Synopsis
The eccentric visionary artist Forrest Bess (1911–1977) spent most of his life on the Texas coast working as a commercial fisherman. In his spare time, however, he painted prolifically, creating an extraordinary body of work rich with enigmatic symbolism. Bess experienced hallucinations that both frightened and intrigued him, and he incorporated images from these visions into small-scale abstract paintings starting in the mid-1940s.
His canvases attracted an underground following, and between 1949 and 1967, Betty Parsons organized six solo exhibitions of Bess’s work at her prominent New York City gallery. Since then, the art world has periodically rediscovered his work, most recently through a 2012 Whitney Biennial installation by American sculptor Robert Gober, which further exposed Bess’s psychological, medical, and religious theories. Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible is the artist’s first museum retrospective with catalogue in the United States and offers a fresh look at Bess’s work and a better understanding of this curious and complicated artist.
Distributed for The Menil Collection
Exhibition Schedule:
The Menil Collection(04/19/13–08/18/13)
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
(09/29/13–01/05/14)
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY
(02/16/14–05/11/14)
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About the Author
Clare Elliott is assistant curator at The Menil Collection. Robert Gober is an artist working in New York City.
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Search results for Forrest Bess – Seeing things Invisible (Life...
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Forrest Bess : Seeing Things Invisible. The Menil Collection, [annotated by art historian David Anfam]
Seller: Marcus Campbell Art Books, London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
25 x 27cm. Hardcover (no jacket, as issued), 111pp. Heavily annotated in ink throughout, with excited commentary, critique, and underlining by art historian David Anfam. The critic's own working copy. Published to coincide with the Bess exhibition at the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, from April 18th to August 19th 2013. Seller Inventory # 31806
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Forrest Bess : Seeing Things Invisible
Published by
The Menil Collection, Houston, 2013
ISBN 10: 0300189737
ISBN 13: 9780300189735
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Exquisite Corpse Booksellers, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Cloth. Condition: Fine Condition. 112 pages color illustrations throughout. Illustrated boards. Still in the publisher's original shrinkwrap, so the binding is tight, and interior presumably clean and free of markings. Contribution by Robert Gober. Published on the occasion of the exhibition from the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas April 18-August 19, 2013. Biography. Book. Seller Inventory # 029286
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Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible [Artist Monograph]
Seller: Brancamp Books, Batesville, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: New. BRAND NEW. Still Sealed in Publishers Shrinkwrap. Seller Inventory # 210816001