as the contemporary elite's social media habits of posting expensive watches and champagne poured out into hot tubs, Pierce uses digital fabrication not only to explore the visual and social power of these images but to circumvent barriers to access. Ultimately mediated through a screen, the experience of virtual luxuries and their physical counterparts becomes the same, but the objects in Free Food can be reproduced or possessed at no cost. -Ryan/Lee Gallery, 2018
Free Food . RL Window, Ryan/Lee, New York City 2018
Celebration, 2018
HD Video . 5 minutes
A Ghost in the Attic . Old Jail Art Center, Albany 2019
Post Communique, HOMECOMING! Committee
Installation View, Dallas Museum of Art . 2013
Installation View, Dallas Museum of Art . 2013
The Savanah Dance, 2016
HD Video. 5 minutes 25 seconds
HD Video. 5 minutes 25 seconds
Missed Calls (Installation View), 2013
Dot Matrix Printer, Cell Phones, Custom Software . Dimensions Variable
Dot Matrix Printer, Cell Phones, Custom Software . Dimensions Variable
In Response to Missed Calls Dr. Dennis L. Sepper
Professor, Dept. of Philosophy
Professor and Chair, Dept. of Human Sciences in the Contemporary World
University of Dallas
There was not much to see at first as I walked into the exhibit
As it turned out, this was only the hub of the exhibit. The
Experiment is exactly the right word, but in what? Kris Pierce, who created the exhibit, remarks that it is part of an investigation of technology and information and its influence on human behavior and quotidian activities. I teach in a program in the human sciences at an area university, and it occurred to me that if a student had proposed this it would have needed approval from the university's Institutional Review Board, to assure that no human beings or their privacy were harmed in the making of the exhibit. That says more about federal regulations than about the work, and since I assume that Mr. Pierce did not have NSF or NIH funding there isn't a problem!
That may sound like my purely individual response, but I think it actually calls attention to the intended framing of the exhibit: the intersection of various human and technical planes of meaning, making, and play. The activity at the hub is the phone's ringing and flashing, a wait, and then the stirring and rattle of the Epson as the printed text emerges and the wide ribbon of paper descends to the ground. Reading the text (on the last day of the exhibit) wasn't easy. The current output, to which I added two calls, was only partially legible because of printer ribbon fatigue, and I had to kneel to look at older and more readable messages: a mix ranging from the nearly sublimely poetic, through the mundane, to the confusing and even the unintelligible. Some people left recipes read from cookbooks; others performed a short act of existential drama or recited lines of poetry; and there were remarks for which I'm sure you just had to be there. Google Voice handled recipes well enough that you might have a chance at whipping up something edible, though
Karen Weiner, who runs the gallery, suggested that there might be some connection to computational linguistics. This strikes me as exactly right, though less as an application or reflection of computational linguistics, or even a critique, than as evidence of what it produces
Whether the archived messages amount to a work of art may be doubtful. I think of it as more like
Professor, Dept. of Philosophy
Professor and Chair, Dept. of Human Sciences in the Contemporary World
University of Dallas
There was not much to see at first as I walked into the exhibit
Missed Calls(January 12 to February 2 at the Reading Room, located across the road from the main gate to Fair Park). The space was starkly white, trimmed in black; on the wall opposite the entrance were three cell phones, arrayed in a line a bit more than five feet above the floor; on the right were three framed computer printouts, each displaying ; in the center of the space was an Epson dot-matrix printer on a pedestal, with fanfold paper spilling over onto the floor. Tech, but certainly not high-tech.
As it turned out, this was only the hub of the exhibit. The
spokeswere the electromagnetic signals that communicated with the three cell phones, and they extended out to different locations in the Dallas area where the three phone numbers were posted. My wife in fact noticed one of the postings the previous weekend in the parking lot of Half Price Books on Northwest Highway near Central a bumper sticker attached to a light pole, with the legend
Public Confessionalalong with one of the phone numbers, in black lettering. A person calling the number would ring one of the three cell phones in the gallery and hear an invitation to leave a message. The message was then transcribed to text by Google Voice and printed out by the Epson in the gallery. The messages will be compiled and bound into a book as an archive of the experiment.
Experiment is exactly the right word, but in what? Kris Pierce, who created the exhibit, remarks that it is part of an investigation of technology and information and its influence on human behavior and quotidian activities. I teach in a program in the human sciences at an area university, and it occurred to me that if a student had proposed this it would have needed approval from the university's Institutional Review Board, to assure that no human beings or their privacy were harmed in the making of the exhibit. That says more about federal regulations than about the work, and since I assume that Mr. Pierce did not have NSF or NIH funding there isn't a problem!
That may sound like my purely individual response, but I think it actually calls attention to the intended framing of the exhibit: the intersection of various human and technical planes of meaning, making, and play. The activity at the hub is the phone's ringing and flashing, a wait, and then the stirring and rattle of the Epson as the printed text emerges and the wide ribbon of paper descends to the ground. Reading the text (on the last day of the exhibit) wasn't easy. The current output, to which I added two calls, was only partially legible because of printer ribbon fatigue, and I had to kneel to look at older and more readable messages: a mix ranging from the nearly sublimely poetic, through the mundane, to the confusing and even the unintelligible. Some people left recipes read from cookbooks; others performed a short act of existential drama or recited lines of poetry; and there were remarks for which I'm sure you just had to be there. Google Voice handled recipes well enough that you might have a chance at whipping up something edible, though
olive oilcame out variously as
Ali broand
all is well, and mesclun greensbecame
mess coming greens.With the dramatic moments, uttered passionately into the phone (I had a chance to hear some of the voice messages), you wouldn't want to entrust your life's affairs to transcription. The message that Google Voice rendered
Your mother told me you were no put some of the going to let me time and I in July and I just don't know what I'm gonna do you know how much your honor.Hmm I heard as
your mother told me you were a no good son of a gun. You left me pregnant, high and dry, and I just don't know what I'm going to do. You're a rat, YOU'RE A RAT!Not much honor there.
I'm so lonely. Please leave me a messagewas turned into
I'm sorry I'm running late, please leave me a message. Bye.There was something even more evocative in the printed
the fear of every day, the middle of a clear, my mind can comprehend,than in the spoken
the fear of every day, from the devil that put me here, my mind can't comprehend.
Karen Weiner, who runs the gallery, suggested that there might be some connection to computational linguistics. This strikes me as exactly right, though less as an application or reflection of computational linguistics, or even a critique, than as evidence of what it produces
in the wild.Computational linguistics, to put it as simply as possible, tries to understand the production of human language as a form of computation and then develops algorithms and routines to generate speech or writing in response to input (which can, of course, mean the input of a human being
conversingwith a device). Apple's Siri is just one example, and probably everyone has read stories of her comic, absurd, and witty reactions. She is imperfect but improving, since she has ever more sophisticated power of Apple's servers on her side (Siri thus does not work when the phone is not connected by 3- or 4-G or wi-fi). But those anecdotes conceal as much as they reveal, because they are confined to what the speaker wanted and said and what Siri replied. When all is said and done, Apple and the iPhone user want accuracy and efficiency: technical on the one hand, practical on the other. Using an app is a nicely limited task, with clear criteria of success and failure.
Missed Callshas wider scope. It makes us think of who is at the other end of the call and their situation. It makes us wonder about what difference it would make if the bumper sticker suggested not a public confession but (say) participation in an experiment or an invitation to a good time. We expect communications to be ever more instantaneous, but the exhibit actually produces a series of delays, neatly separating for us the various phases of technical transmission and processing. If Google Voice is nearly flawless in producing voice messages from emails, it is obviously still woefully lacking in the other direction. Yet the
errorsand glitches in transmission and transcription, when printed, compel us to make sense of the constantly evocative power of ordinary human language. We even struggle to decipher from the faded dot-matrix letter images something that satisfies our desire for meaning and euphony.
Whether the archived messages amount to a work of art may be doubtful. I think of it as more like
work productthat, say, artists make as they paint: sketches, daubs of paint adjoined or overlaid to note harmonies and disharmonies of color, photos of the different stages of the composition, and the like. The exhibit itself, taken as a whole, is the thing. The ordinary technology a decade or so out-of-date that is visible stands for the even more ordinary and low-tech human being; the hidden high-technology in the background, the cell transmissions and the cloud computing, show themselves in a decidedly more mundane, fragmentary, and even fragile output. A software developer might look at it all and see an opportunity for improving speed, accuracy, and polish. An artist is more likely to let the process show itself, to make evident the seams where technicians try to seamlessly join machine to machine and technique to technique, with human beings left to fend for themselves.
Missed Callshelps us see the seams and how we are fending.
The Red Telephone (Installation View), 2012
Custom payphones, custom software, website . Dimensions variable
Custom payphones, custom software, website . Dimensions variable
On The Red Telephone
Terri Thornton // Curator, where is the power
Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, 2012
The
Terri Thornton // Curator, where is the power
Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, 2012
The
red telephoneis the famous hotline that linked the White House via the National Military Command Center with the Kremlin during the Cold War. As a description it might also bring to mind the historical and beloved British phone box. And finally, The Red Telephone is the title of the
summer of love,1967 pop song by the rock band Love. None of which is lost on artist Kris Pierce, and related or unrelated, it all offers an interesting lens through which to consider his 2012 piece by the same title. For where is the power, Pierce connects people alienated from one another due to geographical segregation within Fort Worth by placing three red (non)pay phones in key locations throughout the city in his piece titled The Red Telephone. Modified with a wireless transmitter, the phones become public confessionals that, streamed to a web-based station, disclose dialogue, bridging distance and difference while giving power to voice. The Red Telephone, 2012 is a performative work offering individuals the opportunity to confront insecurities, speak their mind and connect to strangers who listen to their recordings as well as those who participate from disparate locations. Participation with The Red Telephone is abstract and the connections hypothetical but the live and archived recordings are revelatory as they reflect the various communities while highlighting differences and some similarities. The children's voices on Pierce's red telephone at Unity Park Mission on August 29 are playful and combative as some children identify themselves, some play pretend and others argue and swear while participants at the location outside Fort Worth Contemporary Arts on the night of the exhibition opening are cautious, self conscious, playful, performative and confessional.
Granite Countertops and Stainless Steel Appliances, 2013
HD Video . 3min 36seconds
All copyright Kris Pierce 2010-2025.
Biography
CV
IG
Contact
Kris Pierce is an artist working in Fort Worth, Texas. His work examines how various expressions of individualism, such as the alpha male, the main character, and the influencer, are not just rewarded in society, but form the cornerstone of past and present American identity. Multigenerational themes including narcissism, social affirmation, and cultural insecurities, are collapsed into works that ask the question: what drives the prevailing definition of success, power, and value in the United States? When unpacked, this definition becomes entangled in present-day politics, social media culture, image-making, tech bros, and gender roles. Texas provides a unique environment where these elements of culture become amplified in a dramatic way. Pierce explores these themes through hybrid forms including painting, sculpture, virtual reality, 3-D modeling, game engines, and computer-generated video. This body of work aims to reorient and reevaluate history’s coded definition of what it means to achieve “The American Dream," and how the notion of rugged individualism continues to expand and evolve today. He has exhibited internationally and nationally in museums, galleries, and public spaces, having had recent solo and group exhibitions at the Hiroshima Art Center, Japan; CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; Gallerie Se Konst, Falun, Sweden; Reunion, Zurich, Switzerland; Circuit 12 Contemporary, Dallas; Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio; The Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas; The Dallas Museum of Art; RL Window, Ryan/Lee, New York City, The Akron Art Museum and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art / The Momentary, Bentonville Arkansas. Pierce received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of North Texas, Denton. His work is included in multiple public and private collections. He is represented by Keijsers Koning.
Kris Pierce
Born Arlington, Texas | Works in Fort Worth, Texas
EDUCATION
BFA, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
RESIDENCIES
Artist in Residence SOMA, Mexico City, Mexico, 2014
University of Texas at Dallas Centraltrak Artist Residency, Dallas, TX, 2013
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Applause, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
2023 Oil Can Tremolo, Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches, Texas
2022 Party Line, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas
2022 Persona, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
2019 A Ghost in the Attic, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2019 Boiling a Ship in the Sea, The MAC, Dallas, Texas
2018 Free Food, Ryan/Lee RL Window, New York City, New York
2017 Starving for Attention, Gallerie Se Konst, Falun, Sweden
2013 Missed Calls, The Reading Room, Dallas, Texas
2011 The Final Boss of the Internet, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 The Secret History of Street Cred, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, Texas
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Funhouse, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2024 My Long Shadow and I, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
Art on Paper, Brussels, Belgium
Space is a Common Thing, Porvoo Triennial, Porvoo, Finland
2023 A Path Less Traveled, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
The Sleep of Reason: The Fragmented Figure, Houston Sculpture Month – Site Gallery, The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas
Persona, Cole Art Center – Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, Texas
2022 Persona, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
Constructs, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio
Constructs, Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
2020 State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
2019 The Great Derangement, Electric Perfume, Toronto, Ontario
Assembly, The MAC, Dallas, Texas
2018 Surfin’ the Dream Channels, Untitled, Miami, Florida, San Francisco, CA
Kook Out, Culture Hole, Dallas, Texas
2017 Kris Pierce, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
BYOB, The Cedars Union, Dallas, Texas
Augmented Reality, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, Texas
Double Edged, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
2016 Video and Sound, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Griefer, Ättiksfabriken Art Space Falun, Sweden
2015 Expanded Cinema, Exterior of Omni Hotel, Dallas, Texas and KXT 91.7
Moon Ribbon, Riverside, Bern, Switzerland
Gorgissimo, Réunion, Zurich, Switzerland
NON-OBJECTIVE, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
Narcotic Black Black Swimming Pool with A Mossy Surface Film (Contributor), Epitome Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Obake Hotel, Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima Japan
2014 Sundowner, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
Private Practice, Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas
2013 The McGuffin, AndX Art Space, Fort Worth, Texas
Amarillo Entropy, The Power Station, Dallas, Texas
Collective Bargaining, University of Texas Dallas, Dallas, Texas
Friskt kopplat, hälften brunnet, Centraltrak, Dallas, Texas
Available Space, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
Capture, Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, St. Augustine, Florida
2012 In-Transit: Station Domination, Texas & Pacific Rail Station, Fort Worth, Texas
where is the power, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
Falloff, Art Corridor at Tarrant County College, Arlington, Texas
2011 Street View, ARS Electronic Festival, Linz, Austria
EXPO, 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Hands on an Art Body, Oliver Francis Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 Launch Party, 2525 Weisenberger, Fort Worth, Texas
X20+, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas
Wish You Were Here, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville Arkansas
Fort Worth Public Art, City of Fort Worth, Texas
Old Jail Art Center (OJAC), Albany Texas
ARTIST COLLECTIVES
HOMECOMING! Committee, Co-Founder
SELECTED REVIEWS, ARTICLES
“Top Five, Funhouse” Glasstire, March 13th, 2025 William Sarradet, “Applause for Eye Candy: Recent Exhibitions in Dallas”, Glasstire March 17th, 2024
Kendal Morgan, “Happy Mediums: 10 North Texas Artists to Watch in 2024”, Dallas Observer, February 2nd, 2024
Lee Cullum, “‘A Path Less Traveled’ brings together two Dallas galleries for joint show” Dallas Morning News, January 19, 2024
“Top Five, The Sleep of Reason: The Fragmented Figure” Glasstire, November 2nd, 2023
William Sarradet, “Across American Reality: Recent Exhibitions in Dallas and Houston” Glasstire, October 27th, 2023
William Sarradet, “Main Character Syndrome: A Conversation with Kris Pierce” Glasstire, December 9th, 2022
“Glasstire’s Best of 2022” Glasstire, December 13th, 2022
Gregory Volk, “A Survey of American Art that Isn’t Just Coastal” Hyperallergic, March 7th, 2020
Patrick Kelly, “A Ghost in the Attic: Interview with Kris Pierce” theojac.org, September, 2019
Niklas Darke, “Swimming Between Beasts” Dalarna Chronicle, July 23, 2017
Bill Bridges, “Sundowner is not a Collective” Arts + Culture Magazine (cover), December 5th, 2014
Lauren Smart, “Sundowner at Circuit 12 Is One of the Most Interesting Gallery Exhibitions This Year” Dallas Observer, December 1st, 2014
Elaine Sun, “Revisionist History” Central Track, August 9th, 2013
Andy Amato, “Review: DallasSITES: Available Space at the DMA” Words and Images, August 2nd, 2013
Stephen Becker, “Local Artist Occupy DMA” Art & Seek, KERA Radio, July 31st, 2013
Margaret Meehan, “People in Your Neighborhood: Karen Weiner,” Glasstire, May 10th, 2013
Leslie Castro, “A Love Letter to Dallas,” Glasstire, February 20, 2012
Jamie Laughlin, “The 12 Most Newsworthy Art Moments of 2012 for Dallas and Fort Worth” Dallas Observer, December 19, 2012
Anthony Mariani, “Headed to Falloff,” Fort Worth Weekly, December 5, 2012
“What the Dallas Art World will be Buzzing About in 2013 and Beyond,” Modern Luxury Dallas, December 2012
Benjamin Lima, “where is the power,” ...might be good, Issue #198, October 12, 2012
Jennifer Smart, “Conduit Gallery's Group Exhibition is Worth a Second Look,” dallasdesigndistrict.com
Cassandra Emswiler, “Fight the Power, in Muted Tones: where is the power at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts,” D Magazine FrontRow, September 5, 2012
Ryder Richards, “Gallery Hopping: A Diversity of Strong Shows Highlight A Month in Dallas Art,” D Magazine FrontRow, May 30, 2012
Margaret Meehan, “Mirror Mirror #7: HOMECOMING! Committee,” Glasstire, May 14, 2012
Anne Lawrence, “Fort Worth Contemporary Arts – Wish You Were Here,” Art This Week, Episode 61
PUBLICATIONS
Operators (Generally Speaking, 2025) Forthcoming
State of the Art 2020 (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2020)
Sammankomster Och Gatherings: Galleri Se Konst Falun 2009–2018 (Sweden: GSK, 2018)
TX 13 Texas Biennial: An Independent Survey of Contemporary Art in Texas (Texas: Big Medium, 2013)
A Chorus of Sustain: The Shadows of Architecture (Texas, PCPress, 2011)
OTHER ACTIVITIES, TALKS, CONTRIBUTIONS, SCREENINGS
Nothing is as it Seems, Screening, Walters, Amsterdam, New York
Picnic Issue No. 4, April 2024
Culture Hole T.V., Episode 1: HUGS, 2020
The Modern's Teen/Artist Project, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, December 2019
Game Changers and Box Breakers: Critical Thinking in Our World, San Jacinto College, Houston, February 2019
The Modern's Teen/Artist Project, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, April 2018
Studio Practice and Technology, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden, March 2018
Art and Technology; New Media Artists Panel, The Cedars Union, January 2018
Student Lecture and Classroom Visit, Texas State University, San Marcos, October 2017
Kris Pierce Video Work, Screening, Sandviken, Sweden, October 2017
Augmented Reality Artist Panel Discussion, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, July 2017
Graduate Student Portfolio Reviews, SOMA, Mexico City, June 2014
“HOMECOMING: In Brief” Tuesday Evening Lecture Series, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, March 2014
semigloss magazine, Contributor (Cover), Vol. 4, December 2013
semigloss magazine, Contributor, Vol. 3, July 2013
“Drawing from the Collection,” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, September 2013
“A Chorus of Sustain” semigloss. magazine, Issue #3 June 2013
“Late Nights at the DMA, New Media Workshop” Dallas Museum of Art, March 2013
“New Acquisitions, New Media Workshop” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, February 2013
“New Media and Process,” Tarrant County College Southeast Campus, November 2012
“Kaguya Hime,” Dallas Neo-Classical Ballet, Assistant Set Designer, May 2012
“Drawing from the Collection,” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, October 2012
Born Arlington, Texas | Works in Fort Worth, Texas
EDUCATION
BFA, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
RESIDENCIES
Artist in Residence SOMA, Mexico City, Mexico, 2014
University of Texas at Dallas Centraltrak Artist Residency, Dallas, TX, 2013
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Applause, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
2023 Oil Can Tremolo, Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches, Texas
2022 Party Line, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas
2022 Persona, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
2019 A Ghost in the Attic, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2019 Boiling a Ship in the Sea, The MAC, Dallas, Texas
2018 Free Food, Ryan/Lee RL Window, New York City, New York
2017 Starving for Attention, Gallerie Se Konst, Falun, Sweden
2013 Missed Calls, The Reading Room, Dallas, Texas
2011 The Final Boss of the Internet, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 The Secret History of Street Cred, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, Texas
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Funhouse, Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas
2024 My Long Shadow and I, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
Art on Paper, Brussels, Belgium
Space is a Common Thing, Porvoo Triennial, Porvoo, Finland
2023 A Path Less Traveled, Keijsers Koning, Dallas, Texas
The Sleep of Reason: The Fragmented Figure, Houston Sculpture Month – Site Gallery, The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas
Persona, Cole Art Center – Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, Texas
2022 Persona, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
Constructs, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio
Constructs, Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
2020 State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
2019 The Great Derangement, Electric Perfume, Toronto, Ontario
Assembly, The MAC, Dallas, Texas
2018 Surfin’ the Dream Channels, Untitled, Miami, Florida, San Francisco, CA
Kook Out, Culture Hole, Dallas, Texas
2017 Kris Pierce, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
BYOB, The Cedars Union, Dallas, Texas
Augmented Reality, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, Texas
Double Edged, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
2016 Video and Sound, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Griefer, Ättiksfabriken Art Space Falun, Sweden
2015 Expanded Cinema, Exterior of Omni Hotel, Dallas, Texas and KXT 91.7
Moon Ribbon, Riverside, Bern, Switzerland
Gorgissimo, Réunion, Zurich, Switzerland
NON-OBJECTIVE, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
Narcotic Black Black Swimming Pool with A Mossy Surface Film (Contributor), Epitome Institute, San Antonio, Texas
Obake Hotel, Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima Japan
2014 Sundowner, Circuit 12, Dallas, Texas
Private Practice, Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas
2013 The McGuffin, AndX Art Space, Fort Worth, Texas
Amarillo Entropy, The Power Station, Dallas, Texas
Collective Bargaining, University of Texas Dallas, Dallas, Texas
Friskt kopplat, hälften brunnet, Centraltrak, Dallas, Texas
Available Space, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
Capture, Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, St. Augustine, Florida
2012 In-Transit: Station Domination, Texas & Pacific Rail Station, Fort Worth, Texas
where is the power, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
Falloff, Art Corridor at Tarrant County College, Arlington, Texas
2011 Street View, ARS Electronic Festival, Linz, Austria
EXPO, 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Hands on an Art Body, Oliver Francis Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 Launch Party, 2525 Weisenberger, Fort Worth, Texas
X20+, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas
Wish You Were Here, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville Arkansas
Fort Worth Public Art, City of Fort Worth, Texas
Old Jail Art Center (OJAC), Albany Texas
ARTIST COLLECTIVES
HOMECOMING! Committee, Co-Founder
SELECTED REVIEWS, ARTICLES
“Top Five, Funhouse” Glasstire, March 13th, 2025 William Sarradet, “Applause for Eye Candy: Recent Exhibitions in Dallas”, Glasstire March 17th, 2024
Kendal Morgan, “Happy Mediums: 10 North Texas Artists to Watch in 2024”, Dallas Observer, February 2nd, 2024
Lee Cullum, “‘A Path Less Traveled’ brings together two Dallas galleries for joint show” Dallas Morning News, January 19, 2024
“Top Five, The Sleep of Reason: The Fragmented Figure” Glasstire, November 2nd, 2023
William Sarradet, “Across American Reality: Recent Exhibitions in Dallas and Houston” Glasstire, October 27th, 2023
William Sarradet, “Main Character Syndrome: A Conversation with Kris Pierce” Glasstire, December 9th, 2022
“Glasstire’s Best of 2022” Glasstire, December 13th, 2022
Gregory Volk, “A Survey of American Art that Isn’t Just Coastal” Hyperallergic, March 7th, 2020
Patrick Kelly, “A Ghost in the Attic: Interview with Kris Pierce” theojac.org, September, 2019
Niklas Darke, “Swimming Between Beasts” Dalarna Chronicle, July 23, 2017
Bill Bridges, “Sundowner is not a Collective” Arts + Culture Magazine (cover), December 5th, 2014
Lauren Smart, “Sundowner at Circuit 12 Is One of the Most Interesting Gallery Exhibitions This Year” Dallas Observer, December 1st, 2014
Elaine Sun, “Revisionist History” Central Track, August 9th, 2013
Andy Amato, “Review: DallasSITES: Available Space at the DMA” Words and Images, August 2nd, 2013
Stephen Becker, “Local Artist Occupy DMA” Art & Seek, KERA Radio, July 31st, 2013
Margaret Meehan, “People in Your Neighborhood: Karen Weiner,” Glasstire, May 10th, 2013
Leslie Castro, “A Love Letter to Dallas,” Glasstire, February 20, 2012
Jamie Laughlin, “The 12 Most Newsworthy Art Moments of 2012 for Dallas and Fort Worth” Dallas Observer, December 19, 2012
Anthony Mariani, “Headed to Falloff,” Fort Worth Weekly, December 5, 2012
“What the Dallas Art World will be Buzzing About in 2013 and Beyond,” Modern Luxury Dallas, December 2012
Benjamin Lima, “where is the power,” ...might be good, Issue #198, October 12, 2012
Jennifer Smart, “Conduit Gallery's Group Exhibition is Worth a Second Look,” dallasdesigndistrict.com
Cassandra Emswiler, “Fight the Power, in Muted Tones: where is the power at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts,” D Magazine FrontRow, September 5, 2012
Ryder Richards, “Gallery Hopping: A Diversity of Strong Shows Highlight A Month in Dallas Art,” D Magazine FrontRow, May 30, 2012
Margaret Meehan, “Mirror Mirror #7: HOMECOMING! Committee,” Glasstire, May 14, 2012
Anne Lawrence, “Fort Worth Contemporary Arts – Wish You Were Here,” Art This Week, Episode 61
PUBLICATIONS
Operators (Generally Speaking, 2025) Forthcoming
State of the Art 2020 (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2020)
Sammankomster Och Gatherings: Galleri Se Konst Falun 2009–2018 (Sweden: GSK, 2018)
TX 13 Texas Biennial: An Independent Survey of Contemporary Art in Texas (Texas: Big Medium, 2013)
A Chorus of Sustain: The Shadows of Architecture (Texas, PCPress, 2011)
OTHER ACTIVITIES, TALKS, CONTRIBUTIONS, SCREENINGS
Nothing is as it Seems, Screening, Walters, Amsterdam, New York
Picnic Issue No. 4, April 2024
Culture Hole T.V., Episode 1: HUGS, 2020
The Modern's Teen/Artist Project, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, December 2019
Game Changers and Box Breakers: Critical Thinking in Our World, San Jacinto College, Houston, February 2019
The Modern's Teen/Artist Project, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, April 2018
Studio Practice and Technology, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden, March 2018
Art and Technology; New Media Artists Panel, The Cedars Union, January 2018
Student Lecture and Classroom Visit, Texas State University, San Marcos, October 2017
Kris Pierce Video Work, Screening, Sandviken, Sweden, October 2017
Augmented Reality Artist Panel Discussion, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, July 2017
Graduate Student Portfolio Reviews, SOMA, Mexico City, June 2014
“HOMECOMING: In Brief” Tuesday Evening Lecture Series, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, March 2014
semigloss magazine, Contributor (Cover), Vol. 4, December 2013
semigloss magazine, Contributor, Vol. 3, July 2013
“Drawing from the Collection,” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, September 2013
“A Chorus of Sustain” semigloss. magazine, Issue #3 June 2013
“Late Nights at the DMA, New Media Workshop” Dallas Museum of Art, March 2013
“New Acquisitions, New Media Workshop” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, February 2013
“New Media and Process,” Tarrant County College Southeast Campus, November 2012
“Kaguya Hime,” Dallas Neo-Classical Ballet, Assistant Set Designer, May 2012
“Drawing from the Collection,” Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, October 2012
For inquiries, email: contact@krispierce.com