Art Thoughtz With Hennessy Youngman

For me Youngman attacks some topics as institutional art, race, art history and contemporary culture in a very particular way. The Art Thoughtz with Hennessy Youngman is an episodic, Internet-basedtalk show in which Musson performs in the guise of hip-hop "art critic" Hennessy Youngman. In a series of short, talking-head monologues, Youngman offers aspiring artists his irreverent views on thecontemporary art world, from relational aesthetics and performance art to how to be a successful black artist. Musson uses hip-hop vernacular to critique the exclusionary language of art discourse,hilariously pitting hip-hop and art world idioms against each other in a dual parody of cultural clichés. (Hennessy Youngman's name references both the comedian Henny Youngman, who was famous for hisone-liners, and Hennessy cognac, status liquor in the hip-hop world.) With the Art Thoughtz series, Musson uses YouTube as a platform to expand his audience beyond art institutions and the art world; theseries has become a viral video phenomenon.
I also think that Part of Musson’s success with Art Thoughtz has been the creation of an unlikely character that challenges the core of the intellectualorthodoxy of today’s art world. Hennessy Youngman introduces a comedic, urban perspective into a largely serious and boring Ivy League discourse (a slightly ironic gesture, since Musson has an MFAdegree from UPenn). Through his videos, Musson has tried to initiate a loosening-up of the art world’s elitist establishment. His message seems to be, “Hey, take it easy, this stuff isn’t that serious.” Ienthusiastically support this type of message.
On the other side, Priscilla Monge’s work is immediately recognizable as a football pitch. But Monge's pitch differs in one fundamental respect. Thecustomary flat surface has been crumpled to undulate with a series of hillocks, mounds and hollows, as if, in a willful act of destruction, nature has forced her way through the carefully laid surface....