Anteaters in the Arts Alumni Profile: A Conversation with Glenn Kaino
Professor of Art Simon Leung chats with Glenn Kaino (B.A. ’93), an artist who’s been at the intersectional forefront of art and activism for more than two decades. Known for his conceptual, activist, and frequently collaborative multifaceted art practice, Kaino occupies a unique place in the art world and beyond. Simon Leung: Tell us about your time at UCI. Glenn Kaino: UCI was a magical place. I had the fortune to go there in the 1990s when Catherine Lord was transforming the Art Department into the most diverse and impactful team of artists and scholars. The new faces of diversity (Daniel Joseph Martinez, Ulysses Jenkins, Connie Samaras, Karen Carson, Judy Baca, Catherine Opie, Pat Ward Williams and others) were just charging! The undergrads would hear stories about classes and teachers, and the ideas they were championing, and 18
it felt alive. I transferred in and not knowing any better, set up meetings with every teacher to introduce myself, and met all the student studio rats that were always around and connected with everyone; and ended up helping to create a really productive chemistry during my time there. We self-organized events like an artist basketball league and a drag prom; I organized a group to Image: Glenn Kaino, “Bridge,” 2013. Fiberglass, steel, wire, gold paint. Dimensions variable. Installed at 5x5 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Glenn Kaino Studio
