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Will Rawls (b. 1978, Boston, MA; lives and works in Los Angeles and New York) is an artist and choreographer whose multidisciplinary practice explores the ambiguities of Blackness—its visibility and erasure, its performance and abstraction—to reframe the relationship between language and the body. Most recently, Rawls choreographed and performed as part of the programming for Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon at MoMA PS1, New York and choreographed a new work for the public programming in conjunction with Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Other recent presentations include the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, Counterpublic 2023 and Liste Art Fair. In 2016, he co-curated Lost and Found, a six-week program of performances and artist projects at Danspace Project focused on the intergenerational impact of HIV/AIDS on dancers, women, and people of color.
Based in Los Angeles and New York City, Rawls currently teaches in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles and lectures widely in academic and community contexts. In addition, his work has been exhibited across the U.S., including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; The Chocolate Factory Theater, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Art Boston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven. Rawls has also received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, United States Artists, Rauschenberg Foundation, and the MacDowell Colony.