Simon Benjamin
Photo by Kay Hickman
Simon Benjamin is an artist working in installation, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video.
Benjamin’s current body of work explores the contradictions entangled in the enduring myths and images of the Caribbean as tropical paradise– a carefully constructed imaginary that emerged after the collapse of the plantation economy. Through research, oral history, and critical fabulation his practice focuses on the unexpected ways in which the past reverberates into the present, examining the foundations and trajectories of ancestral memory, the impact of mass tourism, concerns regarding climate change in the Caribbean, and the enduring colonial legacies that shape the present and contribute to an interconnected future.
New York, NY
Born 1979, St. Andrew, Jamaica
2021 MFA Hunter College, New York, NY
2005 BFA School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2000 BSc. University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica