ArtInfo Artist’s Choice Best Shows of 2014
Maccarone New York
Various Small Fires Los Angeles, Inverted Capitol Spire: Programmatic Architecture Displacement #5, steel, cotton, 2014
Split Chorale for Viljo Revell, with Kathryn Andrews
Nuit Blanche Toronto October 4, 2014, Toronto City Hall
Review: The Buffalo News
Preview: The Globe and Mail
Aran Cravey Los Angeles
Inverted Capitol Spire: Programmatic Architecture Displacement #5, steel, cotton, 2014
Inversions V, 5-channel sound work, 2014
Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, through Nov. 8, 2014
http://www.vsf.la/scott-benzel/
Programmatic Architecture Displacements 6 and 7 at Los Angeles Contemporary Archives, architectural maquettes, 2014
“Golden State”, Samara Golden, Lucy Dodd, Kaari Upson, Lucy Raven, Amy Yao, Pentti Monkkonen, Liz Craft, Mungo Thomson, Scott Benzel, and Theodora Allen, curated by Drew Heitzler, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson
27 September 2014—7 December 2014
For Golden State, Heitzler has brought together ten artists from Los Angeles into the Great Hall. Individually and in aggregate their work playfully, cryptically and sometimes menacingly puts one in mind of the characteristic sprit and aesthetic linked with that geographical and political entity formerly known as the El Dorado State. Though where they hail from is undoubtedly important, what really matters, in Heitzler’s words, is that, “the artists make work that presents, in the best way possible, the arguments that make contemporary art interesting, not in terms of a relationship with other disciplines or concerns, but through a rigorous pursuit of the means through which art is meaningful on its own.”
Images by Christian Ramirez.
Nuit Blanche Toronto October 4, 2014, Toronto City Hall
Split Chorale for Viljo Revell, with Kathryn Andrews
Review: The Buffalo News
Preview: The Globe and Mail
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/
Opening Reception: Friday, July 18, 6pm – 9pm
Scott Benzel, Patricia Fernández, Hailey Loman, D’Ette Nogle, Mungo Thomson
Curated by Eric Kim
“… [I]ndividual experience is clearly inseparable from the culture in which it is constituted. This truth is in fact at the root of the most beautiful mysteries of life. Thus, in our intermediations, we can share with one another an immensely rich history of experience and reflection. Yet as individuals, at the same time, we may run the risk of losing a sense of personal identity, and growing blank in the process—like the postcard photographer’s gaze as he captures his empty images.”
- Allan McCollum
Art in America Exhibitions Review
Scott Benzel
June 25 – August 8, 2014
Maccarone
630 Greenwich Street NY
Maccarone proudly announces our first exhibition of Scott Benzel, opening June 25th through August 8th, 2014, featuring a selection of the artist’s works from 2009 to the present. On the occasion of the opening Benzel will perform, Folk Action and Non-Genre III for Belt Sanders and Female Black Metal Guitarist featuring Alex Niemetz.
Benzel’s practice can be understood as an exploration of cultural histories and their subsequent mythologies. Collecting fragments, remnants, and ephemera in an indexical manner, Benzel combines these often forgotten objects into aggregates of contradiction and altered meaning. With sculptural installations, photographic works, and sound he inhabits the role of artist as researcher. Unhinging each object’s original use-value through accumulation, misuse and convergence, obscure narratives form. Objects include:
metallic c-print of ‘Slash’ image of Spock; metallic c-print of ‘Fakir’ image of Lady Diana; counterfeit Nike SB Dunk ‘Heaven’s Gate’ shoes; The Trip original movie posters with original censorship stickers; Bison Dele,last game-worn jersey; The Beach Boys, ‘Never Learn Not to Love’ 45 RPM single; Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung; Esquire Magazine December 1967 editorial featuring Sharon Tate, ‘A Beginners Guide to Mao Tse-Tung’; Life Magazine December 1969 editorial featuring ‘The Wreck of a Monstrous Family’; Polish film poster for Weekend U Berniego; Polish film poster for Miłošč Szmaragd I Krokodyl; archival pigment prints of unused alien prototypes from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey; archival pigment prints of storyboards from the unrealized film The Story; ‘Love Roses’ disguised pipes; ‘Lipstick’ disguised pipe; U.S. Postal Service stamps depicting The Statue of Liberty at New York, New York, Las Vegas; The Silver Apples’ debut LP with Kmart 99c Special Sale sticker; Artforum magazine November 1974 featuring ad for Lynda Benglis at Paula Cooper Gallery; ‘Hi-Liter’ disguised pipe; October Magazine No. 1, Spring 1976, featuring Michel Foucault, “Ceci N’est Pas Une Pipe”; video featuring The Beach Boys performing ‘Never Learn Not to Love’ live on the Mike Douglas show with: 1. original sound 2. Charles Manson singing ‘Cease to Exist’ 3. ‘Never Learn Not to Love’ (studio version); archival pigment print of Bob Dylan’s hair; archival pigment print of flames of monk self-immolating; Knabe baby grand piano; c-print of woman with spectrum-dyed hair; Rode NK1 tube microphone; DR microphone stand; Kicker Comp 15 bass speakers; Shure SM58 microphone; Ultravoice XM8500 microphones; spectrum-colored XLR cables; Samson Servo 1200 amplifier; Yamaha EMX 212S power mixer; Shuggie Otis ‘Freedom Flight’ LP; two Allen Ruppersberg color xeroxes; Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko with stickers; Post-WWII German postcard with overprinting; Post-Islamic-Revolution Iranian banknote with overprinting; British pound coin with over- stamping; metallic c-print of Barker Ranch, Death Valley, CA; two glasses of seawater; yellow polypropylene rope forming two nooses; Leonard Nimoy-designed monogrammed towel; counterfeit Leonard Nimoy-designed monogrammed towel; Malcolm Mclaren business card; counterfeit Malcolm Mclaren business cards; Gustav Metzger object; counterfeit Gustav Metzger objects; silver gelatin print of plastic flower; metallic c-print of L.A. Times recreation of Patricia Hearst’s point of view on Mel’s Sporting Goods, site of SLA shootout, May 16th, 1974; The Lost Continent of Mu by James Churchward; Library of Congress facsimile of The Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson; Vietnam War-era Vietnamese Bible; Tijuana Bibles – Jean Harloe and Clark Gable; The Beatles, The Beatles (White Album); Kiosk displaying various books and magazines modeled after Jean-Luc Godard’s “ideology shop” in One Plus One.
Scott Benzel was born in 1968 in Scottsdale, AZ and lives and works in Los Angeles. His work has been shown or performed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, LA><ART, and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and was featured in Made in LA 2012, the first Los Angeles Biennial, at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Benzel has curated shows at the MAK Center/Schindler House, Los Angeles and the Welcome Inn, Eagle Rock, CA, as part of Pacific Standard Time organized by the Getty Museum, among others.
For more information on the exhibition, please call the gallery at 212 431 4977 or email press@maccarone.net.Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10 AM – 6 PM.
Scott Benzel Part-Objects Book Release LA Art Book Fair and LACA Jan. 30-Feb. 2 published by Human Resources Press and Lockitch Press, Texts by Eric Kim and Catherine Taft. Limited edition hardcover.
Available for online purchase: Art Metropole
http://lacarchive.com/ Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
http://laartbookfair.net/ MOCA Geffen Contemporary Jan. 30- Feb. 2
Mark Hagen and Scott Benzel Coprolite Selections, Art Los Angeles Contemporary Jan. 30-Feb. 2
ArtInfo Artist’s Choice Best Shows of 2014,
Art in America Review, Scott Benzel at Maccarone, by Brian Boucher
Modern Painters Review, Scott Benzel at Maccarone
Flash Art Review, Scott Benzel at Maccarone, by Aaron Bogart
Art Observed Review, New York: Scott Benzel at Maccarone, by O.C. Yerebakan
Selected Essays from PART-OBJECTS, by Catherine Taft and Eric Kim
CAM St. Louis Front Room Projects Essay, curated by Laura Fried
In the Good Name of the Company, Jan Tumlir, Chistopher Michlig, Brian Roettinger, Picturebox/For Your Art
In the good name of the company artforum.com Review by Kurt Mueller pdf
Made in L.A. Artforum Review by Michael Ned Holte pdf
Made in L.A. catalog essay by Kurt Mueller pdf
Ivory Neige, L’origine du Monde, Magic Eraser, Essay by Theresa Choi pdf
Between Connoisseurship and Humiliation Essay by Michael Haight pdf
Artforum Best of 2011 by Michael Ned Holte pdf
Artforum Review by Catherine Taft pdf
ArtReview Review by Andrew Berardini pdf
Seven Los Angeles Artists Index.pdf
Seven Los Angeles Artists Essay.pdf by Scott Benzel
Sublimated Los Angeles.pdf by Scott Benzel
Maldistribution I pdf by Scott Benzel
Dicer Troll.pdf from Maldistribution by Scott Benzel
Bison Dele pdf from Maldistribution by Scott Benzel
Artforum Best of 2009 by Stephen Prina pdf
http://www.shanaynay.fr/contents/11/
LAAIR/Air de Paris, live performance at Shanaynay, Paris, 2013
LAAIR / Traveller’s Companion Addenda solo show opens June 29, 2013
Part-Objects: Perform Chinatown LA with Anita Pace July 27, 2013
Audio from PART-OBJECTS, a collaboration with Anita Pace, Perform Chinatown 2013
The Stand In Public Fiction Sept. 2013: Review
Groupshow Autocenter Berlin 25.10.13
LAAIR/Air de Paris, live performance at Shanaynay, Paris, 2013
Audio from PART-OBJECTS, a collaboration with Anita Pace, Perform Chinatown 2013
Spectrum (installation audio excerpt), (2013) Human Resources
Scott Benzel plays selections from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of Feb. 28, 2013 (2013) Dem Passwords, LA
The Recitation from Profondeurs Vertes Mike Kelley and Scott Benzel Musee Louvre Paris (released 2012)
Exposition Chaos from A|D Liz Glynn and Scott Benzel with Corey Fogel and Giles Miller (2012) Public Fiction, LA
Sines (for Michael Asher) Excerpt 2 channel version of a 4 channel installation (2011) CAM St. Louis
Concentric Circles (before and after David Smith) Mvmt I for 3 lock-groove lacquers and string trio (2010) LACMA
Fewg Flash Bam Pow Music from the Trip (1967) in the style of…(2009) SASSAS Program PDF * **
Inversion I (retrograde) Excerpt Inversion I (retrograde) after Dennis Wilson (2010) Blum and Poe* **
Blak Bloc I Excerpt Blak Bloc II Excerpt BLAK BLOC FOR STRING QUARTET AND FEEDBACK (2009)* **
Nativity Electronique Coda from Day is Done- Original Soundtrack by Mike Kelley and Scott Benzel (2005)*
*full album available on iTunes ** full album available on Spotify
Human Resources presents Scott Benzel and What does possession mean to you? Opening and Performances Saturday April 27 7-10PM
Shows Close Saturday May 18
Human Resources is pleased to present two concurrent shows by Scott Benzel. The downstairs space will feature a show of the artist’s recent work including large-scale installations, vitrines containing new works, and performances. The upstairs will feature What does Possession Mean to You? a selection of works and objects from Benzel’s collection to be deaccessioned, stored, or promised to individuals and institutions following the close of the show.
A new performance, Un Coup de Des / Presence, and a ‘recombination’ of Benzel’s Folk History and Non-Genre I for Female Black Metal Guitarist and Belt Sanders (2012), will take place during the opening Saturday April 27 from 7-10 pm.
Scott Benzel is a Los Angeles-based artist and composer. His work was featured in Made in LA 2012 at the Hammer Museum and has been shown or performed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, LAXART, and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. This is his second solo show at Human Resources.
Human Resources is a team of creative individuals which seeks to broaden engagement with contemporary and conceptual art, with an emphasis on performative and underexposed modes of expression.
Photographs Jennie Warren iPhone photographs by Cindy Bernard and Scott Marvel Cassidy
Review by Sam Bloch PDF
Art Los Angeles Contemporary presents the debut of Scott Benzel W.W.A.R. / Die Dritte Generation for belt sanders, amplified newton’s cradles, bass speakers, glass, magnetic tape,viola, violin, and voice.
Taking as starting points Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Die Dritte Generation and Arthur Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation, Benzel’s ‘performative environment’ features performers installing and then acting upon various musical and visual constructions (some repurposed from previous performances) including a belt sander racetrack, amplified newton’s cradles, a coffee table supported by bass speakers, and a long magnetic tape loop.
An Homage to Mike Kelley presented by Gagosian Gallery
also LA Art Book Fair, MOCA
A Minor Canon, contribution to An Homage to Mike Kelley:
The Psychotronic Video Guide To Filmby Michael J. Weldon Maldororby Comte De Lautreamont The Sad Sack (Classics of Modern American Humor Series)by George Baker Harry Partch: Enclosure 3by Harry Partch, Philip Blackburn The four seasons and the archangels: experience of the course of the year in four cosmic imaginations;: Five lectures given in Dornach, Switzerland, from 5th to 13th October 1923by Rudolf Steiner The Center of the Cyclone: An Autobiography of Inner Spaceby John Cunningham Lilly Japrocksampler: How the Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock ‘n’ Rollby Julian Cope A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Musicby George E. Lewis The All-American Outhouse: Stories, Design & Constructionby Bob Cary Reich Speaks of Freud : Wilhelm Reich Discusses His Work and His Relationship with Sigmund Freudby Wilhelm Reich; Higgins, Mary; Raphael, Chester M.; Pol, Therese Reich Doris Dayby Eric Braun Psychedelic Artby R.E.L. Masters, J. Houston Text–Sound Textsby Allen Ginsberg, John Cage, Philip Glass,Claes Oldenburg, Jack Kerouac, Richard Kostelanetz (Editor) The Gertrude Stein Reader: The Great American Pioneer of Avant-Garde Lettersby Gertrude Stein, Richard Kostelanetz (Editor) H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Lifeby Michel Houellebecq The Psychoanalysis of Children (The Writings of Melanie Klein, Vol. 2)by Melanie Klein, H. A. Thorner (Editor), Alix Strachey(Translator) Spirit Worldby Jack Kirby Psychic Photography: Threshold of a New Science?by Hans Holzer Detroit Television (Images of America)by Tim Kiska , Ed Golick Colourby Rudolf Steiner
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The Academy/The Chthonic at Eleusis one person show at Public Fiction opens September 21
With a live performance by Ezra Buchla
& a tape-loop by Scott Benzel:
Sines for Michael Asher 2-channel loop 15 ips – 7 ips- performed by Allison Wyper and Jos McKain
This stage of sorts will host a series of performances & events. Including:
A set of dinners by Liz Glynn on October 12th &13th.