Betty Decter
USA
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"I've been told 'You can't do it that way; black paintings make people nervous; the work is too strong, too weak, too colorful, too decorative, too big, too small, too heavy, too light, too complex, too simple, too mechanical, too organic...'
"My immediate reaction is to get to work and prove them WRONG; all the while my arms and hands are working, my brain is shifting images and symbols... and, with the aid of the supernatural, a painting imerges."
"My immediate reaction is to get to work and prove them WRONG; all the while my arms and hands are working, my brain is shifting images and symbols... and, with the aid of the supernatural, a painting imerges."
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Professional Painter, Sculptor, Photographer and Author
Betty tells you more...
"I have worked all my life on painting, sculpting, printing and other related arts. During the 1970's and 1980's I produced monumental paintings and 5 installations. The paintings ranged from 110 feet long by 21 inches high on recycled paper, to an 18 foot high "Kimono" painting on canvas that is painted on both sides. The installations included life-sized manikins using a self portrait head that I sculpted, with written statements that completed the concept. 'Wandering Through Life' and 'Dancing Toward Death' has been a recurring theme in my work along with 'A Ton of Kimonos' series".
"I have worked all my life on painting, sculpting, printing and other related arts. During the 1970's and 1980's I produced monumental paintings and 5 installations. The paintings ranged from 110 feet long by 21 inches high on recycled paper, to an 18 foot high "Kimono" painting on canvas that is painted on both sides. The installations included life-sized manikins using a self portrait head that I sculpted, with written statements that completed the concept. 'Wandering Through Life' and 'Dancing Toward Death' has been a recurring theme in my work along with 'A Ton of Kimonos' series".
Hot News Straight From The Studio
by Karalee Fenske
by Karalee Fenske
"This is so beautiful...I could eat it!" So says Betty Decter, artist extraordinaire, as she looks down at her palette.
Decter is surrounded in her 3000 sq. ft. studio by canvases, gallons of paints, brushes, bins of gathered and found materials, books, cameras and other equipment. The studio library is stocked with art books she has collected from her travels around the world. Highly focused and slightly obsessed, Decter is forever pushing her work forward. Each painting builds from the previous one. Every sculpture demands another. She is a whirlwind of creation.
Combining paint, found objects and photo emulsion transfers Decter never takes her eye off the ball. She easily makes the difficult look possible. Her passion for her art is evident in the enthusiasm with which she shows you work in progress. Decter invites you to revel in the surfaces, play among the elements of different media,and exult in the beauty of her colors.
Decter is a world renowned artist and advocate of the arts, and among her lengthy list of accomplishments are being named in Who's Who in theWestand Who's Who in American Women. She served on the Board and the Advisory Board of the Women's Building in Los Angeles.
She is an established artist with an international following. She carved out a space among the giants in an art world that is largely composed of men. Audiences have said again and again that they believed only a man would have the energy, ambition and the ego to paint a 120 foot painting. On the contrary, Decter is a beauty. Blonde on the outside, inside a mind intelligent and the heart of a mystic.
Her exhibitions have included a one-woman exhibition at the Riverside County Museum Edward/ Dean Museum and several juried inclusions in the Laguna Museum of Art among others. She has shown in numerous invitational and juried exhibitions at Loyola Law School; Brand Library Art Gallery; Otis Art Institute and The Sam Francis Gallery at the Crossroads School of Art. She has appeared on television, radio and video panels and her work has been featured in national and international publications.
Decter is surrounded in her 3000 sq. ft. studio by canvases, gallons of paints, brushes, bins of gathered and found materials, books, cameras and other equipment. The studio library is stocked with art books she has collected from her travels around the world. Highly focused and slightly obsessed, Decter is forever pushing her work forward. Each painting builds from the previous one. Every sculpture demands another. She is a whirlwind of creation.
Combining paint, found objects and photo emulsion transfers Decter never takes her eye off the ball. She easily makes the difficult look possible. Her passion for her art is evident in the enthusiasm with which she shows you work in progress. Decter invites you to revel in the surfaces, play among the elements of different media,and exult in the beauty of her colors.
Decter is a world renowned artist and advocate of the arts, and among her lengthy list of accomplishments are being named in Who's Who in theWestand Who's Who in American Women. She served on the Board and the Advisory Board of the Women's Building in Los Angeles.
She is an established artist with an international following. She carved out a space among the giants in an art world that is largely composed of men. Audiences have said again and again that they believed only a man would have the energy, ambition and the ego to paint a 120 foot painting. On the contrary, Decter is a beauty. Blonde on the outside, inside a mind intelligent and the heart of a mystic.
Her exhibitions have included a one-woman exhibition at the Riverside County Museum Edward/ Dean Museum and several juried inclusions in the Laguna Museum of Art among others. She has shown in numerous invitational and juried exhibitions at Loyola Law School; Brand Library Art Gallery; Otis Art Institute and The Sam Francis Gallery at the Crossroads School of Art. She has appeared on television, radio and video panels and her work has been featured in national and international publications.
SOLO and GALLERY EXHIBITIONS: 2002 - Invitational Exhibition, Mulholland Tennis Club, Los Angeles, CA 2000 - The Grove Art Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA 1996 - Craig Cary Art Gallery, Brentwood, CA 1995 - Desmond Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1995 - Regal Gallery, Carmel, CA 1995 - Craig Cary Art Gallery, Brentwood, CA 1995 - Aidikoff Screening Room, Beverly Hills, CA 1995 - Amabassador of Fine Arts Gallery, Pasadena, CA 1994 - Amabassador of Fine Arts Gallery, Pasadena, CA 1992 - Sam Francis Gallery at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, Santa
Monica, CA 1989 - Riverside County Museum/Edward-Dean Museum, Riverside, CA 1988 - Brand Library Art Gallery, Glendale, CA 1986 - Bonwit Tellers, "Mini Retrospective", Beverly Hills, CA 1986 - Ivey's Department Store, Gainesville, FL 1985 - Roger Morrison Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1980 - 24 Collection, Bal Harbor, FL 1980 - 24 Collection, Palm Beach, FL 1980 - Crocker Bank, Beverly Hills, CA
SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS and AWARDS:1998 - Finegood Art Gallery (Invitational), Beverly Hills, 1997 - Laguna Museum Juried Exhibition (Juror Henry Hopkins) 1997 - Gallery 826 (Juror Henry Hopkins) 1994 - California Discovery Competition - Bronze Award 1991 - "Associates of Brand Library Award" for sculpting "Kimono" in the Burbank
Fine Arts Federation Gallery 1988 - Loyola Law School of Southern California, Women's Caucus for Art 1988 - Gorman Fine Arts Gallery, Artists Equity 1988 - Artists Equity Biennale Juried Exhibition, Brand Library Art Gallery,
Glendale, CA 1985 - El Camino College, SC/WCA Multi-Media Show 1981 - National Sculpture Exhibition, Westwood Center of Arts
(Juror Claire Falkenstein) 1978 - California League of Women Artists, Expo Center, Sacramento, CA 1978 - Riverside Art Center and Museum 1978 - Long Beach Museum 1976 - Pasadena City College 1979 - International Enamel Show, Laguna Museum of Art
INVITATIONALS:1995 - Charles Aidikoff Screening Room, 2 person exhibition with
Karalee Fenske, Daughter 1992 - Museum Without Walls, Bemus Point, NY "North American Artists
Invitational" Group Show 1988 - J.C. Cooper Gallery, 3 person exhibition 1988 - Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, "Hollywood: Portrait of the
Stars" Group Show 1987 - Warner Center Gallery, 2 person exhibition 1987 - "The Spiritual in Art", Thinking Eye Gallery, Invitational Group Show
sponsored by Artist's Equity L.A. 1987 - Vickman's Restaurant, 2 person exhibition with Karalee Fenske 1986 - "Maurice Tuchman Installation and Other Works", Absolute Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA 1986 - "The Spiritual in Art", Thinking Eye Gallery, Invitational Group Show
sponsored by Artist's Equity L.A. 1981 - The James Gallery, 2 person exhibition with Karalee Fenske
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:Mr. & Mrs. David Alderice, Santa Monica, California Ms. Elizabeth Anderson, Los Angeles, California Ms. Leslie Silverman Athan, Tarzana, California Mr. & Mrs. John Asch, Los Angeles, California Mrs. Virginia Lee Babbitt, Vista, California Mr. & Mrs. Henri Berghoff, Cannes, France Mr. Wallace Branch, Studio City, California Ms. Bridget Dobson, Studio City, California Mr. & Mrs. Murray Grossman, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Fryer, Century City, California Ms. Marsha Bentley Hale, Santa Monica, California Dr. Tony Jackson, Beverly Hills, California Mr. & Mrs. Martin Kleinman, Encino, California Mr. & Mrs. William Knox, Los Angeles, California Dr. & Mrs. Paul Leonard, Beverly Hills, California Mr. & Mrs. Henry Margulies, Springfield, Pennsylvania / Boca Raton, Florida Ms. Cynthia Murphy, Pasadena, California Mr. & Mrs. Phil Michels, Los Angeles, California Mr. Frank Middleton, North Hollywood, California Mrs, Lillian Melograno, Santa Barbara, California Ms. Catherine Mullally, Greenwich, Connecticut Mr. & Mrs. David Mullikin, San Diego, California Mr. Jeffrey Nacht, Scottsdale, Arizona Mr. & Mrs. Robert Norman, Pacific Palisades, California Mr. & Mrs. Jack Quinn, Beverly Hills, California Mr. Mitchel ramos, San Diego, California Dr. & Mrs. Robert Ruder, Beverly Hills, California Mrs. Gail Zaritsky, Los Angeles, California
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS/COMMISSIONS:1995/1996 - Portrait, Carolyn Tapp 1990 - Edron Fixtures Corp., Miami, FL 1988 - Michels Organisatie, Amsterdam, Holland 1986 - Ivey's Department Store, Gainesville, FL 1986 - Commission for Mr. & Mrs. Robert Norman, Pauma Valley, CA (14'x 22') 1985 - Inspiration Magazine Collection 1984 - Mural for the William O. Douglas outdoor classroom
PANELS, VIDEO and RADIO:1995 - Untitled joint interview; with Karalee Fenske. Video by Bob Lanz and
Bobby Fine 1989 - "Feisty Women" Women's Caucus for Art Conference, panel & video 1989 - RAD Productions video 1988 - Woman's Building 15th Anniversary video, panel 1988 - Brand Library video 1985 - Artists Equity Panel on KPFK Radio, Los Angeles 1981 - "Two Generations" video; with daughter Karalee Fenske, artist
PUBLICATIONS:1997 - Who's Who in the West 1996 - Who's Who in the West 1996 - Who's Who of American Women 1995 - Who's Who of American Women 1995 - Who's Who in American West 1994 - Who's Who in American West 1994 - Contemporary Women Artists Date Book and Calendar 1993 - Luz, Bilingual Magazine; Interview by Veronica Miranda (with 5 images) 1993 - Contemporary Women Artists Date Book and Calendar 1992 - Bitter Fruit, Women's Experiences of Unplanned Pregnancy, Abortion and
Adoption; pps 102 (Statement), 108 (Image), 282-283 (Biography) 1992 - Who's Who in American Art 1992 - Contemporary Women Artists Date Book and Calendar 1991 - Who's Who in American Art 1990 - The California Art Review 1989 - The New York Art Review 1988 - Review, Glendale News Press, March 16 1988 - Interview by Ann Isolde, Southern California Women's Caucus for
Art Journal, July-Aug 1988 - Catalogue, Southern California Women's Caucus for Art 1988 - Catalogue, Women's Building 15th Anniversary 1987 - Encyclopedia of Living Artists in America 1987 - The Press, University of California, Berkeley 1986 - Encyclopedia of Living Artists in America 1986 - Women Artists News, Summer issue 1985 - Inspiration Magazine (cover and double page) 1985 - Review, Art Scene, February 15 1985 - Women Artists News, Winter issue 1985 - Interview by Sara Skerratt Scott, January 1984 - Women Artists News, Summer issue 1984 - Inspiration Magazine (double page) 1981 - Artists For Economic Action, Summer issue 1981 - Allied Artists of America, January issue 1980 - The Palm Beacher, December 13 1980 - Palm Beach Pictorial, Dec 22 1978 - Canyon Crier News, June 12
ARTICLES/REVIEWS BY BETTY DECTER:1992 - "Mutiny and the Mainstream: Talk That Changed Art", 1975-1990
(pps. 240-241) 1986 - Women Artists News, Spring issue 1986 - Women Artists News, September issue 1985 - Women Artists News, Spring issue 1982 - Art in America, March issue
SELECTED ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS:2002 - Invitational Workshop, Josephine Press, Los Angeles, CA
Producing monotypes and learned a new process called Paper Lithography 1980-1993 - Otis/Parsons - The Group 1991-1992 - International Friends of Transformative Art, Scottsdale, Arizona 1988 - Advisory Board of the Woman's Building, Los Angeles, California 1987 - Los Angeles Advisory Group, University of California Press 1987 - Southern California Committee for Contemporary Art Documentation 1986-1987 - Member of the Board, Woman's Building, Los Angeles, California 1984-To Current - Southern California Women's Caucus for Art
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Monica, CA
SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS and AWARDS:
Fine Arts Federation Gallery
Glendale, CA
(Juror Claire Falkenstein)
INVITATIONALS:
Karalee Fenske, Daughter
Invitational" Group Show
Stars" Group Show
sponsored by Artist's Equity L.A.
Los Angeles, CA
sponsored by Artist's Equity L.A.
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS/COMMISSIONS:
PANELS, VIDEO and RADIO:
Bobby Fine
PUBLICATIONS:
Adoption; pps 102 (Statement), 108 (Image), 282-283 (Biography)
Art Journal, July-Aug
ARTICLES/REVIEWS BY BETTY DECTER:
(pps. 240-241)
SELECTED ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS:
Producing monotypes and learned a new process called Paper Lithography
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