Jerome AB

Masculine Ken on the Secret We Share, 2018

With spoken word by Precious Okoyomon, illustrations by Neil Gilks and Katie Armstrong

In an attempt to heal, Ken loses his digital self in a maddening research spell on stigmas around mental illnesses, inflicted upon/within ourselves in poc communities and by the other; ~white professionals~ resting on the laurels of institutionalized racism, to sift through the truths found in the misinformation of overstimulation, toxic masculinity, prayer and balance.

Length: 14:30

 

 

#MASCULINEKEN is an ongoing performative series featuring an expressionless humanoid character of unintelligible African origins portrayed by Jerome AB and extensions thereof, all dubbed Masculine Ken. In these pieces, Masculine Ken observes and confronts various psychological defense mechanisms, processes and falsified intrapersonal realities defined by (in)human(e) exchanges through movement and visual audio manipulation.

 

 

Masculine Ken on the Secret We Share v.3 was presented as a short film curated by Alima Lee for the Women’s Center of Creative Work’s ‘Films For Escapism‘ series in response to the first Covid-19 lockdown of 2020. The series also included films by Featuring works by Sarah Nicole Francois, summer fucking mason and Rhea Dillon.

 

Masculine Ken on the Secret We Share v.2 was presented as a live performance and screening at Navel in Los Angeles as commissioned for the 2018 Queer Biennial.

 

Masculine Ken on the Secret We Share v.1 was presented as a live performance in a storefront window on Sept 27, 2017 at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York City.

Fluct+ performed during Sustain-Release in the Catskills September 2017

 

Participants: Jerome AB, Emil Bognar-Nasdor, Kathleen Dycaico, Sarah Kinlaw, Sigrid Lauren & Monica Mirabile of Fluct, Jes Nelson and Tara-Jo Tashna

Movement by Jerome AB, 2017

Michael Bailey-Gates for A Man About Town Magazine

Photographer: Michael Bailey-Gates

Fashion Editor/Stylist: Matt Holmes

Featuring Jerome AB and Bobbi Salvor Menuez

Jerome AB

Sebastian, Tell Aware

A performance conceived by Jerome AB through the Otion Front Studio Artist-in-Residence program during the month of May.
‘Sebastian, Tell Aware’ is an exploration into the reversal of one’s dependence on the grief behind, before and after the death of a loved one.
This performance functioned as a five-part play, a mental map framed by the five stages of grief.

 

Dedicated to Sebastian Bwire, who deserved better from the American health care system.

 

Performed on June 1, 2017 at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn, NY by:
Kellian Delice … The Doctor
DeVonn Francis … The Son
Aarron Ricks … The Sibling
Tara-Jo Tashna … The Mother
& Jerome AB … The Patient

 

Greg Fox … Drums
Caleb Kruzel … Vocals
Adam Markiewicz … Violin
Precious Okoyomon … Spoken Word

 

Costumes by Merritt Meacham
Portraiture by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr.

Scorpions

_was a two-hour durational performance by Vincent Tiley in collaboration with Chris Habana, performed by Jerome AB, Forrest Wu and Ash Yergens as part of the Kinetic Intimacies exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design in May 2017

 

Footage and photos courtesy of Bryson Rand as featured in Out Magazine

 

Jerome AB

Masculine Ken on the Entertainment, 2017

_was a social experiment presented as a durational performance during Red Meal by Jen Monroe on April 22-23, 2017 in the Financial District of Manhattan.

Vocals by Glasser, cello played by YoungGun Lee

 

Masculine Ken attends a private dinner party not as a guest, but as the show.

This performance was inspired by the words of Leon F. Litwack — “The photographs stretch our credulity, even numb our minds and senses to the full extent…but they must be examined if we are to understand how normal men and women could live with, participate in, and defend such atrocities, even reinterpret them so they would not see themselves or be perceived as less than civilized…Few had any ethical qualms about their actions.”

 

#MASCULINEKEN is an ongoing performative series featuring an expressionless humanoid character of unintelligible African origins portrayed by Jerome AB and extensions thereof, all dubbed Masculine Ken. In these pieces, Masculine Ken observes and confronts various psychological defense mechanisms, processes and falsified intrapersonal realities defined by (in)human(e) exchanges through movement and visual audio manipulation.

 

Photography by Steven Acres and Walter Wlodarczyk

 

 

 

‘Better Than Me’ by Blood Orange feat. Carly Rae Jepsen

Director: Devonte Hynes

Exec Producer: Nick Harwood

Director of Photography: Garrett Hardy

Choreographer: Juri Onuki

Wardrobe Stylist: Emily Schubert

Stylist Assistants: Dominick Barcelona, Michaela Pearle

Dancers: Ashley R.T. Yergens, Eloise Deluca, Madison Krekel, Bryndon Cook, Nana Tsuda, Leslie Andrea Williams, Amanda Castro, Jerome AB, Charles Gowin, Mickey Mahar, Ciara Clements, Lindsey Jones, George Hirsh

Large, Deep Pit_was a fashion presentation of a wearable textile-art collaboration between Merritt Meacham and Ty Roach, formulated as a performance, choreographed and directed by Jerome AB.

 

The cast entered the space in their street wear just as one with the audience and were then stripped down to blank canvasses, translating physical information in response to five beacons of movement as Meacham clothed each body from the pit.

 

‘Large, Deep Pit’ was performed December 2016 at The Glove in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Performers: Eartheater, Monica Mirabile of Fluct, Jes Nelson of Dance Lawyer and Kathleen Dycaico

Cast: Sylvia Gz, Coco Romack, Mars Hobrecker, Stacy Gladstone, Kenta Murakami, Juje Hsiung, Liz Hoss, Ang Rand, Sarah Abney, Yasmin Geurts, Gunnar Kauth, Giovanna Flores, Moi, Joy, Sharleen Chidiac, Stevie, Fuck Walker, Tara-Jo Tashna, Caleb Kruzel, Nico Fuentes and Carmen Deshmandi

Music by Jjakub and 6d6y

Lighting by Nitemind

 

Videography by Payton Barronian

Photography courtesy of Luke Abby, Jimmy Tagliaferri, Guy Greenberg and Pedro Lopez as featured in THE EDITORIAL MAGAZINE

‘Augustine’ by Blood Orange

Director: Devonté Hynes

Producer: Nick Harwood

Co-Producer: Imogene Strauss

Cinematographer:Jack Pearce, Kenny Suleimanagich

Dancers: Jerome AB, Bryndon Cook, Julian Devine, Sigrid Lauren, Monica Mirabile, Nana Tsuda Misko, Juri Onuki, Leslie Andrea Williams