Paul Stephen Benjamin
@paulstephenbenjamin
Selected Solo / Two-Person Exhibitions
2020
Hudgens Center For The Arts, Hudgen Prize Exhibition, Atlanta, GA
2019
Marianne Boesky Gallery, Pure, Very, New, New York, NY Lisa Freiman
2018
Telfair Museum, Reinterpreting the Sound of Blackness, Savannah, GA Rachel Reese
2017
Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Working Artist Project, Pure Black Atlanta, GA
2016
Poem 88, God Bless America, Atlanta, GA
High Museum of Art, Black is the Color, Atlanta GA Michael Rooks
The Department of Cultural Affairs: City of Atlanta Gallery 72, Come Over, Atlanta, GA Kevin Sipp
2014
Georgia Perimeter College, Black is a Color Clarkston, GA
2013
Georgia State University, DAEL (Digital Art and Entertainment Lab) Window Project, Atlanta, GA
Georgia State University Welch Gallery, Plot and Escape, Atlanta, GA
2010
Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University, Between Here and There, Atlanta, GA Curator
Karen ComerLowe
Concordia University Chicago, Ferguson Gallery, Antiques and Heirlooms, River Forest, IL
2009
Swan Coach House Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, G2: Transformations, Atlanta, GA
Nicole Gallery, Between Here and There, Chicago, IL
2008
University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, Alice Campbell Alumni Center, Between Here and There, Champaign, IL
2007
Chicago State University, A Cut Above: Collages with Spirit, Chicago, IL
2006
University of Illinois African American Cultural Center, Defining the Lines of Color: A Patriotic view of America, Chicago, IL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
Prospect 5 New Orleans, Yesterday We Said Tomorrow, New Orleans, LA. Curators Naima Joy and Diana Nawi
2020
University of Kentucky, This Is America, Lexington, KY. Curator Stuart Horodner
Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, States of Mind: Art and American Democracy, Houston, TX Curator
Ylinka Barotto
Dashboard U.S., In Light, Atlanta, GA
Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Working Artist Project: Permanent Collection Exhibition
Crystal Bridges Museum, State of The Art 2020, Bentonville, AR. Curators, Lauren Haynes, Alejo Benedetti,
Allison Glenn
2019
Temporary Art Center, Project, Atlanta, GA. Curator Scott Ingram
MAC Belfast, On Refusal: Representation and Resistance in Contemporary Art, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Black is Beautiful, Atlanta, GA Curator Daniel Fuller
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Great Force, Richmond, VA
Xlll Bienal de La Habana en Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba Curator Maria Madgalena Campos-Pons
2018
Save House Museum in Collaboration with Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Measured in Moments, Greensboro,
AL Curator Daniel Fuller
2017
Studio Museum in Harlem, Fictions, Harlem, NY, Curators Connie Choi, Hallie Ringle
Hyde Park Art Center, Virtue of The Vicious, Chicago, IL, Curator Allison Peters Quinn
Dashboard at Marcia Wood Gallery, Unloaded, Atlanta, GA, Curator Beth Malone and Courtney Hammond
University of Kentucky, Videos For A Stadium: Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, KY, Stuart Horodner
2014
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Coloring, Atlanta, GA Curator Stuart Horodner
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Exquisite Corpse, Atlanta, GA Curator Joey Orr
2013
Fieldwork Contemporary, On Paper, Pittsburgh, PA Curator Ayanah Moor
University of Chicago Logan Center For The Arts, Diasporal Rhythms, Chicago, IL Curator Joyce Owens
Tubman Museum of African American Art, One City, Macon, GA Curator Jeffrey Bruce
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Decatur Book Festival, Word, Atlanta, GA, Curator Stuart Horodner
Hudgens Center for the Arts, The Dream: Five Artist, Five Voices, Duluth, GA Curator Angela Nichols
2011
Southwest Arts Center, The Painted Photograph, Atlanta, GA Curator Lisa Tuttle
Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, G2: Transformations, Atlanta, GA
Texas Tech University Landmark Gallery, Bring It, Lubbock, TX
2010
Swan Coach House Gallery, Little Things Mean a Lot, Atlanta, GA Curator Marianne B. Lambert
South Suburban College, The Lee E. Dulgar Gallery, Interpretations, South Holland, IL Curator Julian Williams
2009
Southside Community Art Center, In the Community of Others, Chicago, IL Curator Faheem Majeed
Swan Coach House Gallery, Little Things Mean a Lot, Atlanta, GA Curator Marianne B. Lambert
Cultural Art Center of Douglasville/Douglas County Douglas, GA Curator Annette Cone Skelton
Tubman African American Museum, Urban Chrysaliosis, Macon, GA Curator Michael Scoffield
Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Dissolving Stereotypes/Forging New Dialogues: An Exhibition Beyond Race, Atlanta, GA Curator Larry Walker
Madison Morgan Cultural Center, The Reclamation of Memory, Madison, GA Curator Lynn Linnemeier
2008
Hyde Park Art Center, Not Just a Pretty Face, Chicago, IL
South Shore Arts: The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, The Daniel Texidor Parker Collection, Munster, IN
Museum of Science and Industry, Black Creativity, Chicago, IL
2007
Orleans Street Art Gallery, Re-Fuse, St. Charles, IL Curator Anni Holm
Spruill Gallery, Looks Good on Paper, Atlanta, GA
ARC Gallery, Re-Assignments: Creative Changes, Chicago, IL
Susan Woodson Gallery Chicago, IL
Swan Coach House Gallery, Constructed Images: The Art of Collage, Atlanta, GA
City of Atlanta Dept. of Cultural Affairs, 2007 Pinup Show, Atlanta, GA Curator Freddie Styles
City of Evanston Noyes Cultural Art Center, Personal Journeys, Evanston, IL
2006
Southside Community Art Center, A.Q: After Qualls, Chicago, IL Curator Faheem Majeed
Museum of Science and Industry, Black Creativity, Chicago, IL
Education
2013
Master of Fine Art in Studio, Concentration in Sculpture, Welch School of Art and Design Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA
1988
Bachelor of Art, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
Awards
Hudgens Prize
Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant
Hambidge Distinguished Fellow
Southern Art Prize by South Art
State of Georgia Art Fellowship
Working Artist Project MOCA GA Fellow
Artadia The Fund for Art and Dialogue 2014
Recipient Winnie C. Chandler Art and Design Fellowship
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center Studio Program
Museum of Science and Industry
Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award
Diasporal Rhythms Artist Recognition Award
Lectures
Lipscomb University, Lipscomb School of Art and Design Lecture Series, Jan. 2021
University of Puget Sound, 2018Race and Pedagogy National Conference, Tacoma, WA Sept. 2018
Tacoma Art Museum, To Sing of Beauty. Discussion with Rock Hushka, Tacoma, WA Sept. 2018
Telfair Museum, Reinterpreting the Sound of Blackness, discussion with Rachel Reese, Savanah, GA
MOCA GA, Working Artists Program, Pure Black, Atlanta, GA
Georgia State University, Contemporary Views on Being an Artists with Jill Frank, Atlanta, GA
Emory University, Discussions in Black Aesthetics with Dr. Michael D. Harris PhD, Atlanta, GA
Savanah College of Art and Design with Gail O’Neill, Atlanta, GA
Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Gallery 72 with Kevin Sipp, Atlanta, GA
Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA
Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Concordia University Chicago, Ferguson Gallery, River Forest, IL
Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Dissolving Stereotypes/Forging New Dialogues: An Exhibition Beyond Race, Atlanta, GA with Larry Walker
Madison Morgan Cultural Center, Madison, GA
Swan Coach House Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, with Marianne Lambert, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Looking Closely at a Work of Art with Stuart Horodner, Isolde Brielmaier and Jason Francisco
University of Illinois Chicago, A Patriotic View of American with Krista Thompson and Phillip Royster
Bibliography
Feaster, Felicia, “Exhibition unabashedly states ‘Black is beautiful,’ gives nod to John Lewis, Atlanta Journal Constitutional Oct. 30, 2020
Haynes, Lauren, Glenn, Allison, and Benedetti, Alejo. “State of The Art 2020”, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Apr. 2020
Esseiva, Amber. “Great Force”, Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Jan. 2020
Gormley, Clare, Campt, Tina and Bradley, Rizvana. “On Refusal: Representation and Resistance in Contemporary American Art”, The MAC, Belfast, Northern Ireland Jan. 2020
Weber, Jasmine. “In Richmond, Tracing the Great Force of American Racism”, Hyperallergic Dec. 2019
O’Neill, Gail. See it Now: “Project” at innovative Temporary Art Center, ARTSATL Nov. 2019
Higgins, Sarah. “The Infinite Nature of Black”, Art Papers, Feb. 2019
Frieman, Lisa. Paul Stephen Benjamin: Pure, Very, New, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Jan. 2019
Goodalle, Stephanie E. “Nothing and Everything: Paul Stephen Benjamin in New York”, Burnaway, Feb. 2019
Weber, Jasmine. “Black as a Sensory Experience”, Hyperallergic, Feb. 2019
Ringle, Hallie, Brown, Jessica Bell, “Fictions”, Studio Museum in Harlem, Jan. 2018
Deitz, Andrew. “Black”, The Art Section: An Online Journal of Art and Cultural Commentary, Dec. 2017
Amirkhani, Jordan and Head, Greg. “Art Review, Two Takes on Paul Stephen Benjamin’s “Pure Black” at MOCA GA.” ARTSAtl. Nov. 2017
Flamming, E.C. Review: Benjamin’s “Pure Black” Demonstrates the Artist’s Increasing Momentum.” ARTSatl, Oct. 2017
Valentine, Victoria L. “New Season, New Art: Fall Begins with 45 Notable Exhibitions Featuring Works by Black Artists.” Culturetype, Sept. 2017
Thackara, Tess. “The Latest in the Studio Museum’s Landmark “F” Series is a Timely Exploration of Truth and Fiction, Artsy Editorial, Sept. 2017
Mitter, Siddhartha. “At “Fictions” in Harlem, Young Black Artists are on Fire.” Village Voice, Sept. 2017
Twersky, Carolyn. “Here is the List of 19 Emerging Artist to Feature in New Studio Museum Show.” ARTnews Aug. 2017
Amirkhani, Jordan. “Paul Stephen Benjamin: God Bless America.” Daily Serving: An International Publication for Contemporary Art, Sep 2016
Emerson, Bo. “Atlanta Museum of Contemporary Art Awards Three Working Artists.” Atlanta Journal Constitution, July 2016
O’Neill, Gail. “Paul Stephen Benjamin’s: Come Over Beckons Viewers to Collapse Past, Present and Future.” ArtsATL, Mar 2016
Robinson, Shantay. “Studies in Blackness: Paul Stephen Benjamin at the High Museum and Gallery 72.” Burnaway, Mar 2016
Manuel, Faron. “Come Over: Paul Stephen Benjamin Interview with Faron Manuel.” Black Art in America, Mar 2016
Vega, Muriel. “Paul Stephen Benjamin Explores the Color Black.” Creative Loafing, Feb 2016
Moshayedi, Aram. “Art and Dialogue: Atlanta Summary from Aram Moshayedi.” Artadia.org June 2015
Caudell, Sherri. “Exquisite Exhibit: An Exercise in Collaboration at ATL Contemporary.” Burnaway, Oct 2014
Cullum, Jerry. Review: Lively “exquisite corpse” in paint, video and sculpture from the Contemporary’s studio Artist.” ARTSatl, Sept, 2014
Rojas, Carl. “Studio Visit: Paul Stephen Benjamin.” Burnaway, Apr 2014
Cash, Stephanie. “Artadia Awards to Atlanta Artists” Burnaway, Apr 2014
Johns, Myke. “Bringing Coloring to the Contemporary.” NPR’s WABE, Mar 2014
Rojas, Carl. “Five Shades of Color at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.” Burnaway, Jan 2014