Beverly Semmes

Beverly Semmes
Born Washington, DC, US
Nationality American
Education Boston Museum School, Tufts University, Yale University School of Art
Known for Sculpture, Textile, Fashion, Installation, Performance, Video, Photography

Beverly Semmes is an American artist who works in sculpture, textile, video, photography, performance, and large-scale installation. Born in Washington, D.C., she currently resides in New York City.

Early life and education

Semmes received her BA and BFA from the Boston Museum School, Tufts University in 1982 and her MFA from the Yale University School of Art in 1987. She has been honored with solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Camden Art Centre, London and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio. Her work is included in numerous museum collections including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY; the Denver Art Museum; and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. [1]

Career and influences

Semmes’ is best known for her large scale sculpture and installations. Employing textiles, ceramic, and later crystal, she deals with issues related to feminism, gender roles and womanhood. Her fabric works take the shape of oversized pieces of female clothing, dysfunctional in scale and composition, emphasizing the absence of the body. She has said that these pieces have a theatrical, performative quality and that she uses clothing as a means to explore its power and influence on the internal and external.[2] Her ceramic works, often juxtaposed with her fabric installations, tend to be roughly shaped vessels in bright fluorescent shades, while her crystal works mimic their rawness defying our expectations for the medium.

Semmes’ began working on the Feminist Responsibility Project (FRP) in the early 2000’s. After receiving a cache of gentleman’s magazines from a neighbor, she spent the following decade censoring pages from the magazines with ink and paint, often covering the bodies on display in an effort to protect the subject and the viewer. “What she leaves blank, amid these colorful, blobby abstractions, are grasping hands, supplicating eyes, or sharp stiletto heels we associate with pornographic images (and performances).”[3]

In 2014, the Tang Museum opened “Opener 27 Beverly Semmes: FRP,” which subsequently traveled to the Weatherspoon Art Museum, and Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College.

Beverly Semmes is represented by Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. [4]

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 2017: “Bow,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
  • 2017: “FRP: Green Cap/Box/Bubbles,” NYU Stern Windows Project, NYC
  • 2017: “Wild Child,” Samsøn, Boston, MA
  • 2016: “Rabbit Hole,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
  • 2015: Galerie Lefebvre & Fils, Paris, France
  • 2015: “Beverly Semmes: FRP,” Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, IA
  • 2015: “FRP,” Nina Fredudenheim Gallery, Buffalo NY
  • 2014: “FRP,” Gallery Bugdahn and Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2014: “Opener 27 Beverly Semmes: FRP,” Tang Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • 2014: “Beverly Semmes,” Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2014: “FRP,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
  • 2014: “1992-1994,” Shoshana Wayne, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2013: “Beverly Semmes,” Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
  • 2013: “Starcraft,” Sarah Moody Gallery, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
  • 2012: “Starcraft,” Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN; Eleanor D Wilson Museum, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA
  • 2011: “The Feminist Responsibility Project,” Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
  • 2011: “Starcraft,” Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN (traveling exhibition)
  • 2008: “Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?,” (Collaboration with Ingrid Schaffner), Testsite, Austin, TX
  • 2008: “Pink Arms,” Pairs and Bumps, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX
  • 2007: “Beverly Semmes,” Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
  • 2007: “Certainly (Chartreuse) / Really (Red),” Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2006: “Blood Shot Pot,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2005: “Hole/Pot/Dot,” Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
  • 2005: “Ice Queen,” Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2005: “La Flor del Paraiso 2,” Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, NYC
  • 2005: “Hole/Pot/Dot,” Editions Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2004: Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
  • 2004: “La Flor del Paraiso,” Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark
  • 2003: “In the O,” Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, NYC
  • 2002: “Sea Green Petunia,” Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2001: “Beverly Semmes,” Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, NYC
  • 2000: “Beverly Semmes,” Ginza Artspace, Shiseido Co., Tokyo, Japan
  • 2000: “Watching Her Feat,” The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1999: “Photographs,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
  • 1999: “Super-8 Films,” GAGA, NYC
  • 1999: Kunstverein Ulm, Ulm, Germany 1999: “Not Here,” Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
  • 1999: “Recent Photographs + Video,” Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 1999: “Beverly Semmes,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
  • 1998: “Beverly Semmes,” Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
  • 1997: “Stuffed Cat,” Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
  • 1996: “Directions: Beverly Semmes,” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • 1996: “Beverly Semmes: Big Silver,” Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA; Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Michael Klein Gallery, NYC
  • 1996: “She Moves,” Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, NYC
  • 1995: “Beverly Semmes: Yellow Pool,” Kemper Museum for Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, MO
  • 1995: “Beverly Semmes,” Baxter Gallery, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
  • 1995: “Beverly Semmes,” The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
  • 1994: “Beverly Semmes,” Michael Klein Inc., NYC
  • 1994: “Beverly Semmes,” Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France
  • 1994: “Beverly Semmes,” Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
  • 1994: “Beverly Semmes,” James Hockey Gallery, WSCAD, Farnham, UK
  • 1994: “Beverly Semmes,” Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK
  • 1994: Camden Arts Centre, London, UK
  • 1993: “Beverly Semmes,” ICA, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1993: 5501 Columbia, Contemporary Culture Inc., Dallas, TX
  • 1993: South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
  • 1992: “Beverly Semmes,” The Sculpture Center, NYC
  • 1990: “Special Projects,” P.S.1 Museum, Long Island City, NYC
  • 1990: “Beverly Semmes,” Artists Space, NYC

Selected group exhibitions

  • 2018 “The American Scene,” curated by Christine Germain-Donnay and Laurent de Verneuil, National Museum of Ceramics, Sevres, France (upcoming)
  • 2018 57th Carnegie International, curated by Ingrid Schaffner, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (upcoming)
  • 2018 “The Fabric of Felicity,” Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (upcoming)
  • 2017 “Revival,” National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
  • 2016 “No Man’s Land: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection,” Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL; traveling to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
  • 2015 “Flying over the Abyss,” NEON & The Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
  • 2015 “Come as You Are: Art of the 1990’s,” Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ; traveling to Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA; The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI; The Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX
  • 2014 “One Work,” The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • 2013 “Material World,” Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
  • 2009 “Art, Prêt-a-Porter,” Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2009 “Dirt on Delight,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA; traveling to the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
  • 2008 “Great Women Artists: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
  • 2008 “Focus: The Figure,” Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
  • 2006 “DressCode,” Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • 2005 “An Inner Glow,” Kunstverein Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany
  • 2005 “On Conceptual Clothing,” Kirishima Open Air Museum, Kagoshima, Japan
  • 2005 “Art-Robe,” UNESCO, Paris, France
  • 2004 “On Conceptual Clothing,” Musashino Art University Museum and Library, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2003 “Imago: 10 Ans d'acquisitions du FRAC Franche-Comte,” Musée des beaux-arts de Dole, Dole, France
  • 2003 “New Material as New Media: The Fabric Workshop and Museum at 25 Years,” The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
  • 2002 “Rapture: Art’s Seduction by Fashion 1970-2002,” The Barbican Centre, London, UK
  • 2001 “Recent Acquisitions,” The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • 2001 “Sonsbeek 9: Locus/Focus,” Arnhem, The Netherlands
  • 2001 “Untragbar: Mode als Skulptur,” Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany
  • 2001 “The First 10 Years: Selected Works from the Collection,” The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2001 “Selections from the Permanent Collection,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
  • 2000 “Beauty Now,” Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
  • 1999 “Regarding Beauty,” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • 1999 “The Rubell Family Collection of Contemporary Art,” Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
  • 1999 “A Space to Grow,” Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • 1999 “Almost Warm and Fuzzy; Childhood and Contemporary Art,” Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA; traveling to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art: SMoCA, Scottsdale, AZ; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; CaixaForum Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
  • 1998 “L'entrelacement et l'enveloppe,” La Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France
  • 1998 “Busan International Contemporary Art Festival,” Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
  • 1997 “Changing Spaces,” The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1997 “Angel, Angel,” Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria; traveling to Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 1997 “Art/Fashion,” Guggenheim SoHo, NYC
  • 1997 “International Istanbul Biennial,” Istanbul, Turkey
  • 1997 “The Hirshhorn Collects: Recent Acquisitions,” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • 1996 “A Labor of Love,” New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
  • 1996 “Biennale di Firenze: il tempo e la moda,” Florence, Italy
  • 1996 “L’art au corps, le corps expose de Man Ray a nos jours,” Mac Galeries contemporaines des Musées de Marseille, Marseille, France
  • 1995 “Material Dreams,” Takashimaya Gallery, NYC
  • 1995 “Currents 95: Familiar Places,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
  • 1994 “Bad Girls,” Wright Art Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; traveling to New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
  • 1994 “From Beyond the Pale,” Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • 1993 “First Sightings,” Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Publications: books and catalogues

  • “Tuesdays & Saturdays, Nicole Cherubini & Beverly Semmes,” 2012.
  • Liu, Catherine. "Feminist Responsibility Project,” 2011.
  • Sims, Patterson. “Beverly Semmes,” Hunter Museum of Art, 2011.
  • Bloemink, Barbara J. “Dress Codes: Clothing as Metaphor,” Katonah Museum of Art, 2009.
  • Gschwandtner, Sabrina. “Motion Blur; American Craft,” Gustavsbergs Konsthall, 2009.
  • Butler, Cornelia. WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, The MIT Press, 2007, 14-23.
  • Collins, Judith. Sculpture Today, Phaidon Inc LTD., 2007.
  • Harper, Glenn, & Moyer, Twylene, Eds. A Sculpture Reader: Contemporary Sculpture Since 1980, ISC Press, 2006.
  • Kalkmann, Hans-Werner. “Eva Und Die Schlange,” Catalog Kunstverein bad Salzdetfurth, Germany, 2005, 61, 134.
  • Schepers, Heiner. “Inneres Leuchten-Farbe als Malerei,” Kunstverein Lingen Kunstahalle, Lingen, Germany, 2005, 48-51.
  • Burkard, Lene; Luis Pérez Oramas, Beverly Semmes. La Flor del Paraiso, Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, 2004.
  • Art Robe: Women artists at the nexus of art and fashion, Unesco, 2004.
  • “Beverly Semmes,” Scanorama, May 2004, 99.
  • The Realm of Clothing: On Conceptual Clothing, Musashino Art University Museum and Library, 2004.
  • Mé-Tissages, Museum voor Industriële
  • Archeologie en Textiel Gent.
  • Townsand, Chris. Rapture, Art’s Seduction by Fashion, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002, 103-07.
  • Art Unlimited 2002. Basel, Switzerland, 114f. (illus.).
  • Bal, Mieke. “Mise-en-scene,” in Traveling Concepts in the Humanities, University of Toronto Press, 2002, 102-105.
  • Stillman, Whit. “Form and Uniform,” in. Rapture, Art’s Seduction by Fashion, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002, 103-07.
  • Anna, Susanne, and Markus Heinzelmann. Untragbar: Mode als Skulptur. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2001.
  • Früchtl, Josef, and Jörg Zimmermann. “Mise en Scene” in Ästhetik der Inszenierung, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2001, 201–202.
  • Schaffner, Ingrid; Feldman, Melissa. About the Bayberry Bush, The Parrish Art Museum, 2001.
  • Hoet, Jan; Delrue, Mark; Koenot, Jan. Epifanie, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent 2000.
  • Stein, Judith. "The Likeness of Being: Contemporary Self-Portraits by Sixty Women Artists,” DC Moore Gallery, 2000.
  • Benezra, Neal, and Olga Viso. Regarding Beauty, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. 1999.
  • Lubowsky Talbot, Susan. Almost Warm and Fuzzy; Childhood and Contemporary Art, Des Moines Art Center.
  • O'Donaghue, Helen; Davoren Ann. A Space to Grow, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 1999.
  • Schink, Claudia. Textil, Nassauischer Kunstverein, 1999.
  • Arning, Bill. Fashioned, White Box, 1998.
  • Constantine, Mildred; Reuter, Laurel. Whole Cloth, New York: Monacelli Press, 1998.
  • Sang-Young, Ahn. Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival, Pusan Metropolitan Art Museum, 1998.
  • Schaefer, Dirk, et al. Douzieme Rencontres Video Art Plastique, Centre d'art contemporain de Basse-Normandie, 1998.
  • Shirey, David L. Masters of the Masters, Butler Institute of American Art, 1998, 33.
  • Wadley, Nick. The Secret Life of Clothes, Artium Gallery, 1998.
  • Celant, Germano; Sischy, Ingrid; Asbaghi, Pandora Tabatabai. Art/Fashion, Biennale di Firenze, 1997.
  • Demetrion, James. The Hirshhorn Collects: Recent Acquisitions, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 1997.
  • Keiter, Ellen. Hanging By a Thread, Hudson River Museum, 1997.
  • Lineberry, Heather Sealy; Gilbert-Rolfe, Jeremy. Art on the Edge of Fashion, Arizona State University Art Museum, 1997.
  • Martinez, Rosa. On Life, Beauty, Translations and Other Difficulties, 5th International Istanbul Biennial, 1997.
  • Moody, Tom. Thread, Christinerose Gallery, 1997.
  • Pichler, Cathrin. Engel: Engel, Kunsthalle Wien, 1997.
  • Davis, Trevor. Container '96, Copenhagen, 1996.
  • Ferguson, Bruce. Beverly Semmes, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 1996.
  • Philbrick, Harry; Nancy Princethal. Landscape Reclaimed, New Approaches to an Artistic Tradition, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996.
  • Tucker, Marcia. A Labor of Love, New Museum, New York, NY, 1996.
  • Tucker, Marcia. Bad Girls, New Museum, 1995.
  • Ferris, Allison. Conceptual Textiles: Material Meanings, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 1995.
  • Georgia, Olivia. In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the 90's, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1995, 51.
  • Gill, Sharon. The Outer Layer, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, 1995.
  • Gumpert, Lynne. Material Dreams, Takashimaya Gallery, 1995.
  • Broude, Norma, Mary D. Garrard, and Judith K. Brodsky. The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994, 279.
  • Ramljak, Suzanne. Object Lessons: Feminine Dialogues With the Surreal, Huntington Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, 1994.
  • Frankel, David; McEvilley, Thomas; McGonagle, Declan. From Beyond the Pale: Art and Artists at the Edge of Consensus, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1994, 79.
  • Canning, Susan. Contemporary Women Artists and the Issue of Identity: My/Self: Your/Other, Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, 1993.
  • Felshin, Nina. The Empty Dress. Clothing As Surrogate In Recent Art, Independent Curators Incorporated, 1993.
  • Tucker, Marcia; King, Elaine A; Riley, Jan; Shiffler, Robert. "Meddlesome & Meddlesome: Selections from the Collection of Robert J. Shiffler,” Contemporary Arts Center, 1993.
  • Larson, Kay. "American Art Today: Clothing as Metaphor,” Art Museum Florida International University, 1993.
  • Liu, Catherine. Plastic Fantastic Lover Object A), Blum Helman Warehouse, 1991.

Public collections

  • Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
  • Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
  • Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
  • Blind Spot Magazine, New York, NY
  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
  • Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
  • Franklin and Marshall College, (commission), Lancaster, PA
  • Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
  • Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
  • Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
  • Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ
  • Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • JP Morgan Chase, New York, NY
  • Lhoist Collection, Brussels, Belgium
  • Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
  • Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
  • Musashino Art University Library (commission), Tokyo, Japan
  • Musée Dole, Dole, France
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
  • Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem,
  • The Netherlands Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
  • NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
  • Progressive Corporation (commission), Mayfield, OH
  • RISD Museum, Providence, RI
  • Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
  • The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
  • Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
  • Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
  • Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
  • Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
  • Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
  • Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT

Grants and awards

  • Anonymous Was A Woman Award (2014)
  • NYU Excellence in Teaching Award (2004)
  • AICA USA Award (2001)
  • New York Foundation for the Arts, Sculpture (1997)
  • National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture (1994)
  • Mid-Atlantic Foundation Fellowship, Sculpture (1991)
  • Alice Kimball English Award from Yale (1997)
  • Art Matters Grant (1998)
  • Artist's Space Grant (1989)
  • NEA Fellowship (1994–95)
  • New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (1997)
  • Art Critics International Association award (AICA USA) (2001) for her exhibition at the Philadelphia-based Fabric Workshop and Museum[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Career Overview". Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  2. ↑ MacFarland, Terence, “The Big, The Bad and The Beautiful,” Interview Magazine, June 1996 p. 92 -95.
  3. ↑ “Martha Schwendener, “Museum/Gallery Listings for Feb. 28 – March 6: Beverly Semmes,” New York Times, 27 February 2014, p. C19.
  4. ↑ "Beverly Semmes". Susan Inglett Gallery. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
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