LaTefy Dolley, a Brooklyn-based multimedia artist, curator, and archivist from Memphis, Tennessee, explores Black queer history, ephemeral materials, and experimental publishing. His work constructs, preserves, and interrogates marginalized narratives, particularly examining how Black queer artists, activists, and poets use publishing, print media, and site-specific works to assert presence in times of crisis. He investigates the tension between fugitive and institutional archival practices, reimagining historically excluded artistic production through exhibitions, digital platforms, and embodied storytelling.
Holding an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA from Memphis College of Art with a minor in art history, he currently works as the gallery assistant at Sikkema Malloy Jenkins and serves as the digital archivist for Other Countries, a pioneering Black queer men’s writing collective founded during the AIDS crisis. His curatorial projects include Re-imagining Home for Visual AIDS and contributions to Visions of Pride: Paris is Still Burning, an exhibition at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) and the High Line.
His research interrogates the politics of preservation—what gets archived, by whom, and under what conditions? This inquiry informed his role as public programming and social media fellow for Last Address Tribute Walk: Harlem (2022), a collaboration between the Studio Museum and Visual AIDS. He has received honors such as the City Artist Corps Grant (2021) and the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award (2019).
Through his curatorial practice, LaTefy centers archival justice—investigating how archives shape social memory. He reimagines accessibility, sharing, and publishing as essential tools for preserving and activating Black queer history.
