Betty Graveen Bailey (née Betty Joan Graveen; November 13, 1939 – March 20, 2019) was an American multidisciplinary artist. She lived and worked in Contra Costa County, California, and was part of the Nut art movement.

Artistic practice

Part of the loosely defined

Nut art Nut art movement was an artistic consciousness movement centered in Northern California, that flourished primarily in the late-1960s and early-1970s. History The term "Nut art" was coined by artist Roy De Forest (in conversation with writer Da ...

movement, Bailey, an untrained artist, practiced videography, ceramics, basket making and drawing. Later in life, Bailey primarily drew with

watercolor pencil Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, working from memory. Her watercolor drawings feature figurative depictions of everyday life with humorous subtleties.

Videography

As a dedicated videographer and documentarian, Bailey maintained a large VHS collection of her own work and others, recording many art openings and exhibitions featuring many California artists including her husband

Clayton Bailey Clayton George Bailey (March 9, 1939 – June 6, 2020), was an American artist who worked primarily in the mediums of ceramic and metal sculpture. Early life and education Clayton George Bailey was born on March 9, 1939 in Antigo, Wisconsin. In ...

, Joy Broom,

Roy DeForest Roy De Forest (11 February 1930 – 18 May 2007) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and teacher. He was involved in both the Funk art and Nut art movements in the Bay Area of California. De Forest's art is known for its quirk ...

, Leta Ramos, Mel Ramos, M. Louise Stanley, Richard Shaw,

Gerald Heffernan Gerald Joseph Heffernan (July 24, 1916 – January 16, 2007) was a professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League. Heffernan played 83 games for the Canadiens, recording 33 goals and 35 assis ...

, Peter Saul,

Creative Growth Art Center Creative Growth Art Center is a nonprofit arts organization, based in Oakland, California, that provides studios, supplies, and gallery space to artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities. It is one of the oldest and largest art ...

, Greg MacGregor, Fletcher Benton, Wayne Thiebaud, Jewel Bleckinger,

Susan Subtle Susan Subtle (December 30, 1941 – May 11, 2020) was an American curator, columnist, and product developer; known for her curatorial work focusing on recycled and outsider art. Subtle lived and worked in Berkeley, California until her death i ...

, The

Port Costa Port Costa is a small village and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, located in East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 at the 2 ...

Talent Show,

H. C. Westermann H. C. Westermann (Horace Clifford "Cliff" Westermann) (December 11, 1922 – November 3, 1981) was an American sculptor and printmaker. His sculptures frequently incorporated traditional carpentry and marquetry techniques. From the late 1950 ...

, William T. Wiley, and others.

Exhibitions

Bailey's first show was in 1970 at the Candy Store Gallery in

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is commonly known for Folsom State Prison, the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, as well as for Folsom Lake. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 census. Folsom is pa ...

. Since then, she has shown throughout the United States. In 2009, Bailey showed with her husband,

, at the Richmond Art Center in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

in a show titled "Robots and watercolors." In 2016, Bailey showed in New York City at U.S. Blues, Brooklyn alongside Daido Moriyama, Jacob Lawrence,

Ficus Interfaith ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending int ...

, Annabelle Speer,

S. Clay Wilson Steve Clay Wilson (July 25, 1941 – February 7, 2021) was an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement. Wilson attracted attention from readers with aggressively violent and sexually explicit panoramas ...

, and Philip Evergood; as well as, at Feuer/Mesler Gallery in January 2017, alongside Andrew Brischler, Nick Payne, and Mason Saltarrelli. In 2017, Bailey showed in Los Angeles at the Parker Gallery in a show titled 'Nut Art" alongside works by Robert Arneson,

, Roy De Forest, David Gilhooly,

Hannah Greely Hannah Greely (born 1979) is an American artist. Biography Hannah Greely was born in Dickson, Tennessee, United States, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. Greely graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles The University ...

, Calvin Marcus, Maija Peeples-Bright, Benjamin Reiss, Peter Saul, Sally Saul, Harold Schlotzhauer, Richard Shaw, Irvin Tepper, Chris Unterseher and Franklin Williams. Furthermore in 2017, Bailey showed at the Atlanta Contemporary alongside Tyler Beard, Benjamin Butler, Nuno de Campos, Allison Evans, Matthew Fisher, Emilie Halpern, Grant Huang,

Brad Kahlhamer Brad Kahlhamer (born 1956) is an artist known for his multi-media practice, ranging from sculpture and painting to performance and music. He is currently based in New York City, working from his studio in Brooklyn. His work has been collected by i ...

, Joel Mesler, Caitlyn Murphy, Tessa Perutz, Eleanor Ray, Lisa Sanditz, and Mari Sunna. Opening in November and running through the end of 2017, Bailey showed in ''Jam Session'', with

Johanna Billing Johanna Billing (born 1973) is a Swedish artist. Her work has been featured in major group exhibitions such as Dokumenta 12, Istanbul Biennial (2005) and the 50th Venice Biennale. Life and work Johanna Billing was born 1973 in Jönköping ...

at Et al. Gallery, San Francisco. Additionally, Bailey showed with Keith J. Varadi at NADA NYC in 2018 with Et al. gallery.

Bailey Art Museum

In 2013, Bailey and her husband, artist

, founded the Bailey Art Museum in Crockett, California featuring their own art. The Bailey Art Museum was near the Bailey's residence and studio in Port Costa. The space brought together works from across Clayton's five decades plus career featuring examples of Funk art,

, ceramics, and metal sculpture (including robots and space guns), as well as pseudo-scientific curiosities by the artist's alter-ego Dr. Gladstone. The museum also included narrative watercolor drawings by Betty G. Bailey and a gift shop. The Bailey Art Museum closed in 2020.

References

External links

Art of Betty G. Bailey

Betty Bailey - ContemporaryArtDaily.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Betty 1939 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists American watercolorists Women watercolorists People from Antigo, Wisconsin People from Contra Costa County, California Artists from California Artists from Wisconsin American contemporary painters Outsider artists Women outsider artists Nut artists