Woman Made Gallery Artist Registry

New York University, New York, NY: M.A., Fine Art & Education
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY: Textile Design
Bennington College, Bennington, VT: B.A.
Private Study/Apprenticeship: Malcolm Morley, New York, NY

Professional Experience

TEACHING POSITIONS (selected)

2002 - 2003 University of West Bohemia, Plzen, Czech Republic, Visiting Artist
1988 University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI, Guest Lecturer, Painting Workshop
1986 - 1987 Towson State University, Towson, MD, Visiting Artist
1980 - 1986 New York University, New York, NY, Adjunct Faculty, Painting

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Organization of Independent Artists
National Museum of Women in the Arts
National Association of Women Artists

LISTINGS (current)

Who’s Who in American Art
Who’s Who in American Women
ART IN AMERICA’S 2003 -2004 Annual Guide (Sourcebook to the U.S. Art World)

Artist's Statement

My art moves in seemingly disparate directions, I work with figuration and abstraction. I work also in the sphere of performance art. In following my creative inclinations, and in moving with the cycles of inspiration and ideas, I find I need to adopt whichever mode suits the work at hand.

I incline towards abstraction as with the Barcelona! series of etchings, when I allowed my media to influence the image in the strongest possible way. The experience, mysteriously, was that of discovering image embedded in materials. A simple premise provided a point of departure: to allow the inspiration of beautiful natural forms seen in a science museum to guide my hand. The work, then, became a kind of distillation, something seen reduced to essence, or put another way, the work emerged as a picture of energy and of movement through pictorial space. Taken this way, the resultant image depicts something quite real. Thus, I am able to give expression to very deep intimations about the world of manifest things. This is a kind of physics, highly theoretical, but eminently experiential. I depict not a shell, for example, but the forces giving rise to that form.

My figurative and performance work is but a small step from the abstract, although, of course, its appearance seems to belie this. Here I am able to allow my poetic and metaphoric mind to range freely, my political sensibilities and psychological inclinations to enter images. I engage in the exploration of human relationships through a depiction of the human form, I add my voice to a larger conversation on the concerns and sorrows of our time.

Looking back on the phases of my work, I see not so much a variety of "styles", as what you might see if you look at the oeuvre of a poet, author, or composer. Each "body" is a world entered and explored, set forth in terms of art. This has been my approach and continues to be. - Fran Bull

Image information: Sun In Earth (2002), mixed media on canvas, 48" x 36", $1,900 from the SYZYGY Series

Exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2004 Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2003 Sheridan Russell Gallery, London, UK
2003 The Old Fire Station Gallery, London, UK
2003 "Paintings and Prints," Sotheby Auction, London, UK
2003 "Night Passage," Printmaking Council of New Jersey, Somerville, NJ
2003 "The Magdalene Cycle," Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
2003 "World Wide Web" and "Barcelona Series," Gallerie Universitini, Plzen, Czech Republic
2002 "Art and Science," University of West Bohemia, Plzen, Czech Republic
2002 "Brava Diva!" Karpeles Manuscript Museum, Charleston, SC
2001 "Barcelona!" Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY
2001 "Plants and Prints," Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2000 City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
2000 "Feed the Body, Feed the Soul," Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH
1997 Mad River Post, New York, NY
1994 Carylce Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Galerie du Temple, Paris, France 1993 Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1987 "Pelican Variations," Seraphim Fine Arts, Tenafly, NJ
1986 Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1983 Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2004 National Association of Women Artists Juried Exhibition, Poughkeepsie Art Museum, Poughkeepsie, NY. Curator: Albert Shahinian
2004 "Artists Who Happen to Be Women," Stark Galleries, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
2003 "Between Heaven & Earth," Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY
2003 Studio Montclair Sixth Annual Open Art Exhibition, Westminster Gallery, Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, NJ. Juror: Joseph Jacobs, Curator of Contemporary Art, Newark Museum
2002 "Palettes of Summer," Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY
2002 "Food Chain," Printmaking Council of New Jersey, Somerville, NJ. Juror: Bill Fisk
2002 "NorthEast Prints 2002," Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, Paterson, NJ Juror: Judy Hecker, Asst. Curator, Prints & Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2001 "Mixed Media III International," Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
2001 "Sophia Series," Borders Books, San Francisco, CA
2000 "Millennial Fever: Cutting Edge Art of the Future," Lowe Gallery, Hudson Guild, New York, NY
2000 "Mixed Media," Paula Vincenti Gallery, Marbella, Spain
2000 "Snapshot," Invitational Exhibition and National Tour, The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD
1998 "Album," Lower East Side Printshop Exhibition, West Chelsea Arts, New York, NY
1998 "Pulp Art: Investigations into Slurry," Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1998 "Contemporary American Artists," Kunsthallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
1996 "A Dialogue through Pictures," Two Person Exhibition, Broome Street Gallery, New York, NY
1995 International Juried Exhibition, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ. Juror: Lowery Sims
1995 14th Annual Show, Florida Center for Contemporary Arts, Tampa, FL 1994 "Salon Show," Organization of Independent Artists, New York, NY
Curators/Jurors: John Perreault, Ronny Cohen, Ursula Von Rydingsvard 1993 "Wild Woman: Celebrating the Instinctual Self," University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
1992 "Measure for Measure," The New York Academy of Sciences, New York, NY
1990 Chicago International Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
1990 "Animals in Contemporary Art," Nassau County Fine Arts Museum, Roslyn Harbor, NY
1986 "The American Photorealist: An Anthology," Fisher Fine Art Gallery, St. James, London, UK

Artistic Projects

INSTALLATIONS, PERFORMANCES & THEATRICAL PROJECTS (selected)

1999 Love Letter, solo performance, College Art Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA
1998 Crossing the Threshold: To Be Continued, singer, with Janet Hues, performance artist. Spencer Museum, Lawrence, KS
1998 Mater Dolorosa (She Grieves), Sylvia White Gallery, New York, NY
1997 Crossing the Threshold: To Be Continued, singer, with Janet Hues, performance artist. Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, NY
1997 Alchemy in the Kitchen: Womanchrist, collaboration with Lorraine Neithardt, Kitchen Performance Space, New York, NY
1996 Alchemy in the Kitchen: Envy, collaboration with Lorraine Neithardt, Kitchen Performance Space, New York, NY
1990 Mordant Rhymes for Modern Times — In a Walled Garden; writer, designer, producer; Kitchen Performance Space, New York, NY

WORK ABROAD

2001 - present: Resident of artist community and ongoing collaboration, Taller 46 Printmaking Workshop, Barcelona Spain. Master Printmaker: Virgili Barbarà.

BOOKS

2003 Balm of My Dreams, etchings with English/Spanish poetry by Carolyn Corbett
1990 Mordant Rhymes for Modern Times, drawings with verse by Ann Salwey

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY (selected)

2003 Marc Awodey, "There’s Something about Mary," Seven Days, October 1
2002 Gwen Donovan, "Local Artists Have Broad Scope," Star-Ledger, September 22
2002 Douglas Anderson, "Barn Dance," Vermont Magazine, October
1993 Alice Thorson, "Differences Make ‘Genesis Gender’ a Lively Exhibit," Kansas City Star, September 5
1992 Nancy Princenthal, "Artist’s Book Beat," The Print Collector’s Newsletter, January-February
1991 Mordant Rhymes for Modern Times, "Book Reviews," Umbrella, December
1989 Eileen Watkins, "Women Paint Women," Star-Ledger, June 25 1987 Eileen Watkins, "Art," Star-Ledger, October 2 1987 "Art Exhibitors," The New York Times, September 6
1987 Steve Purchase, "Bull Creates Intriguing Images," The Baltimore Evening Sun, February 26
1981 David Bourdon, "Art — A Painter’s Aviary," Architectural Digest, April
1980 Louis K. Meisel, Photorealism, Harry Abrams, Inc., New York, NY

RADIO & TELEVISON APPEARANCES

1993 Cable TV Channel 10, interview with Mike Forbes at Seraphim Gallery, Englewood, NJ, March
1988 Public Radio Station WHLA, La Crosse, WI, interview in conjunction with Painting Workshop, July

Collections

COLLECTIONS (selected)

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore MD
Indianapolis Museum, Indianapolis, IN
John McEnroe Library Collection, NY Studio School, New York, NY
Bo Alveryd, Malmo, Sweden
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Amherst College, Amherst, MA
Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ

Honors and Awards

2002 Best in Show, "Food Chain," Printmaking Council of New Jersey. Juror: Bill Fisk
2002 Featured Artist, NJ State Council on the Arts, Artist Gallery, www.jerseyarts.com
2000 Certificate of Merit, 7th Annual "Feed the Body, Feed the Soul" Competition, Hamilton, OH
1992 American Institute of Graphic Arts Book Design Award, Mordant Rhymes for Modern Times

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