Anne Bean (born 1950) is a London-based artist who works in installation, large-scale sculpture, sound art, and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

. She was born in Livingstone in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodes ...

(now Maramba, Zambia). She lives in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have un ...

Education and early career

Resident in the UK, Bean moved to England in 1969 after beginning her art education in South Africa at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. She attended

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, graduating in 1973. A central figure in the English

live art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

scene, Anne Bean is a difficult artist to categorize. Her evocative work encompasses a range of media including slide projections, drawing, photography, video and sound using a wide range of materials from fire and

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarry ...

to weather balloons and wind to steam and honey. Since 1970, Anne has presented solo and collaborative projects incorporating static and time-based visual art, sound and performance extensively at art venues, festivals and unique sites throughout Europe, USA, Africa, Mexico and Japan. She was a founding member of the irreverent pseudo pop-band Moody and the Menstruators (1971–74), which was imagined by the artist as an exploration of the boundaries between art and music. The Moodies' first performance was presented alongside an early gig by

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...

. They developed a cult following and found themselves featured in a double page spread in the Sunday Times in 1974. Bean was also a regular collaborator with the audacious duo

The Kipper Kids The Kipper Kids were a duo composed of Martin Rochus Sebastian von Haselberg (born 20 January 1949) and Brian Routh (born 9 March 1948) two artists known for the extreme and often comedic performance art they made together in the 1970s and after. ...

(1971-2003).

Methodology

Informed by improvisational practices that celebrate the chaotic and polyvocal and driven by a deep interest in materials and what they might be able to do, Anne Bean's practice has been influenced by

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

’ concept of social sculpture (soziale Plastik) as well as the strange humour associated with the 1970s English performance art scene, typified perhaps by her extensive collaborations with

the Kipper Kids The Kipper Kids were a duo composed of Martin Rochus Sebastian von Haselberg (born 20 January 1949) and Brian Routh (born 9 March 1948) two artists known for the extreme and often comedic performance art they made together in the 1970s and after. ...

. Bean's interest in collaborative processes began with her work with the pioneering performance art group Bernsteins, with Jonathan Harvey, Malcolm Jones, and

, and continued to develop during her longterm working relationship with the drummer-artist

Paul Burwell Paul Dean Burwell (24 April 1949 – 4 February 2007) was a British thaumaturge and percussionist, influential in the fields of free improvisation and experimental art. Born in Ruislip, he studied at Ealing Art College and in the workshops organ ...

, and sculptor Richard Wilson. Together they formed the performance group, the

Bow Gamelan Ensemble The Bow Gamelan Ensemble was a group of musicians in Bow, London, England, who used elements of gamelan music. Formed in 1983 by Richard Wilson with Paul Burwell and Anne Bean, the group disbanded in 1990., ''AnneBean.net''. The ensemble created ...

(1983–90).

Recent Projects

PAVES Crossing Zones PAVES crossing zones was a collaborative project between the artists Anne Bean, who initiated it, Sinead O'Donnell, Poshya Kakl, Efi Ben-David and Vlasta Delimar, which aimed to reflect on how "intense, wider political context inevitably sculpts wo ...

was initiated by Anne Bean in 2009. PAVES was a collaborative project between artists Anne Bean, Sinead O'Donnell, Poshya Kakl, Efi Ben-David and Vlasta Delimar that spanned England, Scotland, Ireland, Israel, Croatia and Palestine. The project focused on how political contexts shape artistic work. In 2012 Bean took on the consciousness of the alter-ego, artist, and writer Chana Dubinski. Bean spent 16 months living as Chana in Newark, a small town in England, and produced a series of artworks that were exhibited at the 2013

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. In 2019, a solo exhibition was held by England & Co in London: ''Anne Bean: How Things Used to Now'' incorporated painting, sculpture, photography, film and live performance. The recent book, ''Anne Bean: Self Etc.'' published by Live Art Development Agency and Intellect Books () provides documentation of Bean's performances, drawings, videos, installations, and sculptures, as well as writings, interviews and visual essays by the artist, together with several commissioned critical essays. Bean works with England & Co, London and

Artsadmin Artsadmin is a UK-based organisation founded in 1979 by Judith Knight, MBE and Seonaid Stewart, providing project management, producing, support and resources for artists working in the fields of performance, dance, live art and mixed media wor ...

Awards

Anne Bean performed for

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming C ...

and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...

and has been awarded the ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

Dance and Performance Award'' twice. In 2008 Bean was awarded the Legacy: Thinker in Residence award by

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

Research and the

Live Art Development Agency Live Art Development Agency, also commonly known by its acronym LADA, is a publicly funded arts organisation and registered charity founded in London in 1999 by Lois Keidan and Catherine Ugwu. LADA provides professional advice for artists as we ...

with which she produced a DVD titled TAPS: Improvisations with Paul Burwell.

Gallery

File:Anne_Bean_Evaporations.jpg, ’’Evaporations’’ (2013) File:Anne_Bean_Wake.jpg, ’’Wake’’ (2011) File:Anne_Bean_Holding_Infinity.jpg, ’’Holding Infinity in the Palm of my Hand ’’ (2015) File:Anne_Bean_Paves.jpg, ’’Paves’’ (2010) File:Anne Bean - Duets With Strangers.jpg, ”Duets with Strangers” (2016) File:Anne Bean - MuseumMan.jpg, ”museumMAN” (2017) File:Anne Bean - Reap.jpg, ”REAP” (2005)

Related publications

* ''Anne Bean: Autobituary'' by

Guy Brett Guy Anthony Baliol Brett (1942–2021) was an English art critic, writer and curator. He was noted for a personal vision, particularly of cultural production of an experimental character. He is known for the promotion of Latin American artists, and ...

Sally O'Reilly Sally O'Reilly (born 1971) is a writer, critic, teacher and editor. She publishes and distributes text in conventional and expanded forms, from art magazines to performance lectures to opera. Her divergent subject matter contributes to an ongoing ...

, Miria Swain (London: Matt's Gallery, 2006). * ''Anne Bean: Life Etc'' ed. by Rob La Frenais (Bristol and London:

and Intellect, 2018).

References

External links

Anne Bean's website - www.annebean.net

Anne Bean - Reap"VIDEO INTERVIEW: Anne Bean", Huis a/d Werf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bean, Anne British women artists Living people 1950 births British performance artists British installation artists University of Cape Town alumni Alumni of the University of Reading Women performance artists