nasty women lbk

if you missed last night's event, you did miss out (but not on everything)! lucky to have been alongside some great talent + amazing people + firepit in the texas winter weather!

please check out these two upcoming events (more details to follow) , & if interested in the print below or a t-shirt (new design coming, but can also do the style below, too), let me know! if you need it before heading to D.C. or  Austin, let's make it happen!

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January 21st: gallery talks with artists & 1at1 & letterpress t-shirt / poster printing workshops (satellite gallery & helen devitt jones print studio)

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 February First Friday Art Trail, 2/3 6-9pm: meeting today with two major talents about some artwork & other amazingness, & tacos by the best cooks in the lbk, & letterpress, & good tunes, & photography love, & more tba  (Studio 4)

💋🍑💥

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victoria marie bee, [detail] SUCK IT, letterpress, 2016

 "#suckIt" 💋 detail of my print that'll be on exhibit tonight at the @ttusoa Satellite Gallery for the #nastyWomenLbk / @nastywomenexhibition LBK, with all proceeds from this print going to the local rape crisis center here in Lubbock (only $25 unframed suggested donation price, each one unique & unfiltered, not many left!) letterpress printed with fluorescent ink, bras, & custom type, of a line from the story "Suck It," feat. in the novel #LoveMeBack by @likefierce 💥

#broadside #broads #nastyWomen #art #printmaking #ink #letterpressForever #VMBEE #freethecleavage #lace #lacyRacy (one of these prints is currently on exhibit in #Australia & part of the @hamiltonwoodtype museum's collection from the 2016 #NewImpressions exhibition)

regram from @ghoosebomb

y'all, twenty dollar bills y'all, so many coming out of my printing apron, a huge fist full of $380 donated, from these #nastyWomen shirts & more printed & I was printing on demand during december's #FFAT. like, I'm speechless & so #lucky & #grateful to know so many amazing people that want to support #love & keep on fighting the good fight. all profits going to @plannedparenthood & still have lots of shirts & designs that are printed & can happen, contact me if you want one!!

#plannedparenthood #women #artFamily #spreadLove #letterpress #woodType #cuts #hot #lit #lovelovelove #badassWomen #selfie

@vbee (instagram)

[SELECTED, Juried Exhibition] RED

so grateful to announce that I have been selected by Juror Michael Itkoff (co-founder of Daylight Books) for the exhibition RED, at the SE Center for Photography in South Carolina!

selected work:

suck on my sweet tooth until I'm sore.

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RED

Juror: Michael Itkoff
Gallery exhibition: February 3 – February 28, 2017

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RED Prospectus

Red. Blood, the Grand Canyon and Mars- all Red. Red has more personal associations than any other color. Red is exciting, Red draws attention. Red is heat, passion, sex, anger, love and joy. Red can be happiness and good fortune.

Juror: Our juror for Red is Michael Itkoff, artist and Cofounder of Daylight and Fabl. Michael’s photographic and video work is in public and private collections in the United States and his work has appeared on the covers of Orion, Katalog, Next City and Philadelphia Weekly. Michael was the recipient of the Howard Chapnick Grant for the Advancement of Photojournalism (2006), a Creative Artists Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Arts Council (2007), and a Puffin Foundation Grant (2008). He has written for the NYTimes Lens blog, Art Asia Pacific, Nueva Luz, Conscientious blog and the Forward. Michael’s monograph Street Portraits was published by Charta Editions in 2009. 

He is currently represented by the Edelman Gallery in Chicago. 

Daylight is a non-profit organization dedicated to publishing art and photography books. By exploring the documentary mode along with the more conceptual concerns of fine-art, Daylight’s uniquely collectible publications work to revitalize the relationship between art, photography, and the world-at-large. 

Exhibition Details:  Selected images will hang in the SE Center’s main gallery space for approximately one month with the opportunity to be invited for a solo show at a later date. Openings are timed to coincide with the Village of West Greenville, Greenville, South Carolina's textile mill village turned arts district, First Fridays, a celebration of art, food and music. Participating artists that can attend have the opportunity for a Portfolio Review by SE Center Director Michael Pannier on the following Saturday morning (reservations needed). 

[SELECTED, Juried Exhibition] Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary

so grateful to announce that I have been selected by Juror Kate Breakey for Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary, at PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont!

selected work:

& from your lips she drew the Hallelujah.

(also available for purchase from Charles Adams Gallery in Lubbock, Texas)

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Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary

Juror: Kate Breakey
Gallery exhibition: January 2 – January 27, 2017

Juror’s Statement

I am honored to have juried the work for Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary for PhotoPlace Gallery. But I have to say how very difficult it was because I don’t think there was one image submitted that could not have gone in this exhibition. However, because of the huge number of images, only a small number of them could be selected for both exhibitions. I was greatly dismayed that so much truly excellent work had to be eliminated.  It’s obvious that some of the entries were from professional photographers whose work is  very sophisticated, polished and technically excellent. I appreciate the care and skill that this kind of studio work requires, but I wanted to include  images that had some magic and spontaneity — images that are poetic and playful, and not so carefully considered or contrived.   

 This was also a humbling experience. I was blown away by how much talent there is ‘out there’, and I wish everyone the very best in their lives as photographers and artists. 

Kate Breakey

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2017 Artist-In-Residence

very excited & grateful to announce that I have been selected to be the new artist-in-residence at Charles Adams Studio Project's Live/Work Studio #4 (January 2017 thru December 2017)!

this was a highly competitive application, & is the perfect next step for me as I graduate with my 2nd Masters degree this December 2016, with my MFA in Photography & Letterpress, from Texas Tech University (graduated with my MAE in 2013).

I have so much planned, for my artwork & artist future, plus lots of collaborations & community involvement. cannot wait to show you, throughout 2017!

lots of love, & more soon.

xoxo!

Live/Work Studios at CASP are located on the block adjacent to the Charles Adams Gallery at 1010 Mac Davis Lane. These unique studios designed by architect Upe Flueckiger  provide a personal residence, 1,100 square foot studio space, covered parking, and yard/courtyard area.  Live/Work Studios give artists the opportunity to create, share, and exhibit work through monthly First Friday Art Trail events, open studio hours, and other community engagement opportunities.

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❤️

Review of MFA Thesis Exhibition (The Bowerbird)

very grateful to Hannah Dean for writing this review in The Bowerbird!

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PRESS(v.) at 5&J

November 10, 2016

Hannah Dean

*PRESS(v.) is on view at 5&J by appointment only, until November 25th. Contact CASP at http://casp-arts.org.

PRESS(v.), the MFA thesis exhibition for Victoria Marie Bee, was a step above. Her large scans of various liquids, fabrics, flowers, and fruits are modern-day, sexy vanitas. At first glance they are beautiful, reveling in the senses, full of striking colors, lux textures, juicy bits of realism abstracted by glitter and milk. 

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Victoria Marie Bee, & the buzzards came & undressed her., pigment print, 2016

As seen in “ & the buzzards came & undressed her,” they are carefully crafted, giving the viewer pure pleasure in their design. (I met with Bee the day following the opening, to ask about her process. She takes her time - often weeks - in preparing her petri-dish compositions, stacking fruit, underwear, orange soda, etc. into cheap glass photo frames. Then, she scans them throughout different stages of their decomposition.) Upon closer inspection (and reflection), they project a different purpose other than indulgence. As PRESS(v.) implies, the work speaks of not only the pressure used to make the images, but the emotional and physical pressures of a romantic and sexual relationship. The various tropes employed, the split oranges and cherries, champagne, and milk take on obvious meanings and stand-ins for the body, sexual devices. In “le petite mort,” I giggled and felt as though I was in on the effervescent joke. “Little death,” meaning orgasm.

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Victoria Marie Bee, le petite mort, pigment print, 2016

Beyond the innuendo, there are more sinister tones to the work. The fluids that these fruit, lace, and beads float in are not preservatives, causing the “still-life” to go to ruin, the milk to curdle, the panties to mold. In the moments after the bubbles release in petit mort, they will fade, going flat. These tropes are not new, devices used to illustrate the brevity of life.  Still, the potential for spoilage is short of a complete read for this body of work. It’s not that it doesn’t rend the viewer into the unglamorous, even savaged moments of love and/or sex, it’s just that the work is so dang gorgeous. Unlike the vanitas tradition, these don’t leave me thinking of spiritual ideals, coming away moralized by the images. Instead, I revel in the gratification of the work, the sensual pressing of objects into glass, as if to give testament to the good times.  Feeling elevated, rather than humbled by or dismissive of beauty is a rare treat, and Bee delivers. 

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*The author's opinions are her own. Photos courtesy of the artist.