Vanessa Beecroft

Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1969. Lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Vanessa Beecroft’s work has been shown internationally since 1993, and has shaped performance art, the representation of the female body, and the sociopolitical discussions of art. Her performances (titled VB, followed by the number) have been an ongoing practice for over twenty-five years. Presented across some of the world’s preeminent museums and major contemporary events, Beecroft’s performances highlight the tensions between nakedness and clothing, constraint and freedom, the collective and the individual, and human strength and weakness.

Vanessa Beecroft was one of the first artists to collaborate with fashion brands, starting in the 1990s, and since 2009 has collaborated extensively with musician and producer Kanye West. Now belonging to popular culture as well as the contemporary art canon, her work also manifests a deep dialogue with the history of art and representations across the traditions of Europe and of many of the world’s cultures. She is also a keen practitioner of photography, drawing, painting, and sculpture, using each medium to present perspectives on the body, as she brings Renaissance influences together with modern representation. Her art is a passionate field of experimentation, rooted in history, unraveling according to its own rules, and expanding into the world where it takes on many philosophical and political tones to in order to question the significance of our existence as human beings.