Background
Betty Goodwin was born on March 19, 1923 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her father, a factory owner in Montreal, died, when she was nine.
1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve O, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
Concordia University
installation artist painter printmaker sculptor
Betty Goodwin was born on March 19, 1923 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her father, a factory owner in Montreal, died, when she was nine.
After graduating from high school, Betty studied design at Valentine's Commercial School of Art in Montreal.
In 1968, she enrolled in a printmaking course with Yves Gaucher at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). It was there, where she began working with found objects and clothing articles in her prints, which brought her much international attention.
In the late 1940s, Goodwin started her career as a painter and printmaker. In the early 1960s, she began to exhibit her works in Montreal.
During the period from 1972 to 1974, Betty created the Tarpaulin series. Covering found sheets with gesso and paint, stitching and reworking the surface, she created mysterious collaged wall hangings.
In 1974, Betty represented Canada at the Tokyo International Print Biennial and the following year, she took part in Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts.
In 1977, Goodwin began her exploration of the theme of passage. Reconstructing rooms and passageways with various materials, she uncovered the traces of life in installation works, such as Rue Mentana (1979), where she forced the viewer to gain an awareness of their own body.
Between 1988-1989, Goodwin focused on the Steel Note series. These wall assemblages, made of iron-filings and other metal objects, held together by a magnet on a steel plate, had the feel of memorial tablets with their added inscriptions.
In 1989, Goodwin participated in the São Paulo Biennial, where she represented Canada.
In 1995, the painter exhibited her works at the Venice Biennial. The following year, Goodwin donated 150 of her works to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which has the largest collection of her work.
Beautiful, elegant and intense, Goodwin was a tenacious artist. Her confidence in her work never flagged, and when success came, she accepted it without compromise.
Quotes from others about the person
"She was a giant, one of the first women to achieve such stature in the contemporary Canadian art world." — Rene Blouin
"You can't understand Canadian art without coming to terms with her achievements." — Matthew Teitelbaum, the director of the Art Gallery of Ontario
Betty married Martin Goodwin, a civil engineer, in 1945. The couple had one son, Paul Goodwin, who died at 30 of a drug overdose.