Brenda van der Beek is a New England based artist who makes abstract geometric paintings and mixed media work on canvas and paper. She was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States as a young adult. Van der Beek has worked in graphic design and was employed as a visual art educator in the public school system. Currently she is a fulltime artist. She has exhibited throughout New England in both group and solo shows. While living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands she has shown her work in Fine Art Fairs. Van der Beek received an MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University College of Art and Design, and a BFA from the University of Massachusetts College of Art where she graduated summa cum laude.
“In my abstract work I consider the premise of structural habitats that yield both a physical and sentimental outcome. Paintings and mixed media work find their beginnings in the assembly of linear and geometric elements. The urgency in the work lies in the need to build in two dimensions. In my personal life, being a citizen of two countries, there is always the search for a sense of belonging and the creation of a soulful home base which is fundamental for my everyday living. By assembling a formation of connections and relationships through choosing color, size and composition, I attempt to find the construct that I am needing to find at that time. Moods and thoughts are a contributing factor in this process. The resulting imageries are representative of invented structural environments. These are meaningful to me and evoke a personal response from comfortable to even uneasy.”
CV
vanderbeekb1@gmail.com
website: brendavanderbeek.com
Education
BFA University of Massachusetts Lowell, Painting, Summa Cum Laude
MFA LUCAD (formerly Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University), Painting
Last Employment
Art educator, North Andover Public Schools, North Andover, MA
Shows
2019 EuropArtFair, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 ADAF (Amsterdam Art Fair), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 Gallery 263, ‘Sanctuary’, Cambridge, MA
2017 Cambridge Art Association, ‘2017 National Prize Sho
2017 Gallery 263, 'Iteration', Cambridge, MA
2017 Fountain Street Gallery, 'Divergent Thinking", Framingham, MA
2016 Hallspace Drawing Project, Dorchester, MA
2016 Uncharted Gallery, "Taking Form", 2-person show, Lowell, M
2016 Galatea Fine Art, Solo Show
2015 Cambridge Art Association, "Platinum", Cambridge MA
2015 MS17 Art Project, "Unfinished Task", 3-person Show, New London, CT
2015 Warehouse XL, "Re: Classified", LUCAD MFAAlumni Biennial Exhibition, Somerville, MA
2015 Cambridge Art Association, "Paint", Cambridge, MA
2014 Hallspace, "Halspace Drawing Project", Somerville, MA
2014 Cape Cod Chathouse Gallery, Six Person Show, "Brain Waves", Dennis, MA
2014 Galatea Fine Art, "Terrain of the Mind", Solo Show, Boston, MA
2013 Cambridge Art Association, "Red Biennial", Cambridge, Ma
2013 Revival Gallery, five person show, "Abstract Women", Fitchburg, MA
2013 Cambridge Art Association, "Members Prize Show", Cambridge, MA
2013 Cambridge Art Association, "Secrets", with juror Jane Young, of Chase Young Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2012 Cambridge Art Association, "Blue", with juror Joseph Thompson, Director of Mass MoCa, Cambridge, MA
2012 Spencel Loft Gallery, "The 2012 Boston Biennial", Chelsea, MA
2012 Washburn Hall Auditorium, "Objectified: MFA Alumni Exhibition", Cambridge, MA
2012 119 Gallery, "8th Annual Juried Exhibition", Lowell, MA
2012 Good Question Gallery, "The Time In Children's Arts Initiative", Brooklyn, NY
2012 Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge Art Association, "National Prize Show", Cambridge, MA
2012 Uforge Gallery, UFG Revolver, "Building in Two Dimensions", Jamaica Plains, MA. Solo Sho
2012 Kathryn Schultz Gallery, "Scratching the Surface", Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2011 119 Gallery, "7th Annual Juried Exhibition", Lowell, MA
2011 Amherst Gallery, New Hampshire Institute of Art, "Biennial 2011," Manchester, NH.
2011 University Place Gallery, Cambridge Art Association, "Process Explored", 5 person show, Cambridge, MA
2011 University of Massachusetts Lowell, Dugan Gallery, "In Remembrance: Tribute to Brenda Pinardi Exhibition".
2011 Samson Projects Gallery, "Chain Letter", Boston, MA
2011 Fourth Wall Projects, “The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University MFA Alumni Exhibition", Boston
2011 The Art Center at Hargate Gallery, “MFAconnects@SPS.edu,” Concord, NH.
2010 Gallery 119, Lowell, MA. "Annual Juried Exhibit"
2010 Concord Art Association, "Francis Roddy Open Competition", Concord, MA. Juror: Victoria Munroe, Victoria Munroe Fine Art.
2010 Gallery 119, Lowell, MA. Member show
2010 Cambridge Art Association, "Northeast Prize Show", Cambridge, MA. Juror: William Stover, Curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
2010 Arts League of Lowell, "Abstractions 2010", Lowell, MA
2010 BWAC, "Annual Juried Show",Brooklyn, NY. Juror: Anne Strauss, Assoc. Curator of 19th Century and Contemporary Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art
2009 Gallery 119, Lowell, MA. Annual Juried Exhibit. Juror: Nick Capasso, Senior Curator, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden, Lincoln, MA.
2009 Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. Red: It's more then a Color". Juried by Carl Belz, Director Emeritus, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University
2009 University Hall Gallery, Art Institute of Boston. Graduate Exhibition, Cambridge, MA
2009 808 Gallery, Boston Young Contemporaries, Boston , MA
2009 Cambridge Art Association, Northeast Prize Show, Cambridge, MA
2008 Essex Art Center, Annual Juried Show, Lawrence, Ma
2008 808 Gallery, "Boston Young Contemporaries," Boston, MA
2008 Newburyport Art Association "Eleventh Annual Regional Juried Show," Newburyport, MA
Juror: Andrew Witkin, Director Barbara Krakow Gallery
2008 Cambridge Art Association, "Interior/Exterior," Cambridge, MAJuror: James Hull
2008 Concord Art Association, "Annual FRANCES N. RODDY competition," Concord, MA
2008 Art League of Lowell, "Abstraction”, Lowell, MA
2007 Cambridge Art Association,"RED," Cambridge, MA Juror: Jane Farver, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center
2007 Essex Art Center, "Annual Juried Show," Lawrence, MA Juror: Carole Anne Meehan, Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston.
2007 Cambridge Art Association ,"National Prize Show," Cambridge, MA Juror: Thomas W. Lentz, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot, Director of the Harvard University Art Museums
2007 Cambridge Art Association, "Cool," Cambridge, MA Juror: Sara Miller, curator, the Gund Collection
2007, Cambridge Art Association, "Visions," Cambridge, MA Juror: Pamela Clark, owner/director,Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2006 Dugan Gallery, "Alumni Show," University of Massachusetts, Lowell
2006 Essex Art Center, "Annual Juried Show," Lawrence, MA Juror: Brian Allen, Director of Addison Gallery, Andover, MA
2006 Cambridge Art Association, "Members Prize Show,"Cambridge, MA Juror: Hiram Butler, co-director of the Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery in Houston, Texas.
2006 GALLERY 181, "Juried Show," Lawrence, MA
2006 Newburyport Art Association, "Annual Regional Juried Show," Newburyport, MA Juror: Laura Donaldson, Director of The Mills Gallery, Boston Center for The Arts, MA.
2006 Art League of Lowell, "Annual Juried Abstraction Show," Lowell, MA
2005 Cambridge Art Association, "Member Prize Show," Cambridge, MA
2005 Essex Art Center, "Annual Juried Show," Lawrence, MA. Juror: Howard Yezerski of Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston. MA
2005 Cambridge Art Association, “Decisive Moments,” Cambridge, MA
2005, Whistler House Museum, "Group Show: In Abstract,” Lowell, MA
2005 Art League of Lowell, Lowell, MA
2005 Evos Arts, Solo Show “Urban Sensations” , Lowell, MA
Bibliography
2016 Boston Home Magazine, Essential/Happenings page
2009 MFA Graduation Exhibition. (catalogue) Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA.
2011 MFAconnects@POSTAIB.edu, AIB MFA Show 2011. (catalogue) Blurb, San Francisco, CA.
2011 Studio Visit Magazine, Fall 2011 Edition. (Juried by Ian Berry) Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
Awards
2010 Finalist in the Solo 2011 Competition at Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA. Juror: Randi Hopkins, Associate Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
2010 "Best Abstract Painting" award, Frances N. Roddy Open competition, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA. Juror: Victoria Munroe, Victoria Munroe Fine Art.
2010 "Best Mixed Media" award, BWAC, Annual Juried Show. Juror: Anne Strauss, Associate Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
2008 Juror's Choice Award, Cambridge Art Association, "Interior/Exterior". Juror: James Hull
2008 Boston Young Contemporaries
2004 University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Academic Achievement.
Of Note:
2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant nominee for painting