Kris Grey

I volunteered to pick Barbara Hammer up at the airport in Columbus almost a decade ago. The drive back to Athens, OH solidified a friendship that I will alway cherish. In between then and now, I rode my motorcycle from Ohio to NYC to see Barbara perform at the Kitchen, I assisted her on countless projects, I performed with her, worked in her studio, cleaned prints for her, moved boxes, and one time I picked her up at home and wheeled her to the Whitney after she broke her leg jumping off a stage. Barbara was a true inspiration and a warm, welcoming friend. Her strength and resilience are aspirational but the greatest lesson we can take from her life and work is to pursue joy through creative play! She described herself this way at the screening of her film, Welcome To This House at MOMA, “I don’t want to go to the moon but I do want to have small adventures in my life”. Knowing Barbara was one of the greatest adventures of my life and I’ll be conjuring her spirit ever time I teach, lecture, and make my work in the world. She’s with the stars now, closer to the moon than ever. And I’m running my fingers over the words she wrote to me in her book to feel the tracks that the pen left on the page.