Mark Benson

New Website Up and Running: Markbensonart.com

Mark Benson — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:08:48 +0000

Please visit the new home of my work, Markbensonart.com

-Mark Benson

CCA MFA Show

Mark Benson — Thu, 12 May 2011 08:08:19 +0000

Hard to believe the two years are up. Look out real world, here we come.

(Odds Are) 13-1: Part III at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, CCA

Mark Benson — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:42:22 +0000

I am excited to announce I will be participating in a group show this Tuesday, May 3 at the Wattis Residency Apartment. Opening reception is May 3, 6 – 8 pm. Details here and below.

(Odds Are) 13:1

Capp Street Project residency apartment:

50 15th Street (at De Haro), San Francisco

May 3–7, 2011

Public reception: Tuesday, May 3, 6-8 pm
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 11 am-7 pm; Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 11 am-6 pm

Thirteen artists and one curator were assigned to put together an exhibition in less than a month. The result is an exhibition in a pop-up space: a one-bedroom apartment used intermittently as temporary housing for visiting artists to the Wattis. In his essay “The ghosts in the machine,” the renowned architect Alexander Gorlin makes a case for Le Corbusier as a surrealist architect: “Le Corbusier and the Surrealists alike sought to jolt man’s perception of the world through the deliberate reversal of the expected, and the juxtaposition of the banal with the extraordinary.” (Odds Are) 13:1 applies this idea to a group exhibition.

The works are tied together by their attempt to estrange the familiar. Many of them were commissioned for a particular space within the apartment, and the curator inhabited the apartment during the exhibition’s development. What remains is evidence of both habitation and abandonment. The domestic space has been arranged into something unknown. Visitors are encouraged to snoop around, to discern the real from the fictitious.

The exhibition is curated by Jessica Brier, assistant to the photography department at SFMOMA. It features new work by students from CCA’s Graduate Program in Fine Arts: Simone Bailey, Mark Benson, JJ Campanaro, Daniel Dallabrida, Melissa Dickenson, Elizabeth Dorbad, Christine Elfman, Liam Everett, Bean Gilsdorf, Stephanie Halmos, Radka Pulliam, Ida Roden and Jonathan Runcio.

Mark Benson; Poison; Inkjet Print; 19.75 x 29 inches, 2011

Hammarby! Part II at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, CCA

Mark Benson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:17:39 +0000

Mirror Ball; Mirror, paper honeycomb ball, Magic Tape; 45 x 45 x 12 inches; 2011

There Were Puppies

Mark Benson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:19:26 +0000

Good Times, Great Escape; Puppies, Financial Times newspaper, handler, wood, paint, stair case, Renewzit air fresheners, doggie door; 2011, on the occasion of CCA's open studios

CCA Open Studios 2011: There Will Be Puppies

Mark Benson — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:46:40 +0000

CCA Open Studios 2011

Winter Work 2010/2011

Mark Benson — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:31:55 +0000

Orgy; Brass, chrome and plastic stanchions, faux velvet rope, plastic chains; Dimensions variable; 2011

VIPs; Brass stanchions, faux velvet ropes, red carpet; 40 x 50 x 50 inches; 2010

Vacations; Travel pillow, DVD and player, stanchions, aquarium, acrylic box, salt water, sand, sun block, sunglasses, croakies, heat lamp, wood, enamel; Dimensions variable; 2010

Hang In There; Camcorder, mini inspirational poster, 64 minute loop video, pedestal, speakers; 30 x 15 x 8 inches; 2010

Hang In There (detail); Camcorder, mini inspirational poster, 64 minute loop video, pedestal, speakers; 30 x 15 x 8 inches; 2010

At Bay II; Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley, CA

Mark Benson — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:07:36 +0000

At Bay II presents work from the recipients of the 2010 Phelan, Murphy, & Cadogan Fellowship awards. March 9 – 19 at Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley, CA.

AT BAY II; Exhibition of the 2010 Phelan, Murphy, & Cadogan fellowship award winners; Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley; March 9 - 19, 2011

Southern Exposure’s BOOM!

Mark Benson — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:48:56 +0000

Southern Exposure’s 18th Entry-Fee Free Juried Exhibition, BOOM!

Oversight (Undershirts); Laundry, dryer rack; 40 x 32 x 25 inches; 2010

I am happy to announce that I was selected to participate in Southern Exposure’s BOOM!

Southern Exposure’s 18th Entry-Fee Free Juried Exhibition of work by Northern California Artists

Juror: Astria Suparak, Director, Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

Exhibition Dates: December 10 – December 18, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, December 10, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Announcing BOOM! Artists:

Steven Barich
David Bayus
Andrew Benson
Mark Benson
Bryan Boyce
Iris Charabi-Berggren
Tedd Colt
Taylor Crawley
Robert Donald
Rives Granade
Julie Henson
Chris Hood
Mike Kimball
Vicky Knoop
Noah Krell
Ace Lehner
Niana Liu
Lindsey Lyons
Martin Machado
Pablo Manga
Nining Muir
Colleen Mulvey
billy ocallaghan
Raoul Ollman
Brandon Wallls Olsen
Meryl Pataky
Hilary Pecis
Monica Jane Peck
Laura Plageman
Practice (Erin Klenow, Nick Sung, & Najeeb Tazari)
Tiffany Quach
Michelle Ramin
Carlos Ramirez
Kit Rosenberg
Alphonzo Solorzano
Adam Wier
Doug Garth Williams
YAK Films (Director, Yoram Savion; Production Assistants, Kash Gaines & Javier Ochoa; Turf Feinz Dance Crew: Eric “eNinja” Davis, Garion “NoNoize” Morgan, Byron “Tee Seven” Sanders, Jeremiah “Joyntz” Scott, Larry Smith, and Denzell “Chonkie” Worthington)

Southern Exposure’s juried exhibition has become the premiere showcase of cutting-edge contemporary artwork by promising local talent. Each year a different theme is selected to inspire and encourage a broad level of artistic expression. By leaving the theme and media open to the artists’ interpretation, the work is conceptually and aesthetically diverse, drawing from as many insights and forms of expression as possible.

Unlike many open calls for work that charge a submission fee, Southern Exposure’s juried exhibition does not require artists to pay to enter their work. The exhibition is open to any artist living in Northern California north of King City and south of the Oregon border. Over the course of two days, over 500 Northern Californian artists entered their work, attesting to the extreme popularity of the show. The final pieces were selected by juror, Astria Suparak, who made her decisions by blind process. For many of the artists selected, this is their first major exhibition and an important step in advancing their career.

Golden State Part II: Delineation currently showing at RVCA, San Fancisco

Mark Benson — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:34:53 +0000

Ex Hippies; Track Lighting, black light bulbs, power strip; 50"x23"x19"; 2010