CHELLA MAN
b. 1998
EXHIBITIONS
2024 “The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…”, Frieze, NY
Overflow, Afterglow: New Work in Chromatic Figuration, Jewish Museum, NY (group)
It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense, Hannah Traore Gallery, NY (solo)
2023 “The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Leslie Lohman Museum, New York, NY (solo)
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Nowness, Virtual
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, AU
Elevator Etiquette, Industry City, Brooklyn (solo)
My Ear Broke, Museum of the City of New York, NY (group) X
2022 Headphones as Armor, Leslie-Lohman Museum, NY (group)
Why Do People Want To Be Remembered, Malin gallery, Miami, FL (group)
Constructing My Own Seat at The Table, 1969 Gallery, NY (solo)
Dinner Table Syndrome Pure Joy Painting, 1969 Gallery, NY (group)
Is It Worth It, Performance Space, New York, NY (solo)
Listen To Me, Villa Madrid, Los Angeles, CA (group)
Vitruvian Man Floor Design, Abrons Art Center, Brooklyn (duo)
I'm Glad I Met You At This Age, Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin (group)
Just Right Now, NYC Culture Club, The Oculus, NY (group)
2021 “Rewiring, Raison D'être”, NYC Culture Club,The Oculus, NY (group)
“Vineeta” First Impressions, Anonymous Gallery, NY (group)
“Have You Met Every Layer of Yourself?”, US Open Gallery, Queens (group)
“Take This Down I Dare You” Online Performance, Eyebeam (solo)
“I Want To Be Remembered…” Billboard, ForFreedoms, Pittsburgh, PA(solo)
“How To Do The Right Thing” Painting, Higher Power Auction, Artsy
“Horizontal Hostility” Painting, Greenhouse Auction, Artsy
2020 “TransAtlantico” Mana Contemporary Gallery, Jersey City, NJ (group)
“Trans Disabled Black Lives Matter” Public Mural, NYC Pride Window Mural, New York, NY
2019 “Dysphoria” Painting, CNN World Pride, NY (group)
2018 “Golden Hour Series” Compound Gallery Group Show, New York, NY (group)
“Not Your Typical Solo Show”, Space 776 Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
FILM FESTIVALS
2024 The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Queer Fest Kathmandu
The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…”, dotdotdot, Vienna
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” , Frameline Film Festival, SF
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Queer Screen's 31st Mardi Gras Film Festival
2023
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” .Semi-finalist Oakland Film Festival, CA
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Cannes Indie Short Awards, Cannes, France
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” SignLight International Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Superfest Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Newfest Film Festival, New York, NY
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Deaf Film Festival, Austin, TX
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Nowness
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, AU
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Queerfilm festival, Bremen, DE
“The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…”, Toronto Short Film Festival, Canada
“The Beauty of Being Deaf,” QueerFilmFest, Rostock, DE
2022 The Beauty of Being Deaf, Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney, AU
2021 “The Beauty of Being Deaf,” CINEMQ Cinema, Shanghai, CN
“The Beauty of Being Deaf,” Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC
“The Beauty of Being Deaf,” Newfest Film Festival, New York, NY
PRESS COVERAGE
2024 “Who I Am” Documentary wins BRONZE for NYF TV & Film Awards
Chella Man’s Identity Doesn’t Have To Make Sense, HeyAlma Interview
Chella Man Is Done Explaining His Existence, Harpers Baazar Interveiw
Show Yours(elf), Tribeca Film Festival x Elf, NY
2023 “The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg…” Vimeo Disability Visibility Picks
“Life After Birth” Rubin Museum Podcast Interview
Forbes 30 Under 30 - Art and Culture Awardee
“Who I Am” Documentary Series award for Documentary at Asia TV
Featured within Pessima Magazine, Vol 1
Covered and interviewed by Man About Town Magazine, FW23
Guest on Schuyler Bailar’s Podcast “Dear Schuyler”
Interviewed by The AMP, “Chella Man Explores the Cyborgian Experience of Being Trans and Deaf”
Interviewed for POPSUGAR, "Joy Is the Foundation of Gender Identity and Expression"
Interviewed for Puss Puss, “The Only Way is Forward”
Interviewed by Gossamer, “Chella Man”
Interviewed and art studio featured on EQ3
Gay City News, “From Industry City, Chella Man invites you to think outside the box”
Interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, “The Captioning Conundrum”
“Who I Am” Documentary Series follows Chella Man: WOWOW Productions
2022 New York Times, “Art We Saw This Summer” Pure Joy Exhibition Highlighted
Covered V Magazine, “Midterm Elections 2022: Chella Man”
Interviewed for Gucci’s Zine: Chime For Change with Judith Heumann and Andrae Lavant
Sculpture featured in Vice Magazine “Transmasculine Actors Are Still Waiting for Their“Tipping Point’”
Galarie Magazine, quoted in “Next Big Thing” Article
Featured and interviewed for Buffalo Zine at The Chelsea Hotel with Aaron Phillip
Paper Magazine, “Chella Man Features All Disabled Artists on Pure Joy”
ART News, “Curating Disabled Joy and Resisting ‘Inspiration Porn’”
Who What Wear, “Chella Man Has Found His Joy” Interview
Queerty Magazine, “Chella Man invited 13 disabled artists to explore ‘Pure Joy’”
Covered Out Magazine, “Nyle DiMarco and Chella Man Are the New American Idols”
Prestige Online, “Actor, Model, Artist and Activist Chella Man on Creating Space for Himself”
Prestige Magazine, “Man in the Middle” Print Spread
Johnson & Johnson, #DEPRESSIONLOOKSLIKEME Campaign Front
Vogue Hong Kong, “Chella Man on Representation and Advocacy Through Art”
2021 The White House, interviewed and video: 31st Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Tamron Hall Show, “Chella Man Is Challenging Gender Roles & Encouraging Us to Be More Expansive”
Vogue, “A New Jewelry Collaboration Celebrates the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities” Highlight
Paper Magazine, “Chella Man Launches Ear Jewelry Collection with Private Policy”
CNN - “Chella Man on finding and making his communities”
Covered “In The Know” with MJ Rodriguez
Interviewed for Hunger Magazine
Featured in Photobook Magazine
Featured in Perfect Magazine
Yahoo features Jewelry Designs for The Beauty of Being Deaf x Private Policy
Interviewed by Autostraddle for executive producing trans in trumpland
2020 Out Magazine, Cover Feature with Laverne Cox
Calvin Klein, #PROUDINMYCALVINS Summer Campaign
Yahoo, “21-year-old Deaf Activist Explains the Ongoing Fight for Disability Rights” Interview
2019 Mission Magazine, “Chella Man Offers A Radical Approach to Visibility” Cover Feature
TimeOut, “Chella Man Talks Art and Activism in NYC” with L’Officiel Art
Gay Times Magazine, “Gay Times Magazine’s 500th Issue” Cover Feature
The Advocate Magazine, Cover Feature
2018 Teen Vogue, IMG Worldwide Signs Chella Man as first Deaf, Trans Model
LECTURES AND TALKS
2025 MoMA Disability Art Chats
2024 Diversity and Equity at Google
Fidelity Talk
Poshmark Talk
Georgetown University Film Screening and Talk
2023 “Continuum,” Scripps College, Claremont, CA
“Continuum” reading at Powerhouse Arts
Film Screening and Talk Back for Mixed Asian Media at Industry City, NY, NY
Film Screening of Cyborg and Talk Back at The Leslie-Lohman Museum, NY, NY
Film Screening and Talk Back at Hermitage Artists Retreat in Sarasota, Florida
2022 “One Must Live It: Disability and Joy Roundtable” with Judith Hermann and Jezz Chung,
Leslie Lohman Museum of Art , New York, NY
2021 Panel Speaker with Judith Heumann and Andraéa LaVant, Gucci CHIME Zine, Virtual
Guest Speaker, University of California, Riverside, CA
Internal Discussion on Intersectionality, Apple, Cupertino, CA
“Continuum,” DC 2023 Public Library, Washington, DC
Panel Speaker with Tyler Oakley, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah GA
Guest Speaker, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Guest Speaker, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Interviewed by Indya Moore for The Renaissance Awards
2020 Keynote Speaker, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Guest Speaker, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
2019 Guest Speaker, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
“Becoming Him,” TEDx Talk, Virtual
The Brooklyn Museum in Dialogue with Chella Man, BK, NY
PUBLICATIONS
2024 For Freedoms Billboards monograph with Monacelli
Overflow, Afterglow Group Exhibition with The Jewish Museum
Stabbe, O., & Man, C. (2024). Deaf and trans, intersections. In The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ+ STUDIES ( 2 ed., Vol. 0, pp. -). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071891414
2023 Sun Kim, Christine. Secession. Vienna Secession, 2023, p. 95
Featured in Luigi and Iango’s “Unveiled” published by Phaidon
2022 Featured in “Fire Island Pines” by Robert Andy Coombs published by BOFFO
2021 Man, Chella. Continuum. Penguin Random House, 2021.
2020 ` Padden, Carol A., and Tom Humphries. Introduction to Deaf Culture Oxford University Press, 2020, p. 104
2017- 2018 Man, Chella. "Man-Made." Them, Condé Nast, https://www.them.us/contributor/chella-man.
ACTING AND PRODUCTION
2023 ‘Jason,’ “Chestnut,” Frameline Film Festival, San Francisco, CA
Director/Co-Editor/Co-Producer/Actor, “The Device That Turned Me Into A Cyborg…”
2021 Executive Producer, “Trans in Trumpland” TV Documentary Series
Director/Producer/Editor, “The Beauty of Being Deaf”
2020 ‘Frankenstein,’ “Frankenstein” Play Production, National Theatre of the Deaf, West Hartford, CT
2019 ‘Jericho,’ “Titans” Season 2 TV Series, DC Universe
COLLABORATIONS
2024 International Ambassador for Nike
Board Member of The Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City
2023 International Ambassador for Nike
“The Process of Falling in Love With Yourself” : short film commissioned by Google Pixel
Ambassador for Google
Board Member of The Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City
2022 International Ambassador for Nike
Featured in It Gets Better Campaign Short Documentary
Designed Cochlear Implant Cover for Med-El Cochlear Implants
Featured in Nike’s Global Running Campaign “Run to Release”
Hosted Wheelchair-Friendly Community Run (5K) with Nike
ASL Teacher, CIRENAS, Hacienda Ario, CR
2021 Designer, “The Beauty of Being Deaf” Collection, Private Policy Jewelry
Designer, Chella Man Tattoo Collection, Inkbox
Internal Diversity Consultant for Gucci
2020 Judge, Instagram Portraiture Art Competition 2020 Collaborations with Adobe Creative Cloud
Designer, Chella Man Tattoo Collection, Inkbox
2019 Designer, “Chella Man x Opening Ceremony,” Opening Ceremony
Designer, Chella Man Tattoo Collection, Inkbox
HONORS AND AWARDS
2024 Harper’s Baazar Japan Featured Artist - October Issue
Selected as Forbes 30 Under 30 - Art and Culture
2023 Honored by the National Associated of The Deaf with the Awareness Breakthrough Award
Honored by the British LGBT+ Awards for Online Presence
2022 Gold House’s 2022 A100 List Honoree
“Continuum” Nominated for Audible’s Best LGBTQIA Listens by Queer Authors
“Continuum” named as YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
Shorty Awards, Judge
2021 Nowness Film Highlights, “The Beauty of Being Deaf”
Models Dot, Social Mover of the Year Nominee
The Attitude Awards, The Hero Award, London, EN
Digital Creator Award Winner, The Renaissance Awards, —NFT
Honoree at The White House for the 31st ADA Anniversary
2020 Silver Arts Residency Mentor, World Trade Center, New York, NY
Paper Magazine, “Eight Faces Defining the Future of Fashion,” Honoree
Shorty Awards, Judge
2019 Shorty Awards - LGBTQ+ Account Nomination
Queerty Pride50, Award Winner
2018 Out100 List, Honoree
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2024 Anderson Center - Red Wing, MI
2023 Hermitage Retreat Residency Fellow, Sarasota, FL
Industry City Artist-In-Residence, Brooklyn, NY
2022 Silver Art Projects Mentor, World Trade Center, New York, NY
Industry City’s First Artist-In-Residence, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Silver Art Projects Mentor, World Trade Center, New York, NY
2020 Palazzo Monti Resident, Brescia, IT
MODELING
2023 Kilian Perfume, Paris, France
2022 Hugo Boss Men’s FW2022, Milan, Italy
International “Be True” Campaign, Nike
Prada Triangle
BOSS Be Your Own Boss
Balmain x Barbie
2021 Tommy Hilfiger x Timberland
YSL “Nu” Campaign
H&M “Beyond the Rainbow”
Indya Moore x Tommy Hilfiger
2020 Calvin Klein Summer Campaign by Ryan McGinley
WORK HISTORY
2025 Tattoo Apprentice at Castro Tattoo Shop, San Francisco
EDUCATION
2017-2019 Parsons School of Design, BFA in Virtual Reality Programming