Hennessy Youngman
Hennessy Youngman is a persona invented and performed by Jayson Musson.
Youngman makes addresses to the Internet at large in online episodes of a series titled "Art Thoughtz." Most often, Youngman takes on the role of art critic or cultural critic while speaking to topics concerning art, race, gender, and popular culture. In addition, Youngman makes DJ mixtapes called "CVS Bangers" with songs interspersed with seemingly random statements and air horn blasts.
In his video monologues, Youngman becomes a tutor to an audience of hopeful artists in search of success. By explaining traditional art concepts and relating them to pop culture and real-world examples, he is able to expose issues and conflicts within contemporary art society. A scheme is perpetuated, through Youngman and the "Art Thoughtz" videos, of following an often sympathetic character, one who is apparently outside the art world, attempting to understand and permeate a seemingly exclusive cultural society. This sort of 'underdog in the art world' characterization can be seen in the work of video artist of Alex Bag or motion pictures such as the biopic Basquiat or the art world satire (Untitled).
The assumed name, Hennessy Youngman, combines references to Henny Youngman, a comedian famous for "one-liners," and Hennessy cognac, a popular drink in the hip-hop community.
Youngman is often seen in his videos wearing a wide variety of elaborately decorated baseball caps and gold chain necklaces.
The "Art Thoughtz" project began in early 2010.
Hennessy Youngman gave a live performance of "Art Thoughtz" at The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago on September 7, 2011 on the topic of how museums may receive millennial involvement.
On May 14, 2012, Youngman appeared as a guest critic at Ted Byfield's Major Studio final critiques.
In September 2012, "ArtInfo" magazine named "Art Thoughtz" one of the "100 Most Iconic Artworks of the Last 5 Years."
There have been no additional published works under the Hennessy Youngman alias since May 16, 2012.
In the format of an instructional video, Youngman exposes the art world as a culturally white, male-dominated environment, impenetrable to minorities.
Similar to "Art Thoughtz: How To Be A Successful Artist", this video by Youngman also takes the format of an instructional video. This work differentiates itself by exposing the success of black artists to be reliant on conforming to stereotypes as hyperbolically as possible in Youngman's opinion. Youngman claims the white supporters of art do not want to be able to relate to works created by people of color.
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