You The Better
1983
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT 31 min, 57 sec
Installed at Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
You The Better
1983
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT 31 min, 57 sec
Installed at Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
Tension Building
2014-2018
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT: 8 min, 14 sec
Installed at Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
Tension Building
2014-2018
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT: 8 min, 14 sec
Installed at Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
Installation of “Ericka Beckman: Game Mechanics,” Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
Installation of “Ericka Beckman: Game Mechanics,” Secession, Vienna, Austria, July 6-September 3, 2017
Out of Hand Storyboard
1980
Ink and pencil on paper
37 x 62 inches, 93.98 x 157.48 centimeters
Spoonful
1987
C-Print
40 x 30 inches, 101.6 x 76.2 centimeters
Cinderella
1986
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT: 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Cinderella
1986
16mm transferred to digital, single-channel, color, sound
TRT: 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Biography
Born 1951, Hampstead, New York
Born 1951, Hampstead, New York
Lives and works in New York, NY, and Boston, MA
EDUCATION
1976 MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
1975 Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York, NY
1974 BFA, Washington University, St. Louis, MI
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Ericka Beckman, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Boston, MA
Ericka Beckman: Hiatus, Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Ericka Beckman, Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK (catalog)
Ericka Beckman: Super-8 Trilogy, KW, Berlin, Germany
2017
Ericka Beckman: Game Mechanics, Secession, Vienna, Austria (catalog)
Ericka Beckman: Switch Center, Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Ericka Beckman: Cinderella, Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Ericka Beckman, Veneklasen/Werner, Berlin, Germany
2014
Ericka Beckman: Boundary Figures, Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, CA
Ericka Beckman: Works 1978-2013, Magasin Centre National d'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, Grenoble, France. Traveled to Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
2013
Image Games; Films of Ericka Beckman, Tate Modern, London, UK
Ericka Beckman: Works 1978-2012, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
Boundary Figures, 8 Rue St. Bon Gallery, Paris, France
Super-8 Trilogy, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2011
Super-8 Trilogy, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
2005
Frame UP, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
2003
Media Scope, Museum of Modern Art at Gramercy Park Theater, New York, NY
2000
Ericka Beckman, TODI Cinema, Budapest, Hungary
Special Projects Series: Hiatus, Museum of Modern Art PS1, New York, NY
1993
Art and Technology in the Nineties: Video Viewpoints, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1989
New Directions: Ericka Beckman, The Hirshhorn Museumand Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
1988
Ericka Beckman, Cornell Cinema, Ithaca, NY
Ericka Beckman, Center of Photography, Woodstock, NY
1984
You The Better, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Ericka Beckman, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, CA
Film Forum, Los Angeles, CA
Hartford Atheneum, Hartford, CT
1983
You The Better, New York Film Festival, New York, NY
You The Better, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Ericka Beckman, Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, CA
Trilogy Works, Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL
Trilogy Works, The Funnel, Toronto, Canada
Trilogy Works, The Millenium, New York, NY
1982
Out of Hand, Artists Space, New York, NY
Trilogy Works, Boston Film and Video Foundation, Boston, MA
Trilogy Works, Cornell Cinema, Ithaca, NY
1981
Trilogy Works, Encounter Cinema, Los Angeles, CA
Trilogy Works, Media Study, Buffalo, NY
1980
Trilogy Works, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
Trilogy Works, The Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Pittsburgh, PA
Trilogy Works, The University of California, La Jolla, CA
Trilogy Works, Film-In-The-Cities, St. Paul, MN
1979
Ericka Beckman, LAICA, Los Angeles, CA
We Imitate; We Break Up, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY
Films, London Filmmakers Co-op, London, UK
Films, Hoschule Fur Bildenkunst, Hamburg, Germany
SELECTED GROUP AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2018
Dread & Delight: Fairy Tales in an Anxious World, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; travels to Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinell, IA; Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (catalog).
Omnipresence, The Kitchen, New York, NY
2017
Oracle, The Broad, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Recit D'un Temps Court 2, MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland
Less Than One, curated by Fionn Meade, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
2014
FORTUNE III: Grey skies and sunny dispositions, The Ister AT -1, Paris, France
The St. Petersburg Paradox, Swiss Institute / CONTEMPORARY ART, New York, NY
The Undulation of Something Faintly Familiar, ANAT EBGI, Los Angeles, CA
Ericka Beckman and Julie Wachtel, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, NY
2013
Blind Country, Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angeles, CA
One Torino: The Broken Rule, Repertory, curated by Gary Carrion-Murayari, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Rented Island: Object Theater, Loft Performance, and the New Psychodrama,
New York 1972 – 81, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
(catalogue)
2012
James Welling: The Mind on Fire, MK Gallery, London, UK
Dan Graham’s ‘Rock and Roll and Unrealised Projects for Children, Hauser &
Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
2011
Entertainment, Greene Naftali, New York, NY
2010
Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany;
Contemporary Art Centre, Harte, Spain; Life, St. Nazaire, France;
Museion, Bolzano, Italy (travelled)
The Pictures Generation 1974-1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (catalogue)
2007
Automatic Update, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Collective for Living Cinema, Orchard Gallery, New York, NY
Tomorrowland, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2006
Tomorrowland, Modern Museum of Art, New York, NY (travelled)
2005
Jerome Hill and Foundation, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
'Studio: Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education’ by Tony Oursler, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, and Musee D'Orsay, Paris, France (travelled)
Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2004
Locus/Focus: Films by New England Women, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
2002
Views From the Avant Garde, New York Film Festival, Walter Reade Theater, New York, NY
2001
Wonderland, Bakalar Gallery, Boston, MA
2000
Version 2000, Centre Pour L’Arte Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland
The Twentieth Century, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Rosaceleste, Link Gallery, Bologna, Italy
1999
Big As Life: An American History of the 8mm Film, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Pink for Boys, Blue for Girls, NGBK, Berlin, Germany
The Hundreth Turn, curated by Carol Parkinson, Harvest Works, New York, NY
1998
Film Retrospective, Viper Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
Blind Country, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Blind Country, University of Southern California, San Diego, CA
1996
Here/ Now, Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
1995
Gender and Technology, The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
1992
Generiques-Desordres, Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Archives des Leidens, Köln Kunstverin, Köln, Germany
The Institute of Contemporary Art, London,UK
Memory Palace, Art Futura Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Ericka Beckman Films: Memory Palace and Cinderella, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Cinderella, Harvard Film Archives, Boston, MA
Kontaktmaschine (in collaboration with Tony Ourslor), Werkstatt fur Elektronische Medien, Leipzig, Germany
1991
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (catalogue)
Blind Country, Jablonka Gallery, Köln, Germany
Cinema Alternative, American Cinematheque, Paris, France
1990
Blind Country, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
New Works, First Runs, The Kitchen, New York, NY
A Passage Illuminated: Festival of American Avant-Garde 1980-1990, Foundation
Mecano/Stedelijk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (travelled)
Boritzer/Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1989
A Forest of Signs, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Galerie Kaes-Weiss, Stuttgart, Germany
Krygier Landau Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
1988
Cinderella, The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Skeptical Beliefs, The Newport Harbor Museum, Newport Beach, CA
Cinderella, 'The New Independents', Finnish Television Network
Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Nanotech Players Installation Reprise Des Vues, Halle Sud, Geneva, Switzerland
Nanotech Players, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
Lege Riumte Gallery, Bruges, Belgium
3 NYC Photographers, Westersingel 8 Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Reproductions, White Columns, New York, NY
Poetic Injustice, The Alternative Museum, New York, NY
ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Yerzerski Gallery, Boston, MA
Message to The Public, Gitzo Trust (Electronic Sign Display), The Public Art Fund,
Times Square, New York, NY
Independent America; New Films, The American Museum of The Moving Image,
Astoria, NY
1987
Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Likely Stories, produced by TLC, Arts and Entertainment Network
(National Broadcast), Manhattan Cable Television (Local Broadcast)
A.T. E., San Francisco, CA
Lege Riumte Gallery, Bruges, Belgium
1986
Cinderella, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Cinderella, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Au Coeur De Maelstrom, curated by Chris Dercon, The Palais Des Beaux Arts,
Brussels, Belgium
The Fairy-Tale, curated by Valarie Smith, The Collective, in conjunction with Artists Space, New York, NY
Damaged Goods, curated by Brian Wallis, The New Museum of Contemporary Art,
New York, NY
The Public Art Show, curated by Ronald Jones, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Nexus Art Gallery, curated by Ronald Jones, Atlanta, GA
Sign of the Real, curated by Paul Laster and Rene Ricardo, White Columns, New York,
NY
Baskerville and Watson Gallery, New York, NY
1985
Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
‘Kunst Mit Eigen Sinn' Exhibit, The Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, Austria
You The Better, `Das Poetisch ABC' Exhibit, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
Photographs, CEPA Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
The BW Show, organized by Mike Kelley, LAICA, Los Angles, CA
1984
Alibis, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
A Festival of Film as Art-The Women’s Perspective, (organized by Valerie Smith), University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina
Festival L'Autumn, Nice, France
of Her Own, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
A Decade of New Art: Artists Space, Artists Space, New York, NY
Still Life in Transition, at International with Monument Gallery, New York, NY
Natural Genre, organized by Collins and Millazo, School of Visual Art, New York, NY
1983
The Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
The Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
Film As Play, Independent Focus Series, Channel 13, WNET-TV, NYC, November 6.
The Headhunters, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits (LACE), Los Angeles, CA
Pioneers of Independent Film, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and Anthology Film
Archives, New York, NY
Grand Galop, curated by James Casebere, Artists Space, New York, NY
1982
The Exhibition, curated by Helene Weiner, Cal Arts, Valencia, CA
Trilogy Works, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Out of Hand, Spatzio Zero Festival (organized by John Howel), Rome, Italy.
1981
Super-8 Survey, curated by J. Hoberman, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
We Imitate; We Break Up and Out of Hand, Traction Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Trilogy Works, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Trilogy Works, The Queens Museum, Queens, NY
Cinema Independente American e Francese, Padiglione D'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Independent Super-8 Film Series, The Bleecker Street Cinema, New York, NY
Super-8 Survey, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
The Kitchen, New York, NY
Film as Play: Beyond Home Movies, The Independent Focus Series, Channel 13,
WNET-TV, NYC
1980
Out Of Hand (Premier), The Collective, New York, NY
Out Of Hand, San Francisco Cinematheque, San Francisco, CA
The Broken Rule, Artists Space, New York, NY
Trilogy Works, The Moving Image Festival, Interart Center, New York, NY
Horror Pleni: Pictures in New York Today, curated by Zeno Birolli, Padiglione D'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Film as Installation, The Clocktower, New York, NY
1979
We Imitate; We Break Up, The Collective, New York, NY
We Imitate; We Break Up, ‘Filmworks 78-79’, The Kitchen, New York, NY
We Imitate; We Break Up, Artist Space, New York, NY
1978
Artists Films, Artists Space, New York, NY
We Imitate; We Break-Up, The Bleeker Street Cinema, New York, NY
Masters of Love, 40 Langton Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1976
Scale, The Fine Arts Building, New York, NY
1975
Super 8 Film Exposition, Artists Space, New York, NY
White Man Has Clean Hands and Double Beds, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stamey, Emily, “Dread & Delight: Fairy Tales in an Anxious World,” University of Colorado Press, Boulder, CO 2018.
Watlington, Emily. “Women and Media, Then and Now: Ericka Beckman, Dara Birnbaum, Lynn Hershman Leeson,“ Mousse 64, June 2018.
Fatorri, Attilia. “The Key Word Here is System,” Flash Art Magazine, May 2018.
''Game Mechanics' at Secession, Vienna,' Blouin ArtInfo, July 12, 2017.
Watlington, Emily. "Interviews: Ericka Beckman "Game Mechanics" at Secession, Vienna, Mousse Magazine, May 2017.
Scheder, Beate. “Ericka Beckman: Playing By Her Own Rules,”
King Kong Magazine, Summer 2017.
Taft, Catherine. "Ericka Beckman, Cherry and Martin." ArtForum, April 2016, p. 339-340.
Regan, Sheila. "This week's must-see art shows," City Pages, April 28, 2016,
Ed. "Ericka Beckman," The New Yorker, April 2016.
Zellen, Jody. "Ericka Beckman: Cinderella," ArtScene, March 2016, p. 21.
Wagley, Catherine. "5 Free Art Shows You Should See In LA This Week," LA Weekly, Wednesday February 3, 2016.
Forrest, Nicholas. “Ericka Beckman on Filmmaking, Gameplay, and Her Berlin Show,” Blouin ArtInfo, September 22, 2015.
Spooner, Cally. “Top Ten: The Films of Ericka Beckman,” ArtForum, May 2015, p. 168.
Schneider, Anja Isabel. “Ericka Beckman at Le MAGASIN, Grenoble,” Kaleidoscope, Winter 2013 / 14, p. 122.
Heinrich, Will. “’The St. Petersburg Paradox’ at Swiss Institute,” Gallerist, August 6, 2014.
Way, Jennifer. Digital Art at the Interface of Technology and Feminism, A Companion to Digital Art, edited by Christian Paul, Blackwell Publishing, 2015.
Wagley, Catherine. “5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. this Week, Including Cinderella as a Badass” (excerpt), LA Weekly, May 14, 2014.
Baker, Sarah. “On Hiatus,” Art & Music, Winter 2013, p. 18-19.
Beeson, John. “Ericka Beckman at Kunsthalle Bern,” Artforum, November 2013, pp. 304-305.
Sanders, Jay. Rituals of Rented Island:Object Theater, Loft Performance, and the New Psychodrama – Manhattan, 1970-1980, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2013.
Stefan, Olga. “Ericka Beckman at Kunsthalle Bern,” Art in America, September 2013.
Scheller, Jorg. “Ericka Beckman at Kunsthalle Bern,” Frieze, September/October.
Bieri, Martin. “Mit Sport und Spiel die Welt Verstehen,” Der Bund, June 7, 2013.
Hoberman, Jim. “Cinema Gamer,” Mousse Magazine, May 2013.
Keegan, Matt. “Playing House,” Text zur Kunst, March 2013.
Ericka Beckman The Super-8 Trilogy, DVD Release, JPR/Ringier, 2013.
Harbison, Isobel. “Image Games,” Frieze, October 2012.
Dikea, Vera. The (Moving) Pictures Generation: The Cinematic Impulse in Downtown New York
Art and Film, Palgrove Macmillan Press, 2012, pp.21-22, 167, 174-8, 205-8.
Eklund, Doug. The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.
Cotter, Holland. “At the Met, Baby Boomers Leap Onstage,” The New York Times, April 23, 2009.
Sanborn, Keith and Peggy Ahwesh, eds. Vertov from Z to A, Ediciones La Clavera, 2007.
Smith, Valarie, ed. Artist Space; 20 Years, MIT Press, 1999.
Taubin, Amy. “Ericka Beckman: 'Big As Life Exhibit',” Village Voice, June 1999. p. 10.
Terry, Jennifer and Melodie Calvert, Eds. Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life, Routledge Press, April 1997, pp. 10, 67-69.
Hoberman, J. Vulgar Modernism, Temple University Press, 1991, pp. 134-136, 178-179.
Bader, Ken. "Interview with Ericka Beckman," NPR Radio, WGBH-Boston, December 3, 1992.
Joselit, David. "Mind Over Matter," The Boston Phoenix, September 7, 1990, p.9.
Ed., Forest of Signs: Art In The Crisis of Representation, MIT Press, 1989.
Lewis, Jo Ann. "Multimedia Marvels," The Washington Post, June 8, 1989.
Ed., The Beanstalk And Jack, Hallwalls Publications, 1988.
Schwendenwein, J. “Nanotech Players," Artforum, October 1988, pp. 145-146.
Morgan, Robert. "Nanotech Players," Artforum, September 1988, p. 100.
O'Connor, John. "Review: TLC Series on Cable," The New York Times, November 14, 1987.
Dika, Vera. "Cinema: A Feminist Fairy-Tale," Art in America, April 1987, pp.51-58.
Saltz, Jerry, Ed. Beyond Boundaries, Alfred Van Der Marck Editions, 1986, p. 123.
Hoberman, J. "The Mild Bunch,” Village Voice, December 16, 1986, p.80.
Sitney, P. Adam. "Point of View: The Rear Garde," Art in America, Summer 1986, p. 61.
Hagen, Charles. "At The Whitney Biennial," Artforum, June 1985.
Goldberg, Rose Lee. "Critics Choice for '85," Village Voice, January 1985.
The Subdivision Song (Audio recording), Tellus Magazine, 1985.
Wallis, Brian, Ed. Blasted Allegories, Contemporary Art Publications, 1984, pp. 58, 72.
Banes, Sally. "Imagination and Play: The Films of Ericka Beckman," Millenium Film Journal, Winter 1984, pp. 98-112.
Ed., “The Turn About,” Effects Magazine, 1984, pp. 15-16.
Ed., Five Sketches for You The Better, Cave Canum Books,1984.
Beckman, Ericka. “The Spot Syndrome,” (Collaboration with Mike Kelley), New Observations Magazine,1984.
Ed., "Chances Territory,” Effects Magazine, 1983.
Rickey, Carrie. "Popcorn and Canvas," Artforum, December 1983, pp. 64-69.
Hoberman, J. "A Kind of Close Encounter," Village Voice, December 13, 1983, p.76.
White, Armond. "Little Big Films," Village Voice, October 2, 1983, p.60.
Dika, Vera. "Review: Out of Hand," Dreams Magazine, 1982, pp.51-58.
Owens, Craig. "Back To The Studio," Art in America, Summer 1982, p.56.
Ed., “Ericka Beckman Interviewed,” The Independent Film Video Magazine, Summer 1981,
pp. 9-12.
Hoberman, J. "Review: Out Of Hand," Artforum, January 1981, p.76-77.
Rickey, Carrie. “Behind the Super-8 Ball,” Village Voice, May 20, 1981, p.75.
Howel, John. "Review: Out Of Hand," Live Magazine, February 1981, p.37.
Rickey, Carrie. "The Ten Best," Village Voice, January 1981.
Hoberman, J. "The Avant Garde Now," Film Culture, May 1981, p.33.
Baim, Richard. “Ericka Beckman: Movies for the New American Adult,” Real Life Magazine,
Summer 1980, pp. 27-28.
Jenkins, Bruce, "New Film/New York," Media Study Magazine, Fall 1980.
Carroll, Noel, "Review: Filmworks ’79,” Soho Weekly News, May 1979.
Hoberman, J. "The Independents," Film Culture, January 1979, p. 40.
Hoberman, J. "Vanguard '79: Critic's Award," Village Voice, December 1978, p.54.
Bleckner, Ross. “Transcending Anti-Festishism,” Artforum, March 1979.
Lawson, Thomas. “New Representation,” Flash Art, May 1979
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
The Broad Collection, Los Angeles, CA
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Stiftung Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
The British Film Institute, London, UK
The Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY
The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Exhibitions
Ericka Beckman
January 19 - February 23, 2019
Do Something To It. Do Something Else To It.
April 28 - May 26, 2018
Ericka Beckman, Kwame Brathwaite, Brian Bress, Carl Cheng, Holly Coulis, Katy Cowan, Tomory Dodge, Noël Dolla, Nathan Mabry, T. Kelly Mason, Pat O’Neill, Robert Overby, Bernard Piffaretti, Michael Rey, Adam Silverman, Lew Thomas and Claude Viallat
Ericka Beckman: Switch Center
March 11 - May 13, 2017
Ericka Beckman: Hit and Run
FIAC, Paris, France
October 20-23, 2016
Ericka Beckman: Cinderella
January 9 - March 12, 2016
