RESUME

Simon Benjamin
b. Kingston, Jamaica
simonbenjamin.com

Education

2021 Hunter College, New York, NY
MFA, New Genres, Dept. of Art and Art History

2005 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
BFA, Graphic Design (Honors)

2000 University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
BSc, Management Studies, Dept. of Social Sciences
Minor in International Relations

Solo Exhibitions

2024 A Bolt from the Blue, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle, WA
2024 Native Diver, Swivel Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2023 “sub–marine: jeweler of memory, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2023 “sub–marine”, Baxter St. Camera Club, New York, NY
2022 Simon Benjamin: PILLARS, LMMC Arts Center at Governors Island, New York, NY
2016 FORUM, NLS Kingston, Kingston, Jamaica
Selected Group Exhibitions and Screenings
2024 NADA House, Swivel Gallery, Governors Island, NY
2024 Malta Biennale, Malta
2023 Errantry, Timehri Film Festival, Georgetown, Guyana
2023 14th Kaunas Biennial, Kaunas, Lithuania
2023 4.5 Billion Years, Brief Histories, New York, NY
2023 After They Left, Long Story Short, New York, NY
2022 Errantry, St. Kunigundis Church at documenta15, Atis Rezistans / Ghetto Biennale, Kassel, Germany
2022 Kingston Biennial, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
2022 10/10, The Lighthouse Works, Fishers Island, NY
2022 Third Horizon Film Festival, Miami, FL
2022 The earth leaked red ochre, Miriam Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2022 Soft-Firm’s Drive-Thru, the Plaza at 300 Ashland, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Errantry, Trinidad x Tobago Film Festival, New Media official selection, Trinidad & Tobago
2021 Contretemps, NYU Gallatin WetLab, Governors Island, New York, NY
2021 No Man is an Island, Project Art Distribution, N.A.D.A., Governors Island, NY
2021 In the Wake, Hunter College Thesis Exhibition, New York, NY
2020 Between Land and Sea: Simon Benjamin and Timothy Yanick Hunter, The 92nd St. Y, New York, NY
2019 Beautiful Words are Subversive, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Video Snack VII: Video Object, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2018 As Above, So Below: Interpretations of Roundness, Outpost Artist Resources, Ridgewood, NY
2018 To Break the Ocean, AC Institute, New York, NY
2017 The Ghetto Biennale, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
2017 Jamaica Biennial, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
2016 Negotiated Realities, Columbia University, New York, NY
 

Residencies, Awards and Fellowships

2024 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Artist in Residence - Seattle, WA
2023 Artadia Award - New York, NY
2023 Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program Award - Brooklyn, NY
2022 Baxter St. Camera Club, Artist-in-Residence, New York, NY
2022 Light Work, Artist-in-Residence, Syracuse NY
2022 The Lighthouse Works, Artist-in-Residence, Fishers Island, NY
2021 Global Connections Fellowship Grant, GAHTC, Dept. of Architecture at MIT, Cambridge, MA
2021 Shandaken Projects, Printer-in Residence, New York, NY
2021 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Arts Center, Artist-in-Residence, New York, NY
2021 Jamaica Art Society, In Focus Fellowship, New York, NY
2020 Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Interdisciplinary residency with CoLab Dance, Tivoli, NY
2019 Goldberg Workshop with Koyo Kouoh at RAW Material Company, Dakar, Senegal
2018 Ruth Stanton Inaugural Scholarship, Hunter College, New York, NY
2017 Smithsonian Artist Research, Fellowship Nominee
 

Curatorial Projects

2021 A Sense of Place, a Two-day online Symposium organized by Hunter College Graduate students and
curator Koyo Kouoh, Jan. 12-13th. New York (virtual)

2020 A Sense of Place, Three-day Symposium” organized by Hunter College Graduate students and
Curator Koyo Kouoh (canceled due to COVID-19), March 12-14th, New York, NY

2019 “W.O.T.Y. 3.2 – Scales”, Exhibition based on the Word of the Year– Justice. June 26-Sept. 14th
Hunter East Harlem Gallery, New York, NY
 

Talks & Panels

2024 “Saturday Soup” artist talk with Gervais Marsh
2023 “Saturday Soup” artist talk with TK Smith
2022 Artist Talk by Simon Benjamin at The Take Care Series. Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Center
at Governors Island, New York, NY
2021 Art of and Around The Underground Railroad Hunter College with Barry Jenkins,
Dept. of Art and Art History, New York, NY
2021 Project EATS with Linda Goode Bryant: studio visit with Koyo Kouoh and Simon Benjamin, New York, NY
2020 Khalik Allah and Simon Benjamin in Conversation at The Hunter Moving Image Alliance, New York, NY
2020 Online Artist Talk, Syracuse University, Dept. of Transmedia, New York, NY
2020 Online Artist Talk, University of Virginia, Depart. of Art, Charlottesville, VA
2019 Beautiful Words are Subversive, curated by Black Chalk &Co., Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Artist Talk with Linyee Yuan for FORUM, a solo exhibition at NLS Kingston, Kingston, Jamaica
2011 “Investing in Imagination” TEDx Jamaica, Invited Speaker, Kingston, Jamaica
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Is Malta the New Kassel?” by Emily Watlington. Art in America (2024)
“Can there be unity in fragmentation?” exhibition essay by Gervais Marsh
Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual with a catalog essay by Jheanelle Brown. Syracuse, NY (2023)
“Portfolio: Simon Benjamin by Louis Bury. Legacies of the African diaspora.” BOMB Magazine by Louis Bury (2022)
Documenta Fifteen: Handbook by ruangrupa. Hatje Cantz (2022)
“PRESSURE.” Kingston Biennial Catalog. Kingston, Jamaica: National Gallery of Jamaica.(2022)
“The earth leaked red ochre” The Brooklyn Rail by William Corwin (2022)
The earth leaked red ochre catalog. Edited by Re’al Christian Miriam Gallery. (2022)
“A Meandering Edge: An Interview with Simon Benjamin”, Assemblage Journal, by Veronika Molnár (2021)
“Hunter MFA Grads Mull the Fluid Nature of Time” in Hyperallergic (2021)
To Break the Ocean Catalog. AC Institute, New York, NY (2018)
2017 Jamaica Biennial Catalog. Kingston, Jamaica: National Gallery of Jamaica.(2017)