Betty Tompkins Artist Talk

About

Betty Tompkins (b. 1945) lives and works between New York, NY, and Pleasant Mount, PA. A pioneering, feminist artist, Tompkins is best known for her direct depiction of the female body, sexuality, and sexual desire. Tompkins creates paintings, drawings and photographs that often take as their starting point images found in pornography, using them to create classically framed, carefully textured works. By subverting a genre typically associated with men and the submission of women, Tompkins reclaims the imagery, positioning the female body as a strong and powerful force. While much of Tompkins’ early work was under appreciated by contemporary art critics, her provocative and complex paintings have recently had a resurgence in recognition, and offer a timely response to the current political climate. Through her work with a subject matter that has often been considered taboo, Tompkins has created a platform to reframe female sexuality, and to powerfully reposition the female body. Visual Language is a bi-coastal group exhibition in collaboration with LA’s Subliminal Projects, Visual Language interrogates the diverse approaches employed by artists using word and image in contemporary art. It draws with urgency on the political, social and cultural landscapes of America now. Visual Language presents new and existing works by leading artists.