Killscreen was pleased to present Life & Times of a Wannabe Popstar, the inaugural solo exhibition by the visionary queer multimedia artist Clark Woods.

In this interactive, multi-genre exhibition, Woods primarily uses the video game medium to narrate the life of Axel Flux, a burgeoning, fictional pop star sensation grappling with the internal and external pressures of being a queer artist in the public eye. Axel's character becomes an autofictional experiment for the artist, bordering between a personal and impersonal caricature of their struggles dealing with self-identity, self-determination, and self-actualization.

Life & Times of a Wannabe Popstar was on view at Killscreen from September 9th to October 10th, 2023, by appointment only. Eighty total editions of the video game, accompanied by limited-edition risograph artist proofs were created. Additionally, patrons could collect a self-published zine.

About Clark Woods

Clark Woods (b. 2000, Oklahoma City) is a queer non-binary trans artist based in Chicago making works that utilize technology as an extension of their body to blend ‘the real’ and ‘the virtual’, to explore the boundaries between these concepts and where one’s mind and body exist in tandem. Their practice is centered around video art, AR/VR, 3D animation, motion capture, web-art, interactive-art, live video making, and performance to bring these conjunctions to fruition.

Download Clark Woods' CV here. Photo credit Evan Walsh.