Sadie Benning facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sadie Benning |
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Benning in 2011
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| Background information | |
| Born | April 11, 1973 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | video maker, artist, musician, professor |
| Associated acts | Le Tigre |
Sadie T. Benning (born April 11, 1973) is an American artist. They are known for their work in video, painting, drawing, and music. Sadie creates unique films and art that explore ideas like identity, play, and how we see the world. They became well-known as a teenager for their short films. These films were like "video diaries" and were made with a special camera called a PixelVision.
Sadie Benning also helped start the electronic rock band Le Tigre. They were a member of the band from 1998 to 2001.
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Early Life
Sadie Benning was born on April 11, 1973, in Madison, Wisconsin. They grew up in Milwaukee with their mother. Sadie's father, James Benning, is also a film director. Sadie left high school at age 16 because they faced challenges there.
Sadie identifies as non-binary, meaning they don't identify as only male or female.
Artistic Work
Starting Out with PixelVision
Sadie Benning began making art when they were 15 years old. Their father, an experimental filmmaker, gave them a "toy" video camera for Christmas. This camera was a Fisher-Price PXL-2000, also known as PixelVision. It made black-and-white videos that looked pixelated, like old video games. The videos were recorded on regular audio cassette tapes.
At first, Sadie wasn't sure about the PixelVision camera. They thought it looked too simple. But they soon started using it to create short films. They made four short films and showed them in their father's film class. One of the students helped get a film into a festival. By the time Sadie was 19, their films had been shown in famous places. These included the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Sundance Institute. Their work was also shown at international film festivals.
Exploring Themes in Art
Many of Sadie Benning's early short films mixed different styles. They used performances, unique stories, handwritten notes, and music. These films explored topics like identity and growing up. Sadie's work has been featured in the Whitney Biennial several times. This is a big art show in New York. In 1993, Sadie was the youngest artist to be included in this important show.
Sadie's first videos, like A New Year, focused on their surroundings. They used their room and window to show feelings of confusion and being alone. Sadie explained that they used objects around them, like a television or toys, to tell their story.
As Sadie's work continued, they started using images of their own body and voice more often. In films like If Every Girl Had a Diary, Sadie used the PixelVision camera to get very close-up shots of their face and hands. They would narrate their life and thoughts while showing these close-ups. This helped the audience feel like they were getting to know Sadie better.
Later Art Projects
Sadie Benning went to Bard College in 2013 and earned a master's degree in fine arts two years later. They now teach there.
Sadie's art is part of many public museum collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Music Career
In 1998, Sadie Benning helped create the feminist post-punk band Le Tigre. The other members included Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman. Sadie left the band in 2001. After they left, JD Samson joined Le Tigre.
Exhibitions
Sadie Benning's art has been shown in many places around the world. Here are some of their exhibitions:
| Year | Exhibition name | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Artists' Television Access, San Francisco, California | ||
| 1991 | Film in the Cities | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| 1991 | Fact/Fiction | Museum of Modern Art, New York | |
| 1991 | Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois | ||
| 1992 | Art and Kultureproject, Vienna, Austria | ||
| 1992 | Videos on the Self | Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 1992 | Cinema in the 90s | Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York | |
| 1993 | Whitney Biennial | Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York | |
| 1993 | British Film Institute, London, England | ||
| 1993 | Vera Vita Giola Gallery, Naples, Italy | ||
| 1993 | Galerie Crassi, Paris, France | ||
| 1994 | In and Around the Body | Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania | |
| 1994 | Women's Self Portraits | University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California, Berkeley | |
| 1994 | Queer Screen | Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia | |
| 1995 | World Wide Video Festival | Hague | |
| 1996 | Scream and Scream Again: Film in Art | Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, Oxford, England | |
| 1998 | Up Close and Personal | Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| 2007 | Sadie Benning: Suspended Animation | Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio | |
| 2007 | Sadie Benning: Play Pause | Dia Center, New York City, New York | |
| 2008 | 7th Gwangju Biennale | Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea | |
| 2012 | VHS the Exhibition | Franklin Street Works, Stamford, Connecticut | |
| 2012 | Raw/Cooked: Ulrike Müller | Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York | |
| 2013–2014 | 2013 Carnegie International | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
| 2016 | Off-Site Exhibition: A Shape That Stands Up | Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California | |
| 2017 | Shared Eye | Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland |
List of Works
Here are some of the films and art installations Sadie Benning has created:
| Dates | Name | Medium | Duration | Notes |
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| 1989 | A New Year | black & white video, Pixelvision | 5:57 | This piece is in the art collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1989 | Living Inside | black & white video, Pixelvision | 5:06 | This piece is in the art collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1990 | If Every Girl Had a Diary | black & white video, Pixelvison | 8:56 | This piece is in the art collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. |
| 1990 | Welcome to Normal | color video, Hi 8 | 20:00 | |
| 1990 | Jollies | black & white video, Pixelvision | 11:18 | This piece is in the art collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1991 | A Place Called Lovely | black & white video, Pixelvision | 13:40 | |
| 1992 | It Wasn’t Love (But It Was Something) | black & white video, Pixelvision | 19:06 | |
| 1992 | Girl Power | black & white video, Pixelvision | 15:00 | |
| 1995 | The Judy Spots | color video, 16 mm film | 12:30 | The film was produced by Elisabeth Subrin. This piece is in the art collection at the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1995 | German Song | black & white video, Super 8 film | 6:00 | Made with the band Come. This piece is in the art collection at the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1998 | Flat Is Beautiful | black & white video, Pixelvision, 16mm film, and Super 8 film | 56:00 | Video co-starring Mark Ewert. This piece is in the art collection at the Museum of Modern Art. |
| 1998 | Aerobicide | video, color | 4:00 | Video made for a song on the Julie Ruin album. |
| 2006 | Play Pause | two channel video installation from hard drive, color digital video/ drawings on paper | 29:21 | Directed by Sadie Benning with Solveig Nelson. Drawings and sound by Sadie Benning. This piece is in the art collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art. |
| Year | Name | Medium | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Le Tigre Slide Show | slide installation projected during Le Tigre music performances, 40:00, drawings & color slides | |
| 2003 | The Baby | installation, 5:40, color digital video/ drawings on paper | |
| 2003 | One Liner | installation, 5:07, b&w video/ Pixelvision | |
| 2013 | Locating Center | installation of abstract paintings | This work was made for the 2013 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art. |
| Year | Name | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Le Tigre | compact disc and vinyl | Music album recorded with Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman. |
Awards and Recognition
Sadie Benning has received many awards and honors for their work. In 1991, the first article about their art appeared in a national magazine. In 2004, a special show of Sadie's video works was put together.
Sadie has received grants and fellowships from important organizations. These include the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rockefeller Foundation. They also received the Wexner Center Residency Award in Media Arts. Their videos are shared by Video Data Bank at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
See also
In Spanish: Sadie Benning para niños
