Gallery Hours - Wed thru Sat 12-6pm for Scott Benzel

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.

Benzel's conceptually-based practice is comprised of sculptural, photographic, sound, and performance works often employing readymade elements. His interest in "genealogy" or "geology" -the process of mining layers of history and discourse to trace connections between objects and ideas- serves as a thread through the diverse work. Meaning is often a product of recombination, with individual objects and ideas –often found or appropriated- operating as components in the system of each piece. Benzel interrogates the lines between appropriation and anthropological examination, collecting and authorship, poetics and politics and often employs strategies of reversal, inversion, and doubling.

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.

What Does Possession Mean to You? (upstairs)

Benzel’s poster for What Does Possession Mean to You? reworks Victor Burgin's seminal work of 1976 of the same title, substituting Burgin's glamorous couple redolent of a luxury goods ad with a still from a ‘Possession’- genre horror film. The show focuses on selections from Benzel's collection: a small cave section and portraits of Benzel by Mike Kelley, an early sculpture by Kathryn Andrews, a silkscreened wallpaper by Olga Koumoundouros, the catalog of the first exhibition of conceptual art assembled by Seth Siegelaub, an early novel by Liam Gillick and more by artists including Marcel Broodthaers, Jakob Erol, Violet Hopkins, Martin Kippenberger, Malcolm McLaren, Rodney Mcmillian,  and Gustav Metzger. Following the close of the exhibition, Benzel will ‘give up all material possessions’ for an undisclosed period. The works will be stored, deaccessioned, or promised to institutions and individuals.

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.

for inquiries:
eric@humanresourcesla.com