Born in Alabama in 1977, to a single Army mother, Black Cracker is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sound, text, video and performance. After a late graduation he enrolled at the Memphis College of Art in 1996 where he studied fine art before dropping out 1998 after being awarded a grant to the illustrious New York Studio Program in where he lived until 2012. Discouraged by the commerce driven art market, he found a home in the literary scene becoming a two time National Poetry Slam champion as well a published poet in numerous publications. He then turned his attention to activism from 2000-2009 mentoring teenagers as the Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC. In 2002 he began exploring music production, collaborating with a number of avant-garde musical groups including Cocorosie. He is currently a vocalist for the Swiss jazz trio KiKu alongside Blixa Bargeld. In 2016 Black Cracker made his directorial debut at the Deutsche Oper (Tischlerei) with an interpretation of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte and again in 2018 with his comment on Berg’s Wozzeck. In 2019 he was the creative consultant for Whose Jizz Is This a multimedia installation work by Peaches at the Kunstverein Hamburg. His latest work is a VR performance video entitled A Ballet Of Slug And Shell, his adaptation of Der Freischütz to celebrate 200 years Konzerthaus Berlin with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop.
