Biography
Scott Benzel, born 1968 in Scottsdale, AZ, lives and works in Los Angeles. Benzel’s work has been shown or performed at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, LA><ART, Los Angeles, The MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, The Palm Springs Art Museum, 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 Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture (Schindler House), Los Angeles and the Welcome Inn, Eagle Rock, CA, as part of Pacific Standard Time organized by the Getty Museum, among others.
SCOTT BENZEL
Born 1968 in Scottsdale, Az. Lives and works in Los Angeles.
EDUCATION
2001 MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
1995 BA, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
1988 California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
2020
Mindless Pleasures, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (upcoming)
2019
Prelude to ‘Invocation’, Coda, and Inversion V after Dennis Wilson in concert with Invocation of my Demon Brother / Another Movie, by Kenneth Anger / Morgan Fisher , / (Slash Art), San Francisco, CA
L. Frank Baum’s The Uplift of Lucifer, Treignac Projet, Treignac, France
2018
V.I.T.R.I.O.L., Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles (upcoming)
Torcat Tiqaucrat Mytics Ahtrae, Acid Free, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
2017
Unauthorized Live Score, The Kouroi / The Dilettanti, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Mathesis and Mathematikoi , Mt. Wilson Observatory, CA, Knowledges 2017, curated by Christina Ondrus
2016
ISBN 978-0-9913772-0-6, reading, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, organized by Keith J. Varadi
(Mayakovsky) for Instrumental Transcommunication, Voice, and Autotune, Rainbow in Spanish, Los Angeles
Op. 21: Inner Experience Fellowship/Friends of Crime, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles
Desert Center (Composition I10 Mvmt IV (Dusk)), Palm Springs Art Museum, Desert Center, CA
2014
Various Small Fires, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles
Maccarone, New York
2013
LAAIR / The Traveller’s Companion Addenda, Shanaynay, Paris
“Scott Benzel” and What does Possession Mean to You?, Human Resources, Los Angeles
A Regress, part of The Stand-In, Public Fiction, Los Angeles
…plays selections from the Billboard Hot 100 for the Week of Feb. 28, 2013, Dem Passwords, Los Angeles
W.W.A.R./ Die Dritte Generation, Art Los Angeles Contemporary, Los Angeles
The Academy / The Chthonic at Eleusis, Public Fiction, Los Angeles
2012
(Threnody) A beginner’s guide to Mao Tse-Tung, Made in LA, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Funhouse after the Penultimate Sequence of The Lady from Shanghai, part of Ball of Artists, Greystone Manor, Beverly Hills, CA, LAXART/Hammer
Recombinant Folk History and Non-genre I, Black Box, curated by Liz Glynn, part of Pacific Standard Time, Los Angeles
2011
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Front Room Exhibition
Maldistribution, Human Resources at Cottage Home, Los Angeles
Variations for Commercial Arcade, Trespass/Parade, West of Rome, Los Angeles
Mulching the 20th C, Human Resources at Cottage Home, Los Angeles
Concentric Circles (before and after David Smith), Los Angeles County Museum of Art
2010
sound. series concert at King’s Road Park, commission by SASSAS, Los Angeles
Inversions I-IV, Apartment 2, Los Angeles
2009
Mandrake, Los Angeles
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Drive-by Art, Los Angeles, organized by Warren Neidich, Renee Petropoulos, Michael Slenske, and Anuradha Vikram
Portable Documents Formatted for Home Use, Bel Ami, Los Angeles
2019
Garland, Treignac Projet, Treignac, France, organized by Sabrina Tarasoff
L.A. on Fire, Wilding Cran, Los Angeles, curated by Michael Slenske
2018
#followme, Desert Center Los Angeles
Homebodies, Away Teams, UMOCA, Salt Lake City, UT, organized by Emma Kemp, Daniel Wroe
Futures Reverse Order, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, organized by Tom Leeser
2017
Imagining Tellus 28, Harvestworks, New York, curated by Tom Leeser
Ours is a City of Writers, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, selected by John Tain
2016
Nostalgia for the Present: Two Years of LACA, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, curated by Eli Diner
2014
Golden State, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, curated by Drew Heitzler, Tucson, AZ
“And yes, I even remember you.” Aran Cravey, Los Angeles, curated by Eric Kim
2013
“Would you ever Write a Tract?” Autocenter, Berlin, curated by Marcel Dickhage and Daniel Horn
The Stand In, Public Fiction, Los Angeles, curated by Alexandra Gaty and Lauren Mackler
In the Good Name of the Company, For Your Art, curated by Jan Tumlir, Brian Roettinger, Christopher Michlig
2012
An Homage to Mike Kelley, presented by Gagosian Gallery, MOMA PS1, New York
Venice Beach Biennial, with Mark Hagen, curated by Ali Subotnick, Venice, CA
Made in LA: 1st Los Angeles Biennial, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Print Imprint, Actual Size and Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles
Artists’ Tower of Protest, Mark di Suvero, organized by LAXART, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
2011
Trespass/Parade, West of Rome, Los Angeles, organized by Emi Fontana, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Arto Lindsay
2010
Endless Bummer/Surf Elsewhere, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles, curated by Drew Heitzler
Animal Style: New Warrior Training, Pepin Moore, Los Angeles, curated by Drew Heitzler
2007
In Abstraction, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, curated by Karl Erikson
2006
Incognito, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, organized by Rodney Mcmillian
2003
Drive into the Sunset, The Western Front, Vancouver, BC
2001
Art/ Tech, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Have a Cool Summer, Keep in Touch” Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles
2000
Hotel Power Emergency, Stevenson Blanche Deveroux Gallery, Valencia, CA
SELECTED COLLABORATIVE WORK
2019
Circus Empire, with Kathryn Andrews, Original Score for Kathryn Andrews’ exhibition, Nave Koenig, Berlin
2014
Split Chorale for Viljo Revell, with Kathryn Andrews, Nuit Blanche, Toronto, CN
2013
Part-Objects with Anita Pace, Perform Chinatown, Los Angeles
2012
A|D with Liz Glynn, also with Corey Fogel, Giles Miller, Public Fiction, Los Angeles
Venice Beach Biennial, with Mark Hagen, curated by Ali Subotnick, Venice, CA
Opus I for Crude Instruments, with Kathryn Andrews, Hip-O Ranch, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX
Bass elegy/Devil’s Night for MK, with Mark Hagen, Part of Made in LA 2o12, LAXART, Los Angeles
Variations IV, John Cage, realized by Scott Benzel / Dave Muller, Welcome Inn Time Machine, part of Pacific Standard Time, organized by the Getty Museum, Los Angeles
2010
Mostly Sculpture Show, with Kathryn Andrews, Sea and Space, Los Angeles
2009
Judson Church Horse Dances, Co-composer, Producer, with Mike Kelley, Performa 09, Judson Church, New York
Destroy All Monsters at A Fantastic World Superimposed on Reality, Gramercy Theatre, Performa 09, New York
’A Voyage of Growth and Discovery’ Original Score Co-composer with Mike Kelley, Sculpture Center, New York
2006
‘Profondeurs Vertes’ Original Score Co-Composer with Mike Kelley, Musee Louvre, Paris
2005
‘Day is Done’, Original Score Co-Composer with Mike Kelley, Gagosian, New York
2004
Destroy All Monsters, ”All Tommorrow’s Parties” curated by Jake and Dinos Chapman, Camber Sands, UK
Into the Sun, Live Performance w/Sam Durant and Tom Recchion, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2002
Arena, Original Score Composer for Andrea Bowers’ exhibition, Sara Meltzer, New York, Chouakri Brahms. Berlin
2001
Democracy’s Body, Original Score Composer for Andrea Bowers exhibition, Art Basel Statements, Basel, Switzerland
CURATORIAL
2019
Hoard Inaugural, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
2015
Sonatine Bureaucratique, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
2013
Tape Music at the Schindler House, MAK Center/Schindler House, Los Angeles
2012
Welcome Inn Time Machine, Welcome Inn, Eagle Rock, CA, part of Pacific Standard Time
2011
Sublimated Los Angeles film series, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Seven Los Angeles Artists, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDINGS
2018 Sonatine Bureaucratique, book, ed. Ryan Jeffery, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
Home Bodies Away Teams, eds. Emma Kemp and Daniel Wroe, UMOCA, Salt Lake, UT
2017 Double Issue, Pacific Standard Time Music and Performance festival, 2012, ed. Irene Tsatsos, Armory Editions
2016 ISBN 978-0-9913772-0-6, artist’s book, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
2015 Sonatine Bureaucratique, essay, ed. Carlye Packer, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive
2014 Scott Benzel: Part-Objects, monograph, ed. Eric Kim and Catherine Taft, Human Resources/Lockitch Press
2012 Profondeurs Vertes, cd, with Mike Kelley, Compound Annex
2011 Maldistribution, artist’s book, Numero Deux
Music from The Trip in the style of a Schoenberg / Gershwin Tennis Match Observe in passing by Dr. Oscar Janiger, Oodpress / Numero Deux
2010 Inversions I-IV for String Quartet, cd, Numero Deux
2009 Blak Bloc for String Quartet and Feedback, cd/digital stream, Numero Deux
Dance Beats for Baby, cd, with Mike Kelley, feat. Mike Smith, Compound Annex
2006 Day is Done Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, with Mike Kelley, Compound Annex
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curry, Colleen, The Culture of Cults, Galerie, 2018
El Kholti, Hedi, Bad and Good Times in L.A., A year of protest and performance in Los Angeles, Frieze, 2018
Kretowicz, Steph, Kenyatta AC Hinkle and Scott Benzel, Getty Museum, The Wire, October 2017
Diel, Travis, Cosmic Thing, Artforum.com, August 2017
Tarasoff, Sabrina, ‘Sylvia’, C Magazine, Summer 2016
Sutter-Shudo, Naoki, ‘Propos 5: s’entretient avec Scott Benzel‘, Octopusnotes, 2015
Nelson, Steffie, ‘On a Dark Desert Highway: The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project’, East of Borneo, July 2015
Slenske, Michael, ‘Sonic Highways: Scott Benzel’s mythical, musical journey…, Modern Painters, March 2015
Boucher, Brian, ‘Scott Benzel at Maccarone’, Art in America, November 2014
Bogart, Aaron, ‘Scott Benzel at Maccarone’, FlashArt OnWeb, November 2014
Yerebakan, O.C., ‘New York- Scott Benzel at Maccarone’, ArtObserved, August 2014
In the Good Name of the Company, exhibition catalog, ed. Jan Tumlir, Christopher Michlig, Brian Roettinger, Picturebox/For Your Art, 2013
Mueller, Kurt, ‘In the Good Name of the Company’, Artforum.com, March 2013
The Lost Issue/Lost in L.A. exhibition catalog, ed. Lauren Mackler, Andrew Berardini, Public Fiction
Holte, Michael Ned, ‘Made in LA 2012′, Artforum, October 2012
Ellegood, Anne, ‘Material Urges‘, Made in LA: 1st Los Angeles Biennial, Hammer Museum/Delmonica Prestel
Mueller, Kurt, ‘Scott Benzel’, Made in LA: 1st Los Angeles Biennial, Hammer Museum/Delmonica Prestel
Swed, Mark, ‘Music review: John Cage in a motel room as part of PST‘, Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2012
Griffin, Jonathan, ‘Frieze: Best of 2011: Scott Benzel at Human Resources’, Frieze, Jan. 2012
Holte, Michael Ned, ‘Artforum Best of 2011: Scott Benzel at Human Resources at Cottage Home‘, , Dec. 2011
Berardini, Andrew, ‘The Year in L.A. Art’ , L.A. Weekly, Dec. 2011
Taft, Catherine, ‘Scott Benzel at Human Resources’, Artforum, Oct. 2011
Berardini, Andrew, ‘Scott Benzel at Human Resources’, ArtReview, Oct. 2011
Prina, Stephen, ‘Artforum: Best of 2009: Music: Scott Benzel Blak Bloc’, Artforum, Dec. 2009
Smith, Roberta, ‘Performa 09: Mike Kelley’s Extracurricular Activity’, The New York Times, 2009
Kimmelman, Michael, “Scary Games for Adults- Mike Kelley’s Day is Done“, The New York Times, 2006
Waters, John “You’ve Made an Epic- Mike Kelley’s Day is Done”, Flash Art, Nov/Dec. 2005
“Technoscience and the Avant-Garde” The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, ed. Mark Herbst and Robbie Herbst, April 2002