JANA ASTANOV
Josh Kil is best known for work that deals with the occult, sexuality and critiques of reality/perception. There are several mediums used to execute his ideas. His sculptures are created with various materials such as wood, mirror, aqua resin and acrylic, but he also does video, performance and 2-dimensional works. Kil moved to New York from New Mexico in 1996. He attended The School of Visual Arts where he was a painting major. Before gallery representation, Kil had been in many group shows and performances. In 2015 he became represented by Christopher Stout Gallery, now called ADO Project, where he has been in 6 group shows and has had two solo shows.
3:AM: How did it all start? What made you a performance artist? or How did you get involved in performance art?
Josh Kil: Before I even went to art school, I was in bands, including one where I was the front person and wore a dress. It wasn’t uncommon for me to lift my dress without underwear on stage. I was a pretty lad.
When I got to art school, I was typically put off by most performance art. I thought it demanded too much of the viewer and was basically weird.
Later I decided that I liked it because it demanded so much of the audience and was weird.
The directness of performance art, and the general open-mindedness from performance art audiences, of actions and sounds that don’t even make sense, gives it a lot of room to create meaning.
3:AM: Were there any people who influenced you in the choice of performance?
JK: Iggy Pop. Anton LaVey, a 90’s band called Crash Worship, Lux Interior from The Cramps… Bill Hicks. There was a weird dancing person in a Mike Kelley video that has stuck with me, though I don’t recall the title. I have also been interested in Magick Ritual as performance. “Female Trouble” by John Waters. The stuff that B.J. Dini is doing with The Purple Party has been inspiring me lately.
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