Shane Dedman (he/they) is a transmasculine transmedia artist based in NYC. His practice focuses on capturing the resilience of trans identities. This process envelops concerns about representational autonomy and archival fever.
Their fluid disciplines with image, sound, text, and object culminate into installations and publications. Recently he’s been taking gender-affirming portraits for his community and celebrating his first summer since top surgery. He enjoys engaging in dialogues between analog and new media modalities so as to interpret the dichotomy of digital occupancy.
Shane’s work is internationally collected and has been reviewed in Wussy Mag and BURNAWAY. Their seminal short film trilogy PHYSICAL BODY OF WORK; a love letter to an evolving self premiered in Atlanta Contemporary’s 2021 Atlanta Biennial: Virtual Remains curated by TK Smith. Dedman most recently exhibited in The Patriot, an open submission group show at O’Flaherty’s, which was covered in The New York Times, ARTnews, HYPERALLERGIC, TimeOut, and CULTURED. He’s been invited to participate in auctions for The Hambidge Center, WonderRoot, Liliana Bakhtiari, Hu-MAN Up, and BURNAWAY. He’s been awarded residencies at Chateau Orquevaux, Welcome Hill Studios, The Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, Joshua Tree Highlands, and TAR Project. They’re a recipient of the ExLucis Photo Club Travel Award, the Georgia State University Foundation Scholarship, and the Golden Enterprises Scholarship.
Dedman has read poetry at Bowery Poetry Club, The New York City Poetry Festival, Sundress Academy for the Arts, Berlin Spoken Word Slam, and Theater Kefalos. His words have been published in Wussy Mag, Analog Cookbook, Underground Journal, Oz Magazine, and fLoromancy. Most notably, he co-wrote/edited “Non-binary Lullabies” [a reinvisioned series of trans fairy tales] in collaboration with poet Nicholas Goodly. Shane has also distributed small batch self-published zines Since I left you, Paste Poems Here, Menhavesomuchspace//womentakeuptoomuchspace, and STATIC.
In addition to artmaking, he has conducted public programming such as free poetry workshops for the Atlanta DIY community and art classes for incarcerated youth in rural Georgia. They’ve participated in artist talks and panel discussions in tandem with their installations at museums and galleries. Shane has studio assisted artists such as Jonathan Horowitz, Sonya Yong James, and MaDora Frey. He has also handled Tommy Smith’s archive, Sir Elton John’s Photography Collection, the Sassoon's Collection, and the Macklowe Collection.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2016 with a BFA in Photography, with emphasis in Gender and Sexuality Studies, from Georgia State University; where he studied with Jill Frank, Stuart Ziff, Craig Dongowski, Maura Ryan, Constance Thalken, Dr. Julie Kubala, and 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Nancy Floyd.
Dedman is inspired by the works of Jimmy DeSana, Claude Cahun, Unica Zürn, Nelson Sullivan, Legacy Russell, Dara Friedman, Steve Reinke, Nan Goldin, Vera Chytilová, Catherine Opie, Reineke Dykstra, Isaac Julien, and James Bidgood.
contact: shan3.d3dman@gmail.com
Parents of Transgender Children Resource List
Headshot by the talented Jon Sanchíz