Studio K.O.S.

Exhibited at DESIGN MIAMI. 2023 Created exclusively for the The Book of Love fundraiser for the Books & Books Literary Foundation, this limited-edition print features Studio K.O.S.’ original artwork celebrating Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, one of hundreds of beloved titles subject to recent book bans and challenges. The image comes from a 2020 video artwork entitled Invisible Man (after Ralph Ellison), resulting from the Collaborative Workshops for Transcendence through Art and Knowledge, led by Studio K.O.S., in which participants reflected on the novel’s ongoing relevance in our contemporary world.  According to Studio K.O.S.: “Who but Ralph Ellison says it best.: ‘I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me.’  “The IM motif comes from the word VICTIM.  Where the V, the I, and the C were cut off and left with the letters IM. Hence taking control of oneself, one's lives, one's fate while becoming visible.” All proceeds benefit the Books & Books Literary Foundation’s urgent fight for the right to read. About Studio K.O.S.: Studio K.O.S. is a collective of artists who are continuing the legacy of Tim Rollins and the Kids of Survival (K.O.S.), whose collaborative approach to making art began in the Bronx in the 1980s. What was manifested from their collaborations became a powerful body of work that can be seen today in over 120 museums and public collections worldwide including MoMA, The Tate Modern, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Studio K.O.S. currently consists of Angel Abreu, Jorge Abreu, Robert Branch, and Nelson Ricardo Savinon, original members who have remained active for over 30 years. They remain dedicated to the mission of empowering young people through exposure to art and literature. Studio K.O.S. is represented by Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia. About Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," before retreating amid violence and confusion.  Originally published in 1952 as the first novel by a then unknown author, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, James Joyce, and Dostoevsky.