Virginia Bodman

Places - where things happen, do not just underly the lived experiences that motivate Bodman’s work but are often the trigger, from the small farm in Wiltshire where she grew up to her more recent interest in Venice as site of personal enquiry, (2017 - present). Her preoccupations: life events, the lived and worked landscape, displacement, relationships, dreams, parenthood, domestic life, power imbalance, disability and aging are mapped onto places and more recently onto objects.

The life stages that provoke the work demand that she finds appropriate forms and visual languages to explore, respond and critique them. This search for ‘visual form’ is in equal part the subject of the work. Over the 50 years+ of her practice as a painter the work has been informed by drawing, printmaking, object making, photography/video and of course reading.

Bodman moved to Sunderland in1990 where she has a studio and a warehouse, to teach in the School of Fine Art, she has worked in the same studio for 35 years, a former school in a rugged area of Sunderland surrounded by robust architecture, a place that from the outset it has influenced the work she makes.

Bodman was determined to be a painter from the age of five. After the BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting) course at Birmingham Polytechnic, 1974-1977, she held a Fellowship in Painting at Exeter College of Art, 1977-1978 and attended the Painting School, Royal College of Art, London, 1978-1981, (MA RCA). She was awarded an Abbey Major Scholarship at the British School at Rome, 1981-1983 and the first artist’s residency at Durham Cathedral, 1983-1984. Other awards include: 2006; ACE (NE) award, 2007; Invited Artist, 32nd Artists Symposium, Lazar Castle, Lazarea, Transylvania, Romania, 2006; AHRB Small Grant, 2002-2003; Rootstein Hopkins Sabbatical Award, 2000-2001; Artists Residency, Wysing Arts, Bourne, Cambridge, 2000; Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship, 1999-2000; Leverhulme Fellowship, 1996-97; Major Artists Bursary, Northern Arts, 1994.

Since leaving HE in 2018 Bodman has spent several months each year drawing and researching in Venice to inform the work she makes about Venice in her studio in Sunderland. In November 2022, by kind invitation of the exhibiters, the Warmichacha Collective, she gave an artist’s talk Venice: A Perplexion, at the Bolivia Pavilion of the Venice Biennale.

ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
* exhibition catalogue published
+ prints or print element

2021         Furious: paintings by Virginia Bodman, Globe Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2017         Studio Stories, The Customs House Gallery, South Shields
2014         LIGHT/DARK/DARK/LIGHT: paintings by Virginia Bodman, Globe Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2009         Virginia Bodman Paintings, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
2006-07    Full Volume, Globe City Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Globe Hub Gallery, North Shields *
2006-07    Sea, Red Box Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne *
2006         Home Ground, Sandford Goudie Gallery, Customs House Arts Centre, South Shields *
2002         Exchange, Queens Hall Gallery, Hexham
2000-01    between, Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, toured to Vardy Gallery, Sunderland and Wysing Arts, Cambridge * +
2000         Decade, St Thomas’s Church, Stanley Crook, Co. Durham
1999         Intimacies, Scarborough Museum and Art Gallery +
1999         Seeds, Gateshead Library Gallery, Gateshead +
1998         Reconciliations, Pittville Gallery, Cheltenham +
1998         Wordless, Miles Meehan Gallery, Darlington Arts Centre, Darlington
1995         Strong Meat, Morley Gallery, London *
1992         From Heart, Head and Belly, The Polytechnic Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1987         Virginia Bodman, Selected Paintings, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool *
1984         Large Paintings, North Transept, Durham Cathedral *
1984         Work in Progress, DLI Museum and Art Centre, Durham * +
1984         Arts 84, Festival Exhibition, University of Durham. +
1983         Paintings from Rome, The Concourse Gallery, Birmingham
1983         Made in Rome, (works on paper), Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham +


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024         No last Dance, Newcastle Contemporary Arts, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, (curated by Helen Baker and Sue Spark)
2017         Kind of Blue, Whitestone Gallery, York
2017         Autumn Show, Globe Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2016         Whose Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?, OBS Gallery, Tonbridge
2014         Dirty Pretty Things, Cullercoats Studio Gallery, Cullercoats
2012         Malerie, NewBridge Project Space Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2010         H.ART, The Drawing Gallery, Leintwardine, Shropshire
2010         We Love New York? Broadway Gallery, New York
2008         Here’s Looking at You, Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, Yorks
2007         Januarty, Trinity House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2006-07    Karkep. Lazar Castle, Lazarea, Transylvania, Romania
2006         Forest Dreaming, CCANW Gallery, Haldon Forest, Exeter, Devon
2006         Permanent Collection – Exhibition Launch, UHB, Cancer Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
2005         After Hiroshima: Nuclear Imaginaries, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London
2005         The People Show, University Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne *
2002         Chosen, Rootstein Hopkins Space, London * +
2002         Jerwood Drawing Prize, CGCHE, Cheltenham and tour to Princes Trust Gallery, London and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull *
2001         A New Light, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, Peterborough + *
2000         England Exchange, Vardy Gallery, Sunderland and Campbell Halll Gallery, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon
1999         The Unknown Gallery, Edinburgh +
1999         The People Show, University Gallery, Newcastle and Berwick Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed *
1998         Inaugural Exhibition, Bath Lane Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1998         Gotm in the City, part of Vane, visual arts festival, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1998         Portfolio, University of Western Australia, Macarthur, Sydney,Australia +
1998-9    Magnetic, Hunt Gallery, St Louis, USA and tour in the USA and UK
1998         Northern Arts, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (selected by James Bustard)
1998         The People Show, University Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne *
1997-98    Women on Men, Oriel Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Flintshire and tour of Wales *
1996-97    Middlesbrough Open, Cleveland Gallery, Middlesbrough
1997         Tyne and Wear, Squires Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1996         Artlanta, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK and King Plough Art Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A *
1996         On The Corner, Burdon House, Sunderland
1996         Durham Cathedral Artists in Residence, Durham Art Gallery, Durham *
1995         Gallery Artists And Others, Vicarage Cottage Gallery, North Shields
1994         Northern Artists, Clayton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1994         Camouflage, College of Arts Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, California, U.S.A. and Kellogg Gallery, Pomona, California, U.S.A. (part of the UK/LA Arts Festival supported by the British Council) *
1994         Northern Arts, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (selected by James Bustard)
1993         25 Down, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool
1993         Durham Cathedral; Artists and Images, Durham Art Gallery, Durham *
1992-93    Middlesbrough Open, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, Middlesbrough
1991-92    Prints For Christmas, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Sunderland +
1991         Staff Exhibition, Reg Vardy Arts Foundation Gallery, Sunderland Polytechnic
1991         Northern Arts, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1990-91    Prints For Christmas, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Sunderland +
1990-91    Mothers, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham and UK tour *
1990         Artists in Essex, Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey, Essex* +
1990         Rome Scholars 1980-1990, Gulbenkian Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
1989         Leicester Open, City Gallery, Leicester
1989         Art In Context, Kimberlin Hall, Leicester
1989         Artists in Essex, Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey, Essex *
1988         Artists in Essex, Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey, Essex *
1987         Small Works, Patricia Knight Gallery, London
1987         Visiting Artists at Trent, Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham
1987         Artists in Essex, Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey and Minories Gallery, Colchester * + (Print Prize Winner)
1986         Women Artists Diary Exhibition, Battersea Arts Centre, London * +
1985-86    Artists in Essex, Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey and the Minories Gallery, Colchester * +
1985         West Wales Open, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales
1984         Art At Work, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle and UK tour + *
1984         Art Within Reach, Air Gallery, London and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham +
1984         River Wear Exhibition, Ceolfrith Gallery, Sunderland
1983         12 Artisti Britannici A Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy *
1983         Mostra 1983, British School at Rome, Italy * +
1983         Artists From The R.C.A., Visitors Gallery, Stock Exchange, London +
1982         Quattra Academie Straniere A Roma, Museum of Modern Art, Rome *
1982         And Print, Waterloo Gallery, London * +
1982         Mostra 1982, British School at Rome, Italy * +
1980         Reliefs, Gulbenkian Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
1979         Art From The R.C.A. B.P. House, London
1976         Winsor and Newton Exhibition, Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry
1975         Northern Young Contemporaries, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester *


EXHIBITION CATALOGUES/PUBLICATIONS

Corby, V, 2022, Maternity beyond metaphor: Painting, the studio and the lived experience of sexual difference in the work of Virginia Bodman, Journal of Contemporary Painting

Glass, E (2016) Whose Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue, Glass, E (ed), Tonbridge: Tonbridge School

Glinkowski, P, (2008) Good Foundations, London: Lawrence King Publishing

King, J. (ed) (2008) The Berwick Gymnasium Fellowships: An Archival Record, Sunderland: Art Editions North

Kingston, A. (ed) (2007) Home Ground, Sunderland: Art Editions North & Globe Gallery (2002) The Jerwood Drawing Prize catalogue

Keelan, S. & Horrocks, C. (2002) Chosen, Artemis Press, London

Tomkins, R. McKay, C. Kingston, A. and Jeffrey, I. (2000) between: drawing from the landscape

Dickinson, M. (1999) The People Show, Newcastle: University Gallery

Wilson, M. (ed) (1998) Magnetic, Sunderland: School of Arts, Design and Communications

Tomkins, R. (1998) The “Natural”, the Monstrous and the Medical, Visual Representations of Pregnant Women and Pregnancy in

Mc Nulty, S. (1998) Portfolio, Sunderland: School of Arts, Design and Communications

Dickinson, M. (1998) The People Show, Newcastle: University Gallery

Mc Cracken, P. (1998) Bibliography of Women Artists and Designers in England Since 1900, (Vol l 2) , U.S.A.: G. K. Hall (Macmillan)

Wilson,S. (1997) Women on Men: Cultural Services Department, Denbighshire C.C.

Ord, B. (ed) (1996) Artlanta, Newcastle: Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria

Andrew, P. (1996) Durham Cathedral Artists In Residence, Durham: Durham County Council

British Art (c.1986-1996) M.Phil thesis, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Bodman, V. (1995) Strong Meat, London: Morley Gallery

Diggle, J. (1994) Camouflage, Exeter: University of Plymouth

Pocock, D. (1993) Durham Cathedral, A Celebration, Durham: Durham City Trust

Soldini, P. (1993) Images Of Pregnancy And Birth In The Visual Arts, MA Dissertation, University of Sussex

Kingston, A. (1990) Mothers, Birmingham: Ikon Gallery

Packer, W. (1990) Rome Scholars 1980-1990, London: British School at Rome

(1989) Artists in Essex, Waltham Abbey: Epping Forest D.C.

(1988) Artists in Essex, Waltham Abbey: Epping Forest D.C.

(1987) Artist In Essex, Waltham Abbey: Epping Forest D.C.

Biggs, B. (1987) Selected Paintings, Liverpool: Bluecoat Gallery

W.A.S.L. (ed) (1987) British Women Artists Diary 1987, London: The Women’s Press

Johnson N. (1984) Work in Progress, Durham: D.L.I. Museum

Milton, L. (1984) Art at Work, Sunderland: Artists Agency

Golding, J. (1983) 12 Artisti Britannici A Roma, Rome: Ministero Per i Beni Ambientali E. Culturali

Durbé, D. (ed) (1982) Artisti Di Quattro Accademie Straniere In Roma, Rome: De Luca Editore

Dalwood, A. (1982) And Printmaking, London: Waterloo Gallery

Caines, P. (ed) (1982) Mostra 1982, Rome: British School at Rome

(1981) Royal College of Art Painting and Printmaking Degree Show 1981, London: Royal College of Art Dodwell, C.R. (1975) Northern Young Contemporaries, Manchester: University of Manchester

REVIEWS AND PRESS COVERAGE

02.10.2009 Corner, D, The Western Mail review of Virginia Bodman Paintings

18.12.2006 Swell Show of Sea Paintings, The Journal, David Whetstone

14.12.2006 Art Review – Virginia Bodman: Full Volume, Metro, Amy Rudd

08.12.2006 The Journal Culture Club, The Journal, David Whetstone

02.12.2006 Every Picture Tells a Story, Sunderland Echo, Alistair Robinson

28.11.2006 Artwork Triple Bill, Evening Chronicle

8.10.2001 Moving Art, Sunderland Echo

18.8.2000 Art is really down to Earth, Sunderland Echo

10.7.2000 Natural Art and Root of All Art, The Chronicle

Sykes, A. (June 1998) Darlington showcase for regional artists. Northern Review

Farrier, P. (20. 3. 1998) Passages of Plenitude, Darlington and Stockton Times

Byrd, C. (May 1996) Artlanta, The Atlanta Journal, U.S.A.

Wollen, R. (Summer 1996) Artlanta, Contemporary Art (Vol. 3, issue 4)

Anson, L. (Summer 1996) Artlanta In Newcastle, Untitled (No. 11)

Cullum, J. (May 1996) Review Artlanta, Atlanta Art Paper, U.S.A