Susan Bee | |
|---|---|
 Susan Bee in 2006 | |
| Born | (1952-01-14)January 14, 1952 (age 73) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Barnard College (BA) Hunter College (MA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse | Charles Bernstein |
| Children | 2, includingFelix Bernstein |
| Mother | Miriam Laufer |
Susan Bee (born January 14, 1952[1]) is an American painter, editor, and book artist known for her work in book form and as co-editor and co-founder ofM/E/A/N/I/N/G.[2]
Bee has a B.A. fromBarnard College and a M.A. in art fromHunter College.
Susan Bee is currently represented byA.I.R. Gallery, where she has been a member since 1996. In addition to those galleries and Accola Griefen, she has had solo shows at the New York Public Library, Kenyon College, Columbia University, William Paterson University, and Virginia Lust Gallery, and her work has been included in numerous group shows.[3]
In 2024, "Susan Bee, Eye of the Storm: Selected Works 1981-2023” is being presented at theProvincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM). The show is curated byJohanna Drucker.[4] A 68-page full-color catalog with essays by Drucker,John Yau, and Raphael Rubinstein was published by PAAM. The show was featured by Antonia Pocock ("Storms, Lighthouses, and Pinup Girls: Susan Bee in Provincetown") inProvincetown Arts, Vol. 39, 2024/2025.[5]
In 2015, "Photograms and Altered Photos from the 1970s" were exhibited at Southfirst Gallery in Brooklyn.[6] She had one solo show at Accola Griefen Gallery (2013) and ten solo shows atA.I.R. Gallery in New York.[7]
Her work has been described as a "distinctive stylistic blend of folk art and pastoral psychedelia."[8]
She has taught at theSchool of Visual Arts MFA in Art Criticism and Writing program[9] and at theUniversity of Pennsylvania and at Pratt Institute.
Bee has published six artist's books withGranary Books.[10] These include several collaborations with poets:Bed Hangings, withSusan Howe,A Girl’s Life, withJohanna Drucker,The Burning Babe and Other Poems withJerome Rothenberg, andLog Rhythms andLittle Orphan Anagram withCharles Bernstein. In addition, she has published nine artist's books for other publishers, including ' 'Off-World Fairy Tales' ' with Drucker (2020),[11]Fabulas Feminae with Drucker (2015),[12]Entre (2009) with poems by Regis Bonvicino, from Global Books, Paris, andThe Invention Tree (2012) with poems by Jerome McGann, Chax Press.
Her artwork is included in many public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Getty Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Yale University, Clark Art Institute, New York Public Library, and Harvard University Library.
Her work has been reviewed inArt in America,The New York Times,[13]The New Yorker,Art Papers,The Forward,The Brooklyn Rail,[14] andArtNews. She has had Fellowships at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2002 and 1999, Yaddo Fellowships in 2001 and 1996, and at the MacDowell Colony in 2012. In addition, she has had publication grants from the Visual Arts Program, theNational Endowment for the Arts, from 1992 to 1997 and Publication Grants, from the Visual Arts Program, New York State Council on the Arts, from 1989 to 1997.
In 2014, Susan Bee was awarded aGuggenheim fellowship.[15]
Bee is the co-editor, withMira Schor, ofM/E/A/N/I/N/G:An Anthology of Artist's Writings, Theory, and Criticism, with writings by over 100 artists, critics, and poets, published by Duke University Press in 2000. She was the co-editor ofM/E/A/N/I/N/G: A Journal of Contemporary Art Issues from 1986 to 1996 and is currently the co-editor ofM/E/A/N/I/N/G Online.[2]
Susan Bee is married to poetCharles Bernstein.[16] They have two children, Emma Bee Bernstein (May 16, 1985 - December 20, 2008) andFelix Bernstein (born May 20, 1992).[17] Her parents,Miriam Laufer and Sigmund Laufer, were also artists.[18][19]
