Betty Goodwin

Betty Roodish Goodwin (born March 19, 1923, Montreal) is a Canadian printmaker, sculptor, painter, and installation artist.

In 2003, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Education and early training

As a child, Betty Goodwin loved to paint and draw and was much encouraged by her mother to pursue art. She engaged in no formal training immediately after high school, preferring to spend time in galleries and reading books on art. In the 1960s, she enrolled in a printmaking class with Yves Gaucher at Sir George Williams University in Montreal.

Art

Betty Goodwin uses a large variety of media, including collage, sculpture, printmaking, painting and drawing, assemblage, etchings. Her subject matter almost always revolves around the human form and deals with it in a highly emotional way. Goodwin refers to her art as a force of ‘body suffering’. Many of her ideas come from clusters of photographs, objects or drawings on the walls in her studio. She also uses the “germ” of ideas that are left after being erased from a work.

Career highlights

Goodwin's work has been exhibited in Montreal since the early 60s, with some significant solo shows. Other exhibitions have taken place elsewhere in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. She was chosen to represent Canada in the Venice Biennial in 1995. In 1996, she was acknowledged with an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, “Betty Goodwin: Signs of Life”.

Prizes and awards

* Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts in 2003
* Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas conferred by the Government of Quebec in 1986
* Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 1986

External links

* http://www.artnet.com/artist/7196/betty-goodwin.html - Artnet profile on Betty Goodwin
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=J1ARTJ0009380 Betty Roodish Goodwin] at The Canadian Encyclopedia