Bennett simpson biography

Gareth James, “New York City", 1998-1999

Here is one image of the studio at the end of the twentieth century. The scene is a boisterous opening at the short-lived MWMWM Gallery in Williamsburg. The room is filled with drifts of crumpled paper, unfinished drawings, stacks of art magazines, beer bottles and ashtrays — all the detritus of a workspace suspended between production and procrastination. Hand-scrawled broadsides line the walls. One reads “Art is like fire; it is born from what burns.” Off to the side, disguised in an old woman’s thrift store clothing, the British artist Gareth James sits hunched (asleep?) over a makeshift bar. He remains this way, head down, for the duration of the night. Guests enjoy themselves in art-boom sociality, waiting for something to happen, for the artist to wake up, to start talking, to orchestrate. He doesn’t. Whether out of sympathy with the evening’s excess of discursive openness or in defiance of it, some guests take up pens and begin inscribing comments, obscenities, and graffiti on the walls and artwork. A kind of self-conscious participation takes over. By the end of the opening even the artist’s passive body is a palimpsest of reception.

If one assumes that every representation of the studio also proposes a representation of art’s autonomy, the contingency of its relation to the wider world, the stakes of this image begin to announce themselves. In the present moment of post-dot.com retrenchment, where DIY artist collectives have returned to Sixties style counter-culture, the ability of art to imagine its autonomy has again become a pressing concern. [1] The politicized group consciousness that sought to radicalize questions of autonomy less than a decade ago — one thinks of Parasite in New York, A-Clip in Berlin, and BANK in London — now watches as graffiti crews and skateboard outsiders self-organize and prosper in an art market hungry for scalable rebellion. Images of autonomy are now battled over an

Walking into “Blues for Smoke,” curated by Bennett Simpson at the MOCA Geffen, was like walking into a logically and radically inclusive dream of culture. Titled after the Jaki Byard tune of the same name, it riffs and delves into what the blues is. From classic blues like Robert Johnson to experimental blues like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, we hear the blues, see the blues, and experience the blues as a structural influence on visual artists, filmmakers, writers, and popular culture.

With “Blues for Smoke,” Simpson created a place of open investigation, questioning, scholarship, and acceptance in which I had a profound experience. Positioning and examining the blues as a great intellectual movement, he brought examples of its effect on all types of artists—black and white, conceptual and abstract, gay and straight, historical and contemporary. Jarring the usual associations created by art history and culture, he created new links between works through the lens of the form and content of the blues: David Hammons with Zoe Leonard, Lorraine O’Grady with Liz Larner, Rodney McMillian with Roy DeCarava, Romare Bearden with Mark Morrisroe, Rachel Harrison with Jimmie Durham.

I felt the factions of my own life and identity gathered. My interracial family and the prejudice within, my bisexuality, and my adult and child self all felt reflected here. The question “How does history get written?” was for me personal and urgent. I wanted to talk with Simpson from the place where the show hit me, which is my heart. I was curious about his background as well as the intellectual journey that he has taken with this visual, auditory, and written net of connections.

INGRID CALAME: What did you set out to do in “Blues for Smoke”?

BENNETT SIMPSON: Well,

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Beck Bennett

Beck Bennett (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for eight seasons from 2013 to 2021, alongside his best friend and comedy partner, Kyle Mooney (who stayed on SNL until the end of its 47th season, which had a large chunk of cast members either voluntarily leaving or getting let go due to Lorne Michaels wanting to hire newer, younger talent).

Bennett's recurring characters on SNL include Santa Claus, Captain America from the Marvel Universe, Jules, a millennial Weekend Update commentator who tries to see the bright side of things; and Casey, one of the hosts of Inside SoCal, a news show hosted by Southern Californians. Bennett's celebrity impressions include Bing Crosby, Bill Clinton, Brian Kilmeade, Bruce Springsteen, David Harbour (from the Netflix show Stranger Things), Elton John, Drew Carey, Vladimir Putin, Javier Bardem, Guillermo del Toro, Jeb Bush, Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Nick Offerman, Prince (now King) Charles, and Vin Diesel. A full list can be found here.

He voiced Grayson Mathers in the season 33 episode "The Longest Marge".

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