Forrest Bess
Forrest Bess (b. 1911, Bay City, TX; d. 1977, Bay City, TX) was largely a self taught artist. The paintings were typically small, referencing what he perceived on the backs of his eyelids, and were faithful to his hallucinatory visions. Bess’ art has been shown in numerous museums, including solo exhibitions at: the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1981); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1988); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (1989), and the Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2020). In 2013, the Menil Collection, Houston, hosted a major survey of Bess’s work titled Seeing Things Invisible, curated by Claire Elliott, which traveled to the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2013-2014), the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase (2014), and the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley (2014). Bess received the Mark Rothko Foundation Grant in 1973. Robert Gober presented a room of Bess’ work for the 2012 Whitney Biennial, which drew renewed critical attention to the artist. Bess’ works reside in the permanent collections of: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; the Menil Collection, Houston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among many others. In 2018, Bess was included in LACMA’s Outliers and American Vanguard Art exhibition.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
Forrest Bess: Out of the Blue
Camden Art Centre, London, EN
September 30, 2022 - January 15, 2023
Forrest Bess.
Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany.
February 15 – September 6, 2020
Forrest Bess.
Modern Art, Helmet Row, London.
October 3 – December 1, 2018
Select Press
2022
Schwabsky, Barry. “Forrest Bess.” Artforum, February 2022.
Ludel, Wallace. “Forrest Bess was a Fisherman by Day and Painter of Wild Visions by Night. A New Show Explores His Legacy.” Artnet News, September 2022.
Hawkins, Richard. “When Forrest Bess Wrote to Carl Jung.” Frieze, June 2022.
2021
Yau, John. “Recently Discovered Forrest Bess Paintings.” Hyperallergic, 2 December 2021.
2017
Horst, Aaron. “Forrest Bess | Joan Snyder at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery.” Contemporary Art Review LA, 21 June 2017.
Pagel, David. “Forrest Bess and Joan Snyder Paintings Shine in a Show That Gets Past the Dark History.” Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2017.
2016
Steadman, Ryan. “6 Paintings to Die for at the ADAA’s 2016 Edition of The Art Show.” Observer, 2 March 2016.
2014
Poser, Steven. “Forrest Bess, A Visionary Artist's Journey into Madness.” the Brooklyn Rail, 5 June 2014
Rosenberg, Karen. “An Artist's Paintings, and His Complexities, On Display.” The New York Times, 13 February 2014.
2013
”Forrest Bess, Visionary Painter From Rural Texas, Gets A Posthumous Book (PHOTOS).” Huffpost, 4 April 2013.
Glentzer, Molly. “An Artist's Artist Gains Wider Following.” The Houston Chronicle, 14 April 2013
Zabrodski, Sarah. “The Unadulterated Sincerity of Forrest Bess.” Hyperallergic, 2 December 2013.
2012
Okiishi, Ken. “Forrest Bess.” Artforum, May 2012
Smith, Roberta. “A New Vision of a Visionary Fisherman.” The New York Times, 22 March 2012.
Yau, John. “Without Elaboration.” Hyperallergic, March 2012.
2009
Pagel, David. “Hammer Strikes Up a Conversation.” Los Angeles Times, January 2009.
1988
Schjeldahl, Peter. “Seeing Things: Eccentricities of an Androgyne.” 7 Days, May 1988
1987
Ennis, Michael. “Forrest Bess.” Texas Monthly, June 1987.
1982
Yau, John. “Forrest Bess at the Whitney.” Art in America, March 1982
Lawson, Thomas. “Forrest Bess.” Artforum, January 1982
Ennis, Michael. “Forrest Bess.” Texas Monthly, June 1982.
1981
Johnson, Patricia C. “Looking Anew at Forrest Bess’ Art".” Houston Chronicle, 29 October 1981.
1962
Preston, Stuart. “Painters Following Their Different Gleams.” The New York Times, 14 January 1962
1959
Ventura, Anna. “Forrest Bess.” Arts Magazine, May 1959
Crehan, Hubert. “Forrest Bess.” Artnews, May 1959
1950
Goodnough, Robert. “Forrest Bess.” Artnews, 15 December 1950