BIO
Ambrose Trataris aka DestroyHerr (he/they) is a trans conceptual artist and Drag performer based in the Bay Area. Through sculpture, installation, and performance he gives form to semiotic and social boundaries meant to govern our identity, sense of worth, and communal relations. Their performance work lives in a contemporary and almost ready-made aesthetic, uniting the artist’s hand with the robot’s manufactured one. His practice is an amalgamation of influences ancient and new, from Greek ruins to TikTok dance trends. They make work that holds space to witness and experience both dissonant and harmonious meetings of materials, concepts, and forms.
Email: ambrosetrataris@gmail.com
IG: @transhuman404 and @destroy_herr
Education
2016 MFA, Studio Art, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2012 BA, Studio Art, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Professional & Collaborative Projects
2020— Unrestricted Funds, Worldwide
2016— Art Handlxrs*, Bay Area, CA
2016-2019 R/SF projects, SF, CA
2015-2017 Dead Alleys, SF, CA
Affiliations
2022— Board Vice President, Oaklash, Oakland, CA
2021— Director of Advancement, CounterPulse, SF, CA
2018-2021 Director of Programs & Partnerships, San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA
2016-2020 Preparator, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SF, CA
Performances
2025
Daisy-Chain<><><>Star-Connection, Dresher Ensemble Studio, Oakland, CA (Forthcoming)
2023
[Custom Object] lipsync//dance, CounterPulse, SF, CA
2022
Voice Break, Commission by Minnesota Street Projects, SF, CA
2019
For all intents, constructions, and purposes, The Growlery, SF, CA
Thats Funny, McEvoy Foundation, SF, CA
Dump Fashun Show, UNTITLED & Minnesota Street Projects, SF, CA
2018
Teenage Tactical Training, The Branson School, Ross, CA
Inheritance, Palette, SF, CA
2017
Sad Vicious & Dead Alleys, R/SF projects, SF, CA
The Original Disruptor, San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA
2016
Semantic Deviation: Simultaneous Poetry, Performance, Cocktails, StoreFrontLab, SF, CA
Dead Alleys at the SFAI MFA Gala, SF, CA
2015
Edge Effect, Accelerated Sensation, Fort Mason, San Francisco California (With Nathalie Brilliant, Jauncy Matos, Kaitlin Trataris, and Skye Bennett)
Public Works
2020 Αποικία, Lakkos, Crete, Greece, Mural
2018 Teenage Tactical Training, The Brandon School, SF, CA, Permanent installation
Curatorial
2020
The Leonard Peltier Statue by Rigo 23, Walter & McBean Galleries, SFAI, SF, CA
2019
From the Tower: Andy Warhol, Main Gallery, SFAI, SF, CA
In a Flash with Ed Hardy, Diego Rivera Gallery, SFAI, SF, CA
The Point of Final Collapse, Postcommodity, SFAI, SF, CA
2018
SYSTEM, WACK by Oliver Hawk Holden, R/SF projects, SF, CA
2016
4 Rooms, R/SF projects, SF, CA
Group Exhibitions
2021
Reflection/Materiality, Minnesota Street Projects, SF, CA
SFAI 150 | A Spirit of Disruption, Walter & McBean Galleries, SF, CA
2019
The UnMonumental, Incline Gallery, SF, CA
2018
Endless Editions Biennial: Optimism, EFA Project Space, NY, NY
After Work, Palette SF, San Francisco, CA
Take Action, CCA Hubbell St Galleries, SF, CA
2017
All Welcome: The Clay Days Experiment, Embark Gallery, SF, CA
2016
Humor Us, Embark Gallery, SF, CA
Number Two (Touchy Feels), NO SPACE, Oakland, CA
MFA Exhibition, Fort Mason, SF, CA
Dinner Party, residence/SF, SF, CA
2015
Today is the Shadow of Tomorrow, SOMArts, SF, CA
Murphy Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition, SomArts, SF,CA
Alejandro Almanza Pereda presents: A Pop-Up Exhibition, Walter and McBean Galleries, SF, CA
Imaginary Milieu, Noroof Gallery, SF, CA
Awards & Residencies
2024
Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency, Oakland, CA
2023
CounterPulse Combustible Artist Residency, SF, CA
2019
YBCA 100 honoree, YBCA, SF, CA
Lakkos Artist Residency, Lakkos, Create, Greece
2018
Artist in Residence, The Branson School, Ross, CA
2016
AIR @ residence/SF, SF, CA
2015
Cadogan Scholarship, SF, CA
Press
2023
Broke Ass Stuart, Breaking Barriers: VR-Enhanced Drag Comes to SF, Vita Hewitt, September 8
2019
YBCA, ARTIST TO ARTIST: Queer Identity Among Art Handlers & Preparators with Kat Trataris & Eli Thorne, April 18
2018
Sarah Hotchkiss, How the Bay Area Art Scene Persevered in 2018, KQED, Dec 6
Sarah Hotchkiss, “Womxn* Art Handlers Carefully Deinstall Glass Ceiling of the Preparator World”, KQED, Oct 25
2017
Svea Vikander and Jozefien Buydens, “Artcrush”, KALX 90.7Fm, aired Dec 18
KunstCapades, "KunstCapades episode 51 w/Kaitlin Trataris and Lauren Licata of R/SF", Feb 13
2016
Stephanie Smith, "Kaitlin Trataris Art/Work", (im)material, June 12
2015
Jeremy Joven, “Kaitlin Trataris,” the new asterisk, Oct 2
Brianna Nelson, “Artist Interview: Kaitlin Trataris,” SOMArts, Sept 23
2012
Brooke Schyler, “Fighting for the Future,” The Daily Aztec, April 30
2011
Lectures
2023
Game Arts: Artist Talk - Ambrose Trataris aka DestroyHerr, CCA, SF, CA, October 12
2019
The Living Room Light Exchange, Oakland, CA
Artist to Artist, YBCA, SF, CA, April 18
2018
Visiting Artist Lecture, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, March 8
2015
ArtSpan’s Friday Night at the de Young: 40 Years of SF Open Studios, deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, Oct 9