Bethany Collins is a multidisciplinary artist whose conceptually driven
work is fueled by a critical exploration of how race and language interact.
Language is both her subject and primary material—from nineteenth century
musical scores to US Department of Justice reports. Through labor intensive
acts of erasure, obfuscation, and re-writing, her works illuminate American
histories and offer insight into the development of racial and national identities.
Her works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationwide. 

CURRICULUM VITAE
Born 1984, Montgomery, AL
Lives and works in Chicago, IL

EDUCATION
2012
MFA, Drawing & Painting, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

2007
BA, Studio Art & Visual Journalism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Bethany Collins: At Sea, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Years, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Accord, The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn, AL

2023
Undercurrents, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY
Tempest, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
America: A Hymnal, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

2022
Cadence, PATRON, Chicago, IL

2021
America: A Hymnal, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AK
Evensong, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN
My Destiny Is In Your Hands, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL

2019
Chorus, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Benediction, The University of Kentucky Art Museum, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
A Pattern or Practice, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL [cat.]

2018
Undersong, PATRON, Chicago IL
The Litany, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
Occasional Verse, The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

2017
Material Fact, PATRON, Chicago, IL
Of a piece, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA

2016
In Evidence, Van Every / Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
The problem we all live with, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
with the exception of the sky, Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, GA

2015
Inquiry’s End, Richard Gray Gallery , Chicago, IL [cat.]
This is How the Myth Repeats, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA

2012
(Unrelated), Ernst G. Welsh Gallery, Atlanta, GA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Prospect.6: the future is present, the harbinger, Prospect, New Orleans, LA (forthcoming)
In an effort to be held, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI (forthcoming)
Intimate Landscapes, The Orange Advisory, Minneapolis, MN
Works By, Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, Chicago, IL

2023
Smart to the Core: Poetry is Everything, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Black Writing, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
All Hearts Beneath the Sun, University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal, IL

2022
In With The New…, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Visual Record: The Materiality of Sound in Print, International Print Center New York, New York NY
The Language Between Worlds, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Monochrome Multitudes, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Angela Davis: Seize the Time, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
A Midnight Thing, Soco Gallery, Charlotte, NC

2021
Common Space, Oolite Arts, Miami Beach, FL
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Bonccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection, The Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL
Promise, Witness, Remembrance, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, VMFA, Richmond, VA; Travels to: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO
Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Travels to: The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Angela Davis: Seize the Time, Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ

2020
Take Care, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
The Long Dream, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Nine Lives, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL.
WORDS, Simon Lee Gallery, London, U.K.
Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA [cat.]
From Pandemic to Protests: Visualizing Social Isolation and Social Injustices Through the Davidson College Art Collection, Van Every Smith Galleries, Davison College, Davidson, NC
Young Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Bonccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
Countermythologies, NXTHVN, New Haven, CT

2019
Direct Message, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
Juntao First National Book Art Exhibition, Qian Juntao Art Research Museum, Haining, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China
PROJECT, Temporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Bonccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, OSilas Gallery, Concordia College, New York, NY
Great Force,Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA [cat.]
Heritage, Rebecca Camacho Presents, San Francisco, CA
The Politics of Rhetoric, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
Resilience: African American Artists As Agents of Change, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MO
Parallel and Peripheries, MOCAD, Detroit, MI
Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/ Giuffrida Collection, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Fault Lines, Corvus Gallery at the University of Chicago Lab School, Chicago, IL

2018
Parallel and Peripheries, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
The Armory Show 2018, Piers 92/94, New York, NY
Out of Easy Reach, Depaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL; Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IL
What We Make, Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
In the Eyes of the Beholder, Tarble Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL

2017
Traduttore, Traditore, Curated by Karen Greenwalt & Katja Rivera, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
EXPO IN/SITU: Chronopolitics, Curated by Florence Derieux, Chicago, IL
Another Country, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Victory Over the Sun: The Poetics and Politics of Eclipse, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY
Beyond Boundaries, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
The Darryl Atwell Collection of African American Art, Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC
Gray Matters, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
Between Words and Images, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Excerpt, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2016
S/Election: Democracy, Citizenship, Freedom, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, CA
Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
AFRICA FORECAST: Fashioning Contemporary Life, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
Chicago Invites Chicago, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
Prix Canson, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Lines of Flight, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, New York, NY
Art AIDS America, Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA

2015
To Be Young, Gifted & Black, Curated by Hank Willis Thomas, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Talking Back, Otherwise, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Canada
Hudgens Prize Finalists Exhibition, Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, GA
I lost an arm on my last trip home, Ryan Lee Gallery, New York, NY
Venturing Out of the Heart of Darkness, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture, Charlotte, NC

2014
Material Histories, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY [cat.]
Retreat, organized by Theaster Gates, Valerie Carberry Gallery and Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, IL [cat.]
we seemed to be unanimously selected, Cindy Rucker Gallery, New York, NY
RE•AL•IZED, Carol Jazzar Contemporary, Miami, FL
The School, Chastain Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
Point of View: African American Art from the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Collection, Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI
Space For Possibility, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
INCOGNITO 2014, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
See Through Walls, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
Emerging Artist Exhibition, Museum of Arts & Sciences, Macon, GA

2013
Drawing Inside the Perimeter, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Intersections of Gender & Place, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS
ONE ONE, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, GA

2012 
From Cosmology to Neurology and Back Again, Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Talent Loves Company, Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2011
Bring It, Landmark Arts, Lubbock, TX

2010
Southern Art?, Ernest G. Welch Gallery, Atlanta, GA

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024
Adam Bradley, “The Black Female Artists Redefining Minimalism,” The New York Times, May 

2023
Annikka Olsen, “Breakthrough Artist Bethany Collins Mines the Poetic Potential of Paper” Artnet News, November 
“Art 50 2023: Chicago’s Artists’ Artists,” Newcity Art, September
Chadd Scott, “Black Women In Art And Black Writing In Art On View At Kansas Museum,” Forbes, August
Holland Cotter, “At Frieze New York 2023, One-Person Shows That Shine,” The New York Times, May 
Elaine Gonzalez, “Exploring the Power of Language: Black Writing Exhibition at Spencer Museum of Art Showcases the Intersection of Visual Art and Literature,” Sugarcane Magazine, May

2022

Natilee Harren, “The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse,” Artforum, February
Jillian Russo, “Angela Davis: Seize the Time,” The Brooklyn Rail, February
“PATRON Gallery opens ‘Bethany Collins: Cadence’,” Artdaily, March
Caira Moreira-Brown, “Interrogating Language: A Review of Bethany Collins at Patron,” Newcity Art, April
Maximilíano Durón, “Four Gallery Shows to See in the Windy City During Expo Chicago,” ArtNews, April
Stephen Mooallem, “How Chicago Became an Art-World Capital Without Giving In to Art-World Clichés,” Harper’s Bazaar, December
Rafael Soldi, “Q&A: Bethany Collins,” Strange Fire, December

2021
Sara Lee Burd, “Bethany Collins at the First Art Museum,” Burnaway, July
Margaret Carrigan, “O say can you see, what 100 versions of the Star-Spangled Banner reveal about America”, The Art Newspaper, June
Siddhartha Mitter, “How a Museum Show Honoring Breonna Taylor Is Trying to ‘Get It Right’”, The New York Times, March
Keyaira Boone, “18 Must-See Exhibition To List This Fall,” Essence, September

2020
Kerry Cardoza, “Art 50 2020: Chicago’s Artists’ Artists”, Newcity Art, September
Lauren Piemont, “‘From Pandemic to Protests’ at Davidson College,” Burnaway, September
Tom Wawzenek, “Review: Exhibition by ACLU and Weinberg/Newton Gallery Explores Voting Rights in Multiple Media,” Third Coast Review, September
Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis, “Exhibition Connects Haunted Past to Present Through Confederate Anthem,” Davidson College, August
Kelly Crow, “Collector’s Eye: They Built a World-Class Collection of Black Artists’ Work. Who Are They Acquiring Now?,” The Wall Street Journal, July
Hilarie M. Sheets, “Lost, and Now Found, Art From the Civil Rights Era,” The New York Times, March
Brian Slattery, “NXTHVN Breaks Down the Myths,” New Haven Independent, March
Caroline Goldstein, “Artist Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Struggle Series’ Offers a Poignant Reminder of Past Challenges America Has Endured,” ArtNet News, March
Julia Barber, “Jacob Lawrence’s ‘The American Struggle’ Commits the Nameless to Canvas,” WBUR, February
Nancy Kenney, “Jacob Lawrence’s epic series depicting America’s early struggles sets off on US tour,” The Art Newspaper, January
Natalie Gale, “PEM Reunites Jacob Lawrence Painting Series,” Northshore Magazine, January

2019
“Art World News Today: Artadia Names 2019 Chicago Awardees,” Blouin ArtInfo, July

Aaron Gettinger, “At the Smart, ‘Solidary & Solitary’ Shows Individuals Progressing Black Art,” Hyde Park Herald, February

2018
Brian Leahy, “Brian T. Leahy on Bethany Collins,” Artforum, December
Celia Almeida, “Bethany Collins’ America: A Hymnal Offers Refuge From Basel and American Madness,” Miami New Times, December
Kelly Crow, “At Miami’s Art Fairs, a Somber Mood Sets in,” The Wall Street Journal, December
Amarie Gipson, “Bethany Collins: Undersong,” THE SEEN, December
Evan Moffit, “What Can’t Be Read,” Frieze, Jan/Feb

2017
Amanda Dalla Villa Adams, “Critics Pick: Bethany Collins,”Artforum, September
Sara Rose Sharp, “Artists Embrace the Grayscale,”Hyperallergic, July
Antwaun Sargent, “Kara Walker, Juliana Huxtable, and More Challenge False White Recordings of Black History,” The Creators Project, March
Robin Dluzen, “Editorial Recommendations: Bethany Collins,” Visual Art Resource, February

2016
Amanda Cachia, “Critic’s Pick: S/Election: Democracy, Citizenship, Freedom,” Artforum, December
Barbara Schreiber, “Think about power in a new way at ‘Seeing / Saying’,” Charlotte Observer, November
Buzz Spector, “Eight Questions for Bethany Collins,” ART PAPERS, June

2015
Courtney Willis-Blair, “In Absentia: An Artist Performs Historical Erasure,” Modern Painters, December
“Version After Version,” ART PAPERS, Nov 2015.
Lilly Lampe, “Critics Pick,” Artforum, October
Sargent Antwaun, “Nina Simone’s ‘Young, Gifted, and Black’ Inspires an Exhibition in South Africa,” The Creators Project, October

2014
Holland Cotter, “The Stuff of Life, Urgently Altered,” The New York Times, August

2013
John Lemley, “Talking Art, Race & Identity with Bethany Collins,” NPR’s WABE, September

LECTURES AND ARTIST TALKS
2024
Janet Dees and Bethany Collins in Conversation, Auburn Form of Southern Art and Culture, Auburn, Alabama

2023
Bethany Collins, Smart Museum of Art Artist Talk, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 
Everything is Connected: Bethany Collins, Light Work Podcast

2022
Printing with Fire: Bethany Collins and Dario Robleto in Conversation with Jennifer L. Roberts
Artist talk with Regina Agu, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Visual Culture Colloquium, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
We the People Panel with David Rubenstein and Luis Garza, Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR
Dirty South Panel with Valerie Cassel Oliver and Ramell Ross, Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR
Guest Reviewer for Advanced Rendering Techniques, ITT College of Architecture, Chicago IL
Artist Talk, Anne and Stephen Matter Family Lecture, University Galleries of Illinois State University,Normal, IL
Artist Talk with Laylah Ali, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
The Dirty South Weekend: Introductory Artist Talk, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR 
The Cerebral Women Podcast
Bethany Collins: Art from an Enduring Melody, Artelligence Podcast

2021
Geffen Visiting Artist Talk, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
Artist talk with Sampada Aranke, Gallery 400 at University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville AR
Artist Talk, First Art Museum, Nashville, TN
Artist Talk, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Color the Conversation with Courtney Willis Blair, RISD, Providence , RI

2020
Conversation: Bethany Collins and Dr. Hilary Green, Van Every Smith Galleries, Davison College, Davidson, NC
The Odyssey Livestream Performance, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK
The American Struggle with Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Creative Shifts Panel with Lia Newman and Tom Stanley, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Charlotte,NC
The Director’s Dialogue Series, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

2019
Artist Talk: Bethany Collins, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Conversation: Bethany Collins and Amber Rose Johnson, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
Libby Newman Visiting Artist Series, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Platform Speaker Series Artist Talk, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Visiting Artist Talk, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Artist Talk: Bethany Collins and Samuel Levi Jones, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
Conversation: Bethany Collins and Duriel Harris, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Society for Contemporary Art Lecture, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2018
Visiting Artist Talk, Tarble Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL
Artist Talk, University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY
Artist Talk, The Center for the Book Arts, New York, NY
Artist Talk, McColl Center for Art and Innovation, Charlotte, NC

2017
Visiting Artist Talk, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Printmedia Visiting Artist Lecture Series, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk with Darby English and Daniel Borzutsky, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk with Xaviera Simmons and Carmen Winant, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
Panel with Joey Lico, Kadar Brock, Samuel Levi-Jones and Cheryl Pope, Soho House, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk with Deana Haggag, PATRON Gallery, Chicago, IL
Joyner/Giuffrida Collection Panel with Kevin Beasley, Charles Gaines, Ann Goldstein, Samuel Levi Jones and James Rondeau, Northern Trust Bank, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk with Carris Adams, Too Many Degrees Podcast

2016
Artist Talk, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Art Papers Live with Natasha Trethewey, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL

2015
Hamilton Arts Lecture Series, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
Distinguished Alumni Talk, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NEӬ
Artist Talk, The Art Students League, New York, NY

2014
Artist Talk with Nico Muhly, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2010
Ernest G. Welch Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Universitario Bauhaus, Puebla, Mexico

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2023
Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Prize, Seattle Art Museum, WA

2022
Joan Mitchell Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York, NY
Black Arts Consortium Residency, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

2019
Lucas Artist Fellowship, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
Artadia Award: 2019 Chicago, Chicago, IL
Public Humanities Practitioner-in-Residence, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Artist Fellowship Award, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Chicago, IL

2018
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York, NY
Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, CIC Foundation, IN
McColl Center for Art + Innovation Residency, Charlotte, NC

2017
Make A Wave Grant, 3Arts, Chicago, IL

2016
Jackman Goldwasser Residency, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Prix Canson Finalist, New York, NY

2015
The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
Hudgens Prize, Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, GA
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NYBemis Center for Contemporary Art, Artist in Residence, Omaha, NE

2014
Artadia Award: 2014 Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

2013
The Studio Museum in Harlem, Artist-In-Residence 2013-2014, New York, NY
The Drawing Center Viewing Program, New York, NY
Hambridge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences Residency, Rabun Gap, GA

2012
WonderRoot Arts Center, Walthall Artist Fellowship, Atlanta, GA

2010
Arquetopia, Inc., Artist in Residence, Puebla, Mexico

2009
Rural Alabama Initiative, Artist in Residence, Elba, AL

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
The Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL
The Morgan Library & Museum, NY
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Agnes Scott University, Decatur, GA
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Illinois State University Special Collections Department, Normal, IL
Kalamazoo Institute of Contemporary Art, Kalamazoo, MO
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
The Smart Museum of Art, Chicago IL
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
The Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davison, NC
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
University of Virginia Special Collections Library, Charlottesville, VA
Yale University Library, New Haven, CT
Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw Stats University, Kennesaw, GA