Jayson Musson: His History of Art

Black artist Jayson Musson interrogates how our present-day cultural consciousness is constrained by a narrow understanding of art history. Musson rose to prominence in 2010 with Art Thoughtz, a series of 20 video-based performances in which he assumed the role of Hennessy Youngman to satirize the art world’s biases through wit and research. During a two-year residency at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), Musson developed a new comedic persona to scrutinize art pedagogy and the role of art institutions in fostering limited points of view and imbalances of power. Shot in a sitcom style complete with laugh track, His History of Art follows “Jay” (Musson) as he attempts to educate his puppet sidekick “Ollie” on the relevance of art. Drawing on the museum’s expertise for costume design, Musson created video pieces and related film sets, along with gallery installations of the sets.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.