Working within a process of deconstruction, hybridization and the recomposition of the image, the artist Will Benedict uses various media—from painting to video, drawing to photography to curating exhibition projects—in order to reflect on the constitutive elements of representation and on the ways of interpreting and framing it, both visually and conceptually. The compositional and material heterogeneity of his works—often characterized by the coexistence of multiple semiotic levels—creates a sense of engaged ambivalence. In particular, his video works depict worlds that subvert both, the codes of popular entertainment and the conventions of the avant-garde embedded in music videos, fashion spreads, YouTube tutorials, magazines, advertising, television and film.

WILL BENEDICT (b. 1978, Los Angeles, CA, USA) lives and works in Paris. He has recently presented exhibitions at: Pinault Collection – Bourse du Commerce, Paris; Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneva; Basement Roma, Rome; Kunsthal Charlottenberg, Copenhagen; Art Sonje Center, Seoul; dépendance, Brussels; Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris; Overduin & Co., Los Angeles; Gió Marconi, Milan; Fondazione Giuliani, Rome; Bergen Kunsthall; and Halle für Kunst Lüneburg. Benedict’s work incorporates elements of advertising, choreography, music, graphic design, and collage in paintings, photos, posters, performances, and videos attempting to address the conditions and conflicts of production and collaboration.

The Art Room is a program of talks and video screenings conceived by CURA./Basement Roma for Soho House Rome.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
on invitation only

Caption: Will Benedict and Steffen Jørgensen, The Restaurant 2, 2021. Courtesy of the artists and Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève