Biography
Bethany Collins is a multidisciplinary artist whose conceptually driven work is fueled by a critical exploration of how race and language interact. Interested in the possibility of multiple meanings, dual perceptions, and limitlessness in the seemingly binary, Collins' repetitious style of drawing allows her to fully understand objects in space while defining and redefining her own racial landscape. In her Contronym series, on view in this exhibition, Collins transposes definitions from Webster’s New World Dictionary of American Language onto American Masters paper, then aggressively obscures much of the entries with an eraser. What remain are specific snippets of meaning that are poetically charged through their isolation, as well as the crumbled paper bits left behind by her erasing. Collins' works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationwide. She is the recipient of the Hudgens Prize as well an Artadia Chicago award. Recent solo institutional exhibitions include the Contemporary Art Museum St Louis, the University of Kentucky Art Museum, and the University Galleries, Illinois State University; group exhibitions include the Markel Center at the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Contemporary Art, The Print Center Philadelphia, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Smart Museum Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and the Corvus Gallery at the University of Chicago Lab School.
Selected Works
Exhibitions
