BEVERLY SEMMES
Bow (Blue Curtain), 2016
Tulle
109 x 32 in. (sleeves 150 in.) per unit, 18 units total
Copyright The Artist
Ethereal blue tulle dresses line the gallery walls shoulder to shoulder. Bent or bowed at the waist, attenuated sleeves sweeping the floor, the forms suggest a deflation of breath and...
Ethereal blue tulle dresses line the gallery walls shoulder to shoulder. Bent or bowed at the waist, attenuated sleeves sweeping the floor, the forms suggest a deflation of breath and anticipated inhalation. Gently disturbed by passing bodies and the breeze, this corporeal curtain is in a constant state of subtle movement. Semmes fabric works or dresses perform as stand ins for the female body. Here their slight materiality creates a ghostly hovering presence, a phantom army of gentle souls.
BEVERLY SEMMES (b. 1958) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work incorporates sculpture, painting, drawing, film, photography, and performance. These complementary elements adhere in surprising ways, probing the paradoxes and complexities of the female body and its representation. Based in New York, Semmes has been honored with many solo museum exhibitions including presentations at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (2019); The Ginza Art Space, Tokyo (2000); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (1996); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1995); and the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, PA (1993). Spring 2025 Semmes will be featured in a solo exhibition titled The Dresses at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, and Fall 2025, her alma mater, Tufts University, will present a major solo exhibition at the University Gallery. Recent group exhibitions include Always In Relation: 50 Years of the Gallery at Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown (2024); The New Village: Ten Years of New York Fashion at Pratt Manhattan Gallery, NYC (2024) as well as Witch Hunt at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2021), and the 57th Carnegie International, at the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh (2018). Semmes’ work can be found in the permanent collections of the Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; the Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, The Netherlands; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, among others.
BEVERLY SEMMES (b. 1958) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work incorporates sculpture, painting, drawing, film, photography, and performance. These complementary elements adhere in surprising ways, probing the paradoxes and complexities of the female body and its representation. Based in New York, Semmes has been honored with many solo museum exhibitions including presentations at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (2019); The Ginza Art Space, Tokyo (2000); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (1996); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1995); and the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, PA (1993). Spring 2025 Semmes will be featured in a solo exhibition titled The Dresses at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, and Fall 2025, her alma mater, Tufts University, will present a major solo exhibition at the University Gallery. Recent group exhibitions include Always In Relation: 50 Years of the Gallery at Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown (2024); The New Village: Ten Years of New York Fashion at Pratt Manhattan Gallery, NYC (2024) as well as Witch Hunt at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2021), and the 57th Carnegie International, at the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh (2018). Semmes’ work can be found in the permanent collections of the Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; the Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, The Netherlands; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, among others.
Exhibitions
"Kahlil Robert Irving and Beverly Semmes: Sky, Blue," Tureen, Dallas, Texas, 7 September- 19 October 2024."Bow," Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC, 13 September 2017 - 21 October 2017.
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