K8 Hardy

K8 Hardy is an American artist and filmmaker whose creative endeavors encompass painting, sculpture, video, and photography.  

Biography of K8 Hardy

Kate Hardy was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1977. Hardy adopts the moniker "K8" as a shortened form of her first name, a practice she began while publishing zines during her high school years.

K8 Hardy pursued her education at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, graduating in 2000 with a degree in film and feminist/queer theory. Hardy honed her video skills through the Five College Consortium. Later, she collaborated with Miranda July and the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon.

In 2003, she joined the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program alongside artists like Ulrike Mueller and Lisa Oppenheim. Eventually, Hardy earned an MFA from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College in 2008.

Her participation in the 2012 Whitney Biennial featured sculptures, photographs, and an innovative performance titled "Untitled Runway Show." This showcased live models donning anti-couture outfits designed by Hardy on a catwalk. Her 2020 exhibition at Reena Spaulings New York featured a striking ten-foot-long painting resembling a maxi pad, challenging conventional notions of painting and sculpture.

Her art has been showcased globally, with exhibitions at esteemed institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate Modern, Tensta Konsthalle, Karma International, and the Dallas Contemporary. Hardy's pieces are also part of the permanent collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Currently, the artist lives and works in New York.