Carl Hancock Rux

Carl Hancock Rux
Carl Hancock Rux in concert, Paris, France, 2018
Born	Carl Stephen Hancock New York City, U.S.
Occupation	playwright poet novelist essayist singer-songwriter director actor visual artist radio personality
Years active	1989–present
Notable works	Asphalt, Rux Revue, Talk, Pagan Operetta, Good Bread Alley, Apothecary Rx
Notable awards	Alpert Award in the Arts, NYFA Prize, Village Voice Literary prize, Obie Award, Bessie Award
Signature
Website
www.carlhancockrux.com

Carl Hancock Rux (/ˈrʌks/) is an American poet, playwright, singer-songwriter, novelist, essayist, as well as multidisciplinary performing and installation artist. His work often includes sound and image installation, photography, and performative lectures. He is the author of a collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta, a novel, Asphalt and the play Talk,^[1] Rux has been published as a contributing writer in numerous journals, catalogs, anthologies, and magazines including Interview magazine, Essence magazine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Iké Udé's aRude Magazine, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art (founded by fellow art critics Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke-Agulu and Salah Hassan) and American Theatre (magazine), among others. Rux's writings and monographs on visual art include essays on the work of conceptual artist Glenn Ligon ( I Stand in My Place With My Own Day Here: Site-Specific Art at The New School, edited by Frances Richards with a foreword by Lydia Matthews and introduction by Silvia Rocciolo and Erik Stark); the introduction for Nick Cave’s Until; and the Guggenheim Museum’s Carrie Mae Weems retrospective.

Rux is also a singer-songwriter who has recorded several albums, singles, and mixed tapes since the release of his Sony 550 cd, Rux Revue.^[2] He has collaborated with and appeared on several projects by a wide range of artists including DJ Spooky, Jeff Mills and former Fela Kuti musical director, Tony Allen (musician); as well as British musicians trip-hop composer Geoff Barrow of Portishead, David Holmes (musician) and industrial rock guitarist Rob Marshall (formerly of Exit Calm).

Trained as a visual artist, Rux's mixed media works (with frequent collaborator, visual artist and sculptor, Dianne Smith) have been included in the Uptown Triennale at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery;^[3] as well as the Archer Aymes Retrospective, exploring the legacy of emancipation through an immersive art installation featuring a concert performance by mezzo soprano Alicia Hall Moran and pianist Aaron Diehl, presented as one component of a three-part series commemorating Park Avenue Armory.^[4] He is a recurrent collaborator with artist Carrie Mae Weems on several of her live performance exhibitions, presented at the Spoleto Festival USA, Yale Repertory Theater, London's Serpentine Gallery, the Frieze Art Fair, the Kennedy Center and other venues.^[5]

Rux is co-artistic director of Mabou Mines,^[6] resident artist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts where annually he conceives and stages its campus-wide Juneteenth festival,^[7] multidisciplinary editor at The Massachusetts Review.^[8], and the former associate artistic director at Harlem Stage The Gate House,^[9].

Rux has been a faculty member at Brown University,^[10] The New School for Social Research, Yale University, The University of Iowa^[11] and is the former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at CalArts.^[12]