Christopher Joshua Benton
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Christopher Joshua Benton | |
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| Born | June 30, 1988 Portsmouth, Virginia |
| Alma mater | University of Georgia |
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Christopher Joshua Benton (born 30 June 1988) is an American visual artist and researcher.[1] Known for his large-scale installations and socially engaged art projects, Benton's practice also includes filmmaking, archiving, and artistic research to visualize diasporic resistance through material and intangible culture.[2] He has presented work at the Fikra Graphic Design Biennial[3] in Sharjah and the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, where he designed a park.[4]
Early life and education
Benton was born in Portsmouth, Virginia.[5] He was raised by his mother, Candace McLellan an elementary school teacher.[6]
Benton studied English literature and journalism at the University of Georgia, with intermediary studies at the University of Oxford through Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.[7] Later he completed the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology master's program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned the Schnitzer Prize[8] and the Obermayer Prize[9]. While at MIT, he also studied at Harvard University with his mentor Tania Bruguera[10]. His graduate research into Black foodways in Nation Islam was subsequently published by MIT Press[11] and Columbia University Press,[12] and reviewed by The New York Review of Architecture.[13] In 2019, he was hired as the creative director for the Chinese tech company Huawei.[14]
Recognition
In 2022, Benton earned the Future Black Visionary prize,[15] awarded by Meta Platforms and Brooklyn Museum, for his work on the Chocolate City Dance Map, made in collaboration with the MIT Immersion Lab. Benton was a finalist for the Artadia prize in 2023.[16] His participation in Abu Dhabi Art was the subject of a solo profile on CNN.[17]
Art
In 2020, Benton's installation "How to Be at Rest" debuted at Dubai Design Week and was featured on Dezeen,[18] Architectural Digest, and the BBC.[19]
In 2021, Benton presented "The World Was My Garden,"[20] which focused on Date palm, a ubiquitous fruit whose cultivation coincided with the Indian Ocean slave trade and ongoing issues of identity and class in California and the Gulf region.[21][22] In 2022, the work was remounted at Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti at the 59th Venice Biennale.[23]
In 2024, Benton debuted "Where Lies My Carpet is Thy Home," a collaboration with Afghan and Pakistani merchants to create a large-scale public plaza in the center of Abu Dhabi.[24][25]
References
- ↑ Sarup, Pratysh (21 October 2020). "Design Diary: Meet Christopher Benton, one of UAE's most exciting new art curators". Gulf News.
- ↑ Al-Hadethi, Rand (2022-11-19). "Christopher Joshua Benton: "My job is to complicate the narrative and get closer to the truth." | KHAMSA". khamsa5.com. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ Ghanem, Khoula (13 November 2018). "5 Reasons to Visit Sharjah's First-Ever Fikra Graphic Design Biennial". VOGUE Arabia.
- ↑ Ghanem, Khaoula (2025-01-10). "How Christopher Joshua Benton—and Local Merchants—Dreamed Up a Sprawling Public Park in Abu Dhabi - MILLE WORLD". Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ Angelos, Ayla. " ""Christopher Benton builds humble colorful bright art pieces from found objects". It's Nice That.
- ↑ CIFRAWORLD (2025-04-18). How One Artist Changed an Entire Market | Christopher Joshua Benton. Retrieved 2025-05-15 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Christopher Joshua BENTON". Tokyo Arts and Space. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ "Christopher Joshua Benton". Wiesner Student Art Gallery.
- ↑ "Christopher Joshua BENTON". Tokyo Arts and Space. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ Imanova, Aidan (2025-01-15). "Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennale: Artist Christopher Joshua Benton's Monumental Astroturf 'Kilim' Honours the City's Carpet Traders". AD Middle East. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ "Beyond Bowties & Bean Pies: A Material Analytic Approach to Eating & Meaning-making in the Nation of Islam".
- ↑ Zigbi-Johnson, Najha, ed. (August 2024). Mapping Malcolm. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-1-941332-83-2.
- ↑ Himes, Rachel Hunter. "Malcolm Was Here". New York Review Of Architecture.
- ↑ "Christopher Joshua Benton builds humble, colourful and bright art pieces with found objects". www.itsnicethat.com. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ Marcellus, Kerane (29 November 2022). "Instagram's #BlackVisionaries Program Led By Antwuan Sargent Announces Grant Recipients". Essence.
- ↑ "Artadia Announces 2023 Boston Finalists". Boston art review. 10 October 2023.
- ↑ "CNN Stylish Moments." (Television). CNN. January 2023.
- ↑ Hahn, Jennifer (17 November 2020). ""How to be at Rest installation features bricolage chairs made by migrants in the UAE"". dezeen.
- ↑ "Rethinking Design: Design Solutions for a Post-Pandemic World" (TV program interview). BBC World News. 2 January 2021.
- ↑ Zara, Janelle (16 December 2021). "Abu Dhabi's Cultural DNA Is Evolving—Emerging Artists' Work Proves It". Cultured Mag.
- ↑ Chaves, Alexandra (22 November 2021). "Abu Dhabi Art not over yet as Beyond: Emerging Artists runs into next month". The National.
- ↑ Proctor, Rebecca Anne (28 November 2021). ""Past and future meet in UAE-based trio's 'Beyond: Emerging Artists' display."". Arab News.
- ↑ "Mideast artists make bold showing at 59th Venice Biennale". Arab News. 18 April 2022.
- ↑ "Where Lies My Carpet is Thy Home". paad.ae. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ↑ Shehryar, Hamza (2025-02-11). "Meet the artist revitalising Abu Dhabi's historic Carpet Souk - Dazed MENA". www.dazed.me. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
External links
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