Bennett Simpson and Hamza Walker in Conversation: Jason Rhoades, ‘Product of His Time’

LAXART Executive Director and Curator, Hamza Walker and MOCA Senior Curator, Bennett Simpson come together to discuss the Maximalist work of Jason Rhoades on the occasion of the late artist’s first major survey in LA, ‘Jason Rhoades. Installations, 1994 – 2006’. Pulling from their experiences of the drastic cultural shift of the ’90s, Walker and Simpson interpret Rhoades as an artist who reflected the cultural and political developments of his time. Rhoades’ work, with its unabashed unmasking of historically sanitized cultural symbols, has never been more relevant in our current era of heightened political tension. This event is free, however, reservations recommended. About Bennett Simpson Bennett Simpson is Senior Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, where he has organized numerous exhibitions including ‘MOCA Focus: Lisa Lapinski’ (2008); ‘Dan Graham: Beyond’ (2009, co-curated with Chrissie Iles); ‘William Leavitt: Theater Objects’ (2011, co-curated with Ann Goldstein); ‘Kenneth Anger: ICONS’ (2011); ‘Bob Mizer & Tom of Finland’ (2013); ‘William Pope.L: Trinket’ (2015); and ‘R. H. Quaytman: Morning, Chapter 30’ (2016). His interdisciplinary thematic exhibition Blues for Smoke appeared at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in 2012 before traveling to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2013), and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2013). In 2014, Simpson oversaw MOCA’s presentation of the touring retrospective ‘Mike Kelley.’ He is currently working on a retrospective of the work of Zoe Leonard. About Hamza Walker Hamza Walker is Executive Director at LAXART. From 1994 – 2016, Walker served as Director of Education for The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago, a non-collecting museum devoted to contemporary art. Prior to his position at The Society, he worked as a Public Art Coordinator for The Department of Cultural Affairs. He has written articles and reviews for such publications as Trans, New Art Examiner, Parkett and Artforum. He has served on numerous panels, locally, nationaly and internationally and is the recipient of the the 2010 Ordway Prize, the 2004 Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement, and 1999 Norton Curatorial Grant. Bennett Simpson / Hamza Walker, Photo: Dawoud Bey