A cover of a book featuring a gray scraggly rabbit as a puppet lounging in reference to Ingres' painting "La Grande Odalisque" and holding a clear and green bong.

The back cover of a book featuring the artist Jayson Musson and a large rabbit puppet giving a hearty laugh with their hands on their chests. The man is wearing a burgundy corduroy suit with a yellow turtleneck. He has thick dark curly hair that blends in with his beard. The rabbit puppet is grey with stringy fur, a round sky blue eyeball, a pink nose, and green at the center of its tall ears.

A book spread featuring one page of large text on the left that reads "Embellishment supported by aesthetics" and is quoted by "Jay" who is Jayson Musson's character in the exhibition, His History of Art. The page on the right is an installation photo from the exhibition Jayson Musson: His History of Art and features a white, carved, foam "Pietà Chair" referencing Michelangelo's "La Madonna della Pietà" in the foreground. In the background is a curtain on the left featuring Judith Slaying Holofernes in the style of Matisse's Icarus, and a coat hanger on the right referencing and in the style of Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon."

A book spread featuring one page of text on the left that reads "Episode 1: His History of Art Hey Young World, Written by Jayson Scott Musson. On the right is a behind-the-scenes photograph of four puppeteers animating three, smaller colorful (one yellow, red, and green) furry puppets in denim vests, sunglasses, and pope hats as well as one larger, scraggly gray rabbit puppet. They are on the set of filming for Jayson Musson: His History of Art.

A book spread featuring a drawn storyboard with 6 panels of a scene from Jayson Musson: His History of Art on the left page. On the right page, there are 6 video stills from Jayson Musson: His History of Art that depict the same 6 hand-drawn panels on the left. The storyboard features a story of a buff Picasso interacting with Ollie, a gray, scraggly rabbit puppet in an aggressive manner. They are in Jay's (Jayson Musson's character) living room. We see Picasso throwing Ollie to Jay and then Picasso rips off his clothes and he is left standing in his underwear. Then, we see Picasso painting, but the audience can only see the back side of the canvas. Then, the camera turns to Jay and Ollie who are looking at each other with a confused expression. The camera turns back to Picasso and he is holding up a finished abstract painting.

A book spread featuring two pages of large text. The left side reads, "To be a great artist," with a pink background and white text. The right side reads, "you have to be a genius." on a white background with pink text.

A book spread featuring two images (one on each page) of installation photos from the exhibition Jayson Musson: His History of Art. On the left is a window curtain referencing Gentileschi's "Judith Slaying Holofernes" in the style of Matisse's "Icarus." On the right is an image of three puppets wearing denim vests and pope hats.

A book spread featuring a series of behind-the-scenes photographs of FWM staff and Jayson Musson working on creating elements of "His History of Art." On the left there are three photos, one large photo at the top with two smaller photos underneath. The top photo is of two FWM staff members with Jayson Musson and they are inspecting an early prototype of Ollie, the rabbit puppet. We can only see the back of the unfinished head of the brown, scraggly puppet. Below left, a project assistant is working with red, fluffy fabric to create a puppet. Below right is Jayson Musson with a brown, scraggly prototype of Ollie the rabbit puppet. The prototype is incomplete and has only one arm. On the right side of the spread is one large photograph of incomplete prototypes of two puppets sitting together. One is small, green, and fluffy with it's mouth open and is wearing a pope hat. The other is Ollie, a brown, scraggly rabbit puppet.

Jayson Musson's His History of Art

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Description

His History of Art catalogs Jayson Musson‘s critically-acclaimed three-channel video series developed and exhibited in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum as part of his residency.

Go behind-the-scenes with never-before-seen photography documenting the show’s making, draft scripts and storyboards, new essays, and an interview with the artist in this hardcover publication.

Hardcover, 150 pages / color
Editor: Sarah Kramer
Designer: Ted Olson

Introduced by Christina Vassallo, the book features essays by art historian Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw and artist Michael Smith, as well as an interview with Musson in conversation with DJ Hellerman and Alec Unkovic.

Edited by DJ Hellerman and Alec Unkovic. Published by The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia on the occasion of Jayson Musson: His History of Art.

ISBN 978-1-7360146-3-9

More from the Artist

A stuffed plush gray rabbit sits upright against a plaid collector's box. The rabbit has round blue eyes, an oblong peach nose and long green shapes on the interior of its ears. The brown plaid box reads "Ollie" and "Jayson Musson's His History of Art" and has a circular viewing window that reveals another rabbit puppet inside.

Artist Edition

A gray plush stuffed rabbit sits upright. It has round blue eyes, an oblong peach noes, and long green shapes on the interior of its ears.

Jayson Musson x FWM

Ollie

A photograph of a young man wearing a grey cap that reads GENIUS in all caps and in magenta embroidery. He has a thin dark mustache and goatee and is wearing a light gray shirt. The green of trees appears behind him.

Artist Edition

A photograph of a dark grey baseball hat with the words GENIUS spelled out in red embroidery. The cap is at a diagonal with the bill slightly to the right.

Jayson Musson x FWM

Genius Baseball Cap

Meet the Artist

A behind-the-scenes photograph taken on a film set. A camera and rig obscures the left half of the image. At the center is a man wearing a cream suit with palms turned outward. To his left and right are two small puppets, including a puppeteer. He is standing in front of a grey wall with thin white stripes and a black door and behind a tan plaid couch.

Jayson Musson

Jayson Musson is a multi-disciplinary artist whose incisive and often satirical use of materials and media exposes elite attitudes and inequities in both art history and in contemporary culture. His three-part sitcom, His History of Art, employed the use of costumes, puppetry, and set designs.

Shop more from the artist

About The Exhibition

Artist Jayson Musson laughing with a scraggly, gray rabbit as a puppet sitting on his lap. The artist is wearing a burgundy suit over a yellow turtleneck shirt. He has dark, bushy hair that merges with his dark beard. The background is a gradation of rainbow, pastel colors.

Jayson Musson: His History of Art

July 22, 2022–December 31, 2022

Utilizing costuming, props, puppetry, and scenery created in collaboration with the FWM studio team, His History of Art debuts a new three-channel video series written, starred, and co-directed by Musson, who describes it as “a sitcom orbiting art history and all the fun to be had dancing on the minefield of the past.”

Learn more