Jayson Scott Musson is an artist who lives and works in

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

. He was born in Bronx, NY.

Early life

In an interview in

Nat. Brut Nat. Brut is an American literary magazine founded in 2012 by Anna Ploegh and Andrew Ridker. The magazine contains artwork, prose, and poetry by a set of diverse artists and is publicized both online and in print. The most recent issue iIssue 14 wh ...

magazine, Musson said that he grew up in

Spring Valley, New York Spring Valley is a village in the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Chestnut Ridge, east of Airmont and Monsey, south of Hillcrest, and west of Nanuet. The population was 33, ...

, about 25 minutes from New York City. He stated that he was "pretty much a very quiet kid" who "didn’t care too much for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

or whatever, just drawing."

Education

Musson earned a BFA in photography from the University of the Arts in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In 2011, he completed an MFA in painting from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Music

Musson is an original member of the Philadelphian rap group

Plastic Little is a Japanese original video animation film and a manga series created by Satoshi Urushihara. It was released in North America on VHS by ADV Films in July 1994. It was released on DVD in February 2002. Along with ''Burn-Up Excess'' and ''A ...

, formed during the summer of 2001. Along with Plastic Little, Musson performed with British producer

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

as well as collaborated with a number of notable Philadelphian acts including

Spank Rock Naeem Juwan, better known by his stage name Spank Rock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Baltimore. He rose to fame with his 2006 album ''YoYoYoYoYo'', which was produced by former group member Alex Epton (XXXChange). A harbinger of po ...

and

Amanda Blank Amanda Blank (born Amanda Mallory McGrath; March 21, 1983) is an American singer, rapper and member of the performance art band Sweatheart based in Philadelphia. Early life Amanda Blank was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, a neighb ...

Video Performance

In 2010, Musson created the character of

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 ...

, which subsequently became an Internet phenomenon through the popularity of the "Art Thoughtz" video series. Musson publicly divides his persona with the character's by referring to Youngman as his "cousin." Musson's "ART THOUGHTZ" series is distributed internationally by

Electronic Arts Intermix Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a nonprofit arts organization that is a resource for video and media art. An advocate of media art and artists since 1971, EAI's core program is the distribution and preservation of a collection of over 3,500 new ...

Solo exhibitions

* 2012: Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA "A True Fiend's Weight" * 2012: Salon 94, New York, NY, "Halcyon Days" * 2011: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA "Hennessy Youngman & Nathaniel Snerpus Present: The Grand Manner" * 2011: Marginal Utility Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, "Neoteny: The Hard Sell" * 2008: Dazed & Confused Magazine Gallery, London, England, "Too Black For BET" * 2006: Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA, "Too Black for BET, Episode II: The Black Boy George" * 2002: Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA, "Too Black for BET"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musson, Jayson Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from the Bronx African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists Artists from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni 21st-century African-American people