SCOTT BENZEL

Biography

Scott Benzel is a multimedia artist living and working in Los Angeles. His 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 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. He is a member of the faculty of the School of Art at California Institute of the Arts.

 

SCOTT BENZEL

 

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

2023

The Horse, Dublin, Ireland (upcoming)

Bel Ami, Los Angeles (upcoming)

2020

Mindless Pleasures, Bel Ami, Los Angeles

2019

Prelude and Coda to ‘Invocation’, Invocation of my Demon Brother/Another Movie, 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

Maccarone, New York

Inverted Capital Spire: Programmatic Architectural Displacement V, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles

Programmatic Architectural Displacements 1-IX, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles

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 in the style of The Lady from Shanghai, Ball of Artists, Greystone Manor, Beverly Hills, LAXART/Hammer Museum, part of Pacific Standard Time

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

2021

All Tomorrow’s Parties, domicile (n.), Los Angeles, curated by Michael Slenske

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, curated by Michael Slenske

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: 1^st 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

2020

Time is Out of Joint, Calarts 2020 Postgraduate Exhibition, MAK Center, Los Angeles

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

2023     Pandaemonium of the Sun (forthcoming), experimental feature film

2021, Mindless Pleasures, ed. Hailey Loman, essays by Jan Tumlir, Hande Sever, Lee Foley, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive

2018      Sonatine Bureaucratique, 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, 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

Keith J. Varadi, Culture is War, interview with Scott Benzel, X-TRA, 2020

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: 1^st 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