# April Bey

URL: https://vielmetter.com/biography/wrklst-april-bey-23804/

1987 Bahamian/American, Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA   2014 MFA, California State University Northridge, CA 2009 BFA, Ball State University, Muncie, IN

**Selected Solo Exhibitions**

  2026 "All the Reasons We Never Tell Someone We Love Them, They’re Worthless," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (forthcoming) 2024 "I See All The Way Back to Where I’m Supposed to See," Tern Gallery, Nassau, Bahamas  "We Insist Upon Ourselves, In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe," Two Person Show with Kim Dacres, UTA, Atlanta, GA  "I Know All About What You Want to Know All About," Vielmetter Los Angeles, CA  "Atlantican Opulencscapes Part II," Pasadena City College, Los Angeles, CA  "Atlantican Opulencscapes," Glendale Community College, Los Angeles, CA 2023 "Atlantica: The Gilda Region," Nevada Museum of Art, Reno NV 2022 "I Believe in Why I’m Here," Simon Lee Gallery, London, UK  "Colonial Swag," Tern Gallery, Nassau, Bahamas  "When You’re on Another Planet and They Just Fly," Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles, CA  "The Opulent Blerd," Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA  "Intersections: Where Art & Activism Meet," Scalehouse Gallery, Bend, OR 2021 "April Bey: Atlantica, The Gilda Region," The California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA 2020 "April Bey, UNTITLED ART ONLINE," UPFOR Gallery, Portland, OR  "Welcome to Atlantica," Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA 2018 "Made in Space," Band of Vices Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2017 "COMPLY," Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles, CA 2014 "Picky Head," Liquid Courage Art Gallery, New Providence, Nassau, Bahamas

**Selected Group Exhibitions**

  2026-2027 "Sown Together: New Voices in Contemporary Textile Art," Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC 2026 "Utopi·e," Gallery 193, Paris, France  "Countering the Canon," Samuel Bak Museum, Omaha, NE  "Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance," 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, St. Louis, MO  "Into the Pluriverse," Sovern LA, Los Angeles, CA  "Ascendancy: The Self in Contemporary Art," Guest curated by Camilo Alvarez, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT  "National Gallery of Victoria Triennial 2026," National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia  "Material Prophecies: Craft as Divination," The Armory Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA 2025 "In the Life: Black Queerness — Looking Back, Moving Forward," Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Cambridge, MA  "To Be Seen," Jonathan Carver Moore, San Francisco, CA  “Unravaled,” Curated by Jayla Slate, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN  "Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance," 21C Museum Hotel, Bentonville, AR 2024 "Green x Gold: Kingston Biennial 2024," National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica  "Crafting The Future/The Shape Of Water," Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA  "REALMS," Carl Freedman Gallery, London, United Kingdom  "I’d Love To See You," Juxtapoz 30th Anniversary Show at Rusha & Co, Los Angeles, CA  "The Golden Thread," BravinLee Programs, New York, NY  "Poly/Graphic Triennial," Institute de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico  "Backstage Engelberg," Engelberg, Switzerland  "Surrealism and Us: Caribbean African Diasporic Artists Since 1950," The Modern Forth Worth, Fort Worth, TX 2023 "UNTITLED," TERN Gallery, Nassau, Bahamas  “The Threads We Follow,” The Southwestern Center for Contemporary Art, NC  “(En)gendered Agency”, LH Horton Jr. Gallery, Stockton, CA  “The Speed of Grace,” Simões de Assis Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil  “ROOTED,” Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA  “WITNESS,” WACO Theater Center, Los Angeles, CA  “We Are Enough,” 193 Gallery, Paris, France  “Queer Threads,” San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA  “Weaving Data,” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Portland State University, Portland, OR  “A Love Letter to LA,” PHILLIPS, Los Angeles, CA  “A Room Full of Mirrors”, Fragment Gallery, New York, NY 2022 “TEXT MESSAGES,” Grace Ross Shanley Gallery, The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT  “New Pop Stars,” 21C Museum Hotel Chicago, Chicago, IL  “HAIRTAGE: Continuum,” Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress, CA  “Common Ground: Artists Reimaging Community,” California Lutheran University Art Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA  “Portraits of Metro Riders,” LA Metro, Los Angeles, CA  “Adornment Artifact,” The Getty, Los Angeles, CA  “Louder Now,” Fragment Gallery, Moscow, Russia (online)  “Salt to Catch Ghosts,” Slash Arts, San Francisco, CA  “Language in the Times of Miscommunication,” Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ  “Cantos of the Sibylline Sisterhood,” Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA  “Terms of Endearment”, Hilger Gallery, Vienna, Austria 2021 “She Says: Women, Words, and Power in Art,” Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA  “HAIRTAGE: Tangled,” Twisted & Black, Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress, CA  “TEXTURES: The History and Art of Black Hair,” Kent State Museum, Kent, OH  “Floating Rib,” The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas 2020 “Show Me the Signs," Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, CA  “INVOCATION DEMOCRACY: A Political and Mystical Virtual Exhibition,” Presented by Pro Arts Commons  “Nasty Women,” Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles, CA  “SPACELAND IV WAR,” Bermudez Projects, Los Angeles, CA  “Access,” Reflect Space Gallery, Glendale, CA  “Sanctuary,” California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA  “Breathe/Breath,” Seer Virtual Gallery curated by: The Association of Hysteric Curators 2019 “Welcome to the AfroFuture,” New Orleans African American Museum, New Orleans, LA  “Dear Lucy,” UPFOR Gallery, Portland, OR  “Black, Brown and Beige,” Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA  “From the Head to the Heart,” The Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT  “Atlantica,” Chimento Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA  “LA Painting Survey,” Museum of Art History, Lancaster, CA  “BLACK HISTORY 365,” University of La Verne College of Law, Ontario, CA  “AMERICAN,” Golden West College Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA  “Black on Black III,” Raleigh Arts, Raleigh, NC  “NE9: The Fruit and the Seed,” The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas 2018 Shika Shika Art Fair, Brazil House Gallery, Accra, Ghana  Visual Resistance, Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA  Glendale Community College Faculty Exhibition, Glendale, CA  “Back to Black,” Avenue 50 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA  “Eye Forward,” Curating Our Narratives, Fresno State University, Fresno, CA  “Dis…Miss,” Freewaves Los Angeles, CA  “Eyes Forward,” LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA  “MANIFESTO: A Moderate Proposal,” Pitzer College Art Gallery, Claremont, CA 2017 “The Fabulous 7,” Feral Projects, Los Angeles, CA  “Dis…Miss,” Freewaves, Los Angeles, CA  "CHALE WOTE," Jamestown, Ghana  "ICONIC: Black Panther," Gregorio Escalante Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2016 "NE8," The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas  "Shift and Fade," BLAM Projects, Los Angeles, CA  "Dis…Miss," Freewaves, Los, Angeles, CA  "Reflections on the Self: Selections from the Permanent Collection," California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA  "SKIN," Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2015 "Colored Girls," Autonomie Projects, Los Angeles, CA  "Hard Edged: Geometric Abstraction and Beyond," The California Africa American Museum, Los Angeles, CA  "CA 101," Redondo Beach Power Plant, Redondo Beach, CA  "Out of Nothing," Glen Echo Park Gallery, Washington DC  "We Choose Art: A Feminist Perspective," Los Angeles, CA  "50 Years and I Still Can’t Breathe," Watts Towers Arts Center, Watts, Los Angeles, CA  "Pulse of LA," Southern California Women’s Caucus of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2014 "Fresh," South Bay Contemporary, Southbay, CA  "Antillean: An Ecology (NE7)," National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas  "GLAMFA," California State University, Long Beach, CA  "#Whodoyouworship?," Graduate Thesis Show, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA

**Bibliography**

  2026 Nayak-Feldman, Jennifer. "A Journey to Atlantica with Artist April Bey," Wybe Magazine, September 17 ([Link](https://wybemag.com/a-journey-to-atlantica-with-artist-april-bey/))  Ross, Claudia. "The Artists Working in Velvet, Amethyst, and Relics," Hyperallergic, July 16 ([Link](https://hyperallergic.com/the-artists-working-in-velvet-amethyst-and-relics/))  Art Daily Staff. "Women artists shaping the visual language of figuration and Pop Surrealism," ArtDaily, July 1  "Burned Land, Read in Clay and Cloth: A Free Pasadena Show Closes Aug. 1," Pasadena Now, June 27 ([Link](https://pasadenanow.com/weekendr/burned-land-read-in-clay-and-cloth-a-free-pasadena-show-closes-aug-1))  "Armory and Altadena Library Team Up for Free Teen Workshop on Wildfire and Renewal," Pasadena Now, June 19 ([Link](https://pasadenanow.com/weekendr/armory-and-altadena-library-team-up-for-free-teen-workshop-on-wildfire-and-renewal))  Hooks, Ciara. "20 things to do this weekend in Connecticut: Teddy Swims and the Montville Food Truck Festival," New Haven Register, June 4 ([Link](https://www.nhregister.com/things-to-do/article/things-to-do-this-weekend-ct-6-7-26-22276923.php))  Riefe, Jordan. "Here’s What You Missed Off Frieze at Felix, BUTTER and Beyond," Observer, March 3 ([Link](https://observer.com/2026/03/art-frieze-la-satellite-fairs-butter-felix-other-art-fair/))  "Material Prophecies: Craft as Divination," PBS SoCal, February 15 ([Link](https://www.pbssocal.org/event/material-prophecies-craft-as-divination))  Stromberg, Matt. "15 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This Spring," Hyperallergic, February 3 ([Link](https://hyperallergic.com/15-art-shows-to-see-in-los-angeles-this-spring/))  "Craft as Divination: Armory Opens Group Exhibition Exploring Memory and Ritual," Pasadena Now, February 3 ([Link](https://www.pasadenanow.com/weekendr/craft-as-divination-armory-opens-group-exhibition-exploring-memory-and-ritual/))  Bosselman, Haley. "Butter LA Will Debut at Hollywood Park During Art Week," Los Angeles Magazine, January 31 ([Link](https://lamag.com/arts-and-entertainment/butter-la-fine-art-fair-2026-inglewood-hollywood-park/))  "Inaugural Los Angeles Edition of BUTTER Fine Art Fair Coming to Hollywood Park," SoFi Stadium, January 27 ([Link](https://www.sofistadium.com/news/detail/inaugural-los-angeles-edition-of-butter-fine-art-fair-brings-its-no-commission-artist-first-model-to-hollywood-park))  Cormaci, Carol. "Blasphemy or bold expression? Artwork displayed at JWA causes stir," January 20 ([Link](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/newsletter/2026-01-20/tn-dpt-me-timesoc-latest-news-in-orange-county-artist-april-bey-john-wayne-airport)) 2025 Rinaldi, Ray Mark. "In a culture of fear, every art show feels like a dangerous act," The Denver Post, September 22  Frank, Annalise. "Frame Work: Past and future Black queer perspectives," Axios Detroit, August 27  ArtNet Gallery Staff. "4 Art Advisors Weigh In on Who to Watch at Untitled Art, Houston’s Inaugural Fair," August 25  Bosselman, Haley. "L.A. Weekend Guide: Black Business Scavenger Hunt, Some Like It Hot at the Pantages, Butter Art Fair," LA Magazine, July 31  Bravo, Tony. "In a year of erasure, queer art reminds us we exist," San Francisco Chronicle, June 24 ([Link](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/lgbtq-pride-month-arts-20386747.php))  Morici, Abigail. "Dream Weavers," Memphis Flyer, June 11 ([Link](https://www.memphisflyer.com/dream-weavers-2))  Jones Okla. "“To Be Seen” Is A Powerful Portrait Of Black Queer Visibility," Essence Magazine, June 6 ([Link](https://www.essence.com/news/watch-a-love-letter-to-new-orleans/))  Blue, Max. "Six art shows San Franciscans need to see this summer," The San Francisco Examiner, June 2 ([Link](https://www.sfexaminer.com/culture/museums-and-galleries/san-francisco-art-guide-six-must-see-summer-2025-shows/article_2be1c3a9-9eb9-4880-af31-00cff5422f61.html))  Keenan, Annabel. "Don’t miss these seven artists at Frieze Los Angeles," Wallpaper*, February 6 2024 Frieze Los Angeles Staff. "Eight Standout Solo Shows at Frieze Los Angeles 2025," Frieze, December ([Link](https://www.frieze.com/article/solo-shows-frieze-los-angeles-2025))  Baker, Cheona. "Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practices of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers," The Brooklyn Rail, December ([Link](https://brooklynrail.org/2024/12/art_books/malene-barnett-crafted-kinship/))  Orozco, Jonathan. "April Bey Asks Us “Will you watch me win?”," WhiteHot Magazine, October 28 ([Link](https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/you-watch-me-win-/6634))  Boucher, Brian. "Why Fiber Art Is (Still) Having a Moment as Prices and Recognition Continue to Climb," Artnet, June 18 ([Link](https://news.artnet.com/market/fiber-art-prices-recognition-climb-2494900))  Valentine, Victoria L., "Latest News in Black Art: April Bey and Paul Anthony Smith Join New Galleries, Nigel Freeman Heading Fine Art at Swann Auctions, Inaugural Artnoir Fellow & More," CultureType, May 18  Carlo, Pier. "April Bey," Thomas S. Kenan Institute For The Arts, March 18 ([Link](https://www.uncsa.edu/kenan/art-restart/april-bey-restart.aspx))  Novoa, Gabriel. "April Bey’s ‘Atlantica’: An alien planet with a human story," PCC Courier, March 18 ([Link](https://www.pcccourier.com/main-story/april-beys-atlantica-an-alien-planet-with-a-human-story.html))  Pasadena Now Staff. "PCC Galleries Unveils Dazzling Exploration Of Afrofuturism By Bahamian Artist," The Pasadena Now, March 10 2023 Modern Luxury Dallas Magazine Staff. "State Of The Arts: 9 Visual Artists Leading The Cultural Conversation Right Now," Modern Luxury Dallas Magazine, November 15 ([Link](https://mldallasmagazine.com/visual-artists-to-watch))  Morrison, Alexander. "In pictures: focus on Caribbean artists," The Art Newspaper, December 8 ([Link](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/08/in-pictures-focus-on-caribbean-artists))  "Wide-Eyed and Dreaming—A Season of Seeing in Four Acts," e-flux, October 28  "TERN Gallery at The Armory Show 2023," Artsy, September 8  "Wide-Eyed And Dreaming: A Season of Seeing at the Nevada Museum of Art," Nevada Today, August 29  Bean, Jason. "Artist April Bey talks about fantasy and undercover aliens in "Atlantica, The Gilda Region"," Reno Gazette Journal, August 28  Holmes, Brent. "Q+A with April Bey," Double Scoop, August 21 ([Link](https://doublescoop.art/qa-with-april-bey/))  Evan Pricco & Doug Gillen. "April Bey," Juxtapoz Magazine, March 2022 Bochicchio, Sarah. "Thriving on Atlantica: April Bey & her Speculative Futurism," Art&Object, September 15  Eddy Frankel. "April Bey: ‘I Believe in Why I’m Here," Time Out, September 8  Donoghue, Katy. "April Bey Brings the Story of Atlantica to The Bahamas and Beyond," Whitewall, August 3 2023 Jackson, Leigh-Ann. "‘Few people ask us what we think about ourselves’: This L.A. art show elevates Black women and nonbinary artists," The LA Times, May 8 2022 Orozco, Jonathan. "On Atlantica: April Bey’s Utopian Planet," Whitehot Magazine, May  Lawrence, Gabrielle. "Brimming with Lush Texture, Mixed-Media Tapestries by April Bey Envision an Afrofuturist World," Colossal, May 5  Stromber, Matt and Elisa Wouk Almino. "Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for March 2022," February 28  Piejko, Jennifer. "Los Angeles: seven must-see shows on view now," Art Basel, Feb 2021 Ortiz, Maria Elena. "Colonial Swag Fashion: A Conversation between April Bey and María Elena Ortiz" Pérez Art Museum Miami, Caribbean Cultural Institute  Dexter, Henry. "April Bey Is an Emissary for the Unseen," Cultured Magazine, November 23

**Teaching Experience**

  2015 – Present Tenured Professor, Glendale Community College, Glendale, CA 2015-2016 Inglewood Cultural Arts Instructor, Inglewood, CA 2014-2015 Adjunct Professor, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA  Instructor, artworxla, Los Angeles, CA  Ryman Teaching Artist, Fullerton, CA 2012-2014 Adjunct Professor California, State University Northridge, CA

**Exhibition Catalogues and Publications**

  2024 Barnett, Malene. "Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practices of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers," Hatchett Book Group, New York, NY (2024) 2023 Minnis, Jodi. "April Bey: The Opulent Blerd," The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Lancaster, CA (2023)

**Visiting Artist/Lectures**

  2022 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA  Chadwick School, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA  Kent State University, Kent, OH  Cypress College, Cypress, CA 2021 Cypress College, Cypress, CA  Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA  Pomona College, Pomona, CA  Glendale Hoover High, Glendale, CA 2020 University of the Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas  Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL  Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA  Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA  California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA  Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA  Women Painter’s West, Laguna Beach, CA 2019 Tulane University, New Orleans, LA  University of Alaska, Anchorage, Anchorage, AK  Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA  Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA  Chapman University, Orange, CA 2018 Art+Practice, Los Angeles, CA  The MAIN Museum, Los Angeles, CA  California African American Museum (CAAM), Los Angeles, CA

**Residencies, Scholarships, & Prizes**

  2024 "UNION Fellowship," The Union for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE 2020 Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA  Fullerton College Artist in Residency, Fullerton, CA 2019 Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Artist in Residence, Norwalk, CT  Nkyinkyim za, Ada, Ghana 2018 The Current, Nassau, Bahamas  In-Flux Artist Residency, Ghana, West Africa 2017 In-Flux Artist Residency, Bali, Dubai, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana  CHALE WOTE, Jamestown, Ghana 2012 Can Serrat Artist in Residence, El Bruc, Spain

**Selected Awards & Grants**

  2020 Center for Cultural Innovation Artist Grant 2019 GCC Foundation Grant  Student Equity Grant 2017 Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant Nominee 2015 Melvin Best Award 2014 CSUN Arts Council Award

**Public Art Projects**

  2022 For Freedoms, Inglewood Mural 2021 Fringe Projects MiamiDesign District  Glendale Library Arts and Culture 2020 Destination Crenshaw Outdoor Museum Finalist  Census Campaign East LA: Make It Count!  LA METRO Willowbrook Through the Artist’s Eyes

**Public Collections**

   21C Museum Hotels  California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA  Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT  The Current Bahamas Tradewinds, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas  Escalette Collection, Chapman University, Orange, CA  Fenix Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Floating Museum, Alameda, CA  Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA  Inter-American Development Bank, Los Angeles, CA  Kistefos Museum, Oslo, Norway  Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA  METRO Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA  Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA  National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas  National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia  Newfelds Indianapolis Art Museum, Indianapolis, IN  Self-Help Graphics, Boyle Heights, CA