ABOUT THE ARTIST

ISE LYFE

Ise Lyfe (HBO Def Poetry, Huffington Post, New York Times) is an award winning conceptual artist, justice advocate, author, and actor. Additionally, he's one of the leading Spoken Word artist in America with a broad fan base stemming from his appearances on several commercial market platforms and his social and political commentary, which exist in the realms of published works, major network guest commentary, and university lecturing.

For his latest conceptual art project, Brighter Than Blight (2013), Lyfe transformed a blighted condemned housing project into a life-sized exhibition and artistic narrative on housing as a human right. From its onset, the project was ambitious and massive - but at completion was hailed as not only unprecedented but also as a stellar success! Brighter Than Blight was covered by major media outlets throughout the US and attracted a broad audience as well as hired and trained dozens of young people and community members.

This young man has a decade of experience in performance and education that includes residencies and lectures at over 300 universities including Yale and Princeton.  

*In 2012, Ise Lyfe's hometown of Oakland, CA awarded him with one of its highest honors by dedicating his birthday, December 28th, as 'Ise Lyfe Day' in the City of Oakland.

His famed Hip-Hop Theater production Pistols and Prayers (based on book of same title) premiered at the Tony Award winning Berkeley Repertory Theater and brings together on one stage Spoken Word, American Folk Spirituals, Classical music, Hip-Hop, and Theater to address American apathy and resilience through the lens of the generation born into the 1980's/1990's crack epidemic. A powerful collage of thought provoking sociopolitical commentary, blended with a glimpse into the author's coming of age as a man, artist, and advocate for social change.