An Art of Grief: Kia LaBeija, Kwan Bennett, and Photographic Processing
Presentation Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2026 9:16 PM
Description
Kia LaBeija is an underknown woman photographer whose art involves self-portraits and photographs as a testament to her personal narratives growing up in New York City and beyond. LaBeija creates her photographs to work through her experiences being born with HIV, losing her mother Kwan Bennett to AIDS-related complications, and long-term-survival with HIV for over three decades. LaBeija’s mother-daughter story points to the ongoing impact of the AIDS pandemic when at present over 36 million people have passed from AIDS-related complications and 38 million people are living with HIV.
Alex Fialho is a PhD candidate in Yale University’s Combined PhD program in the History of Art and African American Studies. As an art historian and curator, he focuses on Modern and contemporary art, Black queer and feminist thought, and AIDS cultural studies. His dissertation, Apertures Onto AIDS: African American Photography and the Art History of the Storage Unit, examines AIDS‑related histories through artists including Lola Flash, Darrel Ellis, Lyle Ashton Harris, and Kia LaBeija. He has held fellowships at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and the Getty Research Institute and previously served as Programs Director at Visual AIDS.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Fialho, Alex, "An Art of Grief: Kia LaBeija, Kwan Bennett, and Photographic Processing" (2026). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day. 51.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2026/schedule/51
An Art of Grief: Kia LaBeija, Kwan Bennett, and Photographic Processing
Kia LaBeija is an underknown woman photographer whose art involves self-portraits and photographs as a testament to her personal narratives growing up in New York City and beyond. LaBeija creates her photographs to work through her experiences being born with HIV, losing her mother Kwan Bennett to AIDS-related complications, and long-term-survival with HIV for over three decades. LaBeija’s mother-daughter story points to the ongoing impact of the AIDS pandemic when at present over 36 million people have passed from AIDS-related complications and 38 million people are living with HIV.
Alex Fialho is a PhD candidate in Yale University’s Combined PhD program in the History of Art and African American Studies. As an art historian and curator, he focuses on Modern and contemporary art, Black queer and feminist thought, and AIDS cultural studies. His dissertation, Apertures Onto AIDS: African American Photography and the Art History of the Storage Unit, examines AIDS‑related histories through artists including Lola Flash, Darrel Ellis, Lyle Ashton Harris, and Kia LaBeija. He has held fellowships at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and the Getty Research Institute and previously served as Programs Director at Visual AIDS.