Virginia Overton (born 1971) is an American artist. She is known for her site-specific and sculpture works that often incorporate found or

readymade A found object (a calque from the French ''objet trouvé''), or found art, is art created from undisguised, but often modified, items or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have ...

objects. In 2018 she was the first female artist to have a solo exhibition at the

Socrates Sculpture Park Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum and public park where artists can create and exhibit sculptures and multi-media installations. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in ...

Long Island City, Queens Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

, New York.

Early life and education

Overton was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1971. Overton has said that, although her mother was a painter, it was her father who started her interest in sculpting. Although she tried other jobs, Overton acknowledged that she wanted to become an artist because she felt it was important to find a career that contributed to society. After leaving Tennessee, Overton worked in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in various teaching jobs. She eventually earned her

Masters of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admin ...

and

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

before moving to New York. While in New York, Overton collaborated with various artists in a shared studio. Virginia Overton is represented by Bortolami and

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

Exhibitions

In 2014 Overton had her first solo museum exhibit in the United States, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. In 2015, Overton collaborated with her former professor Greely Myatt from the University of Memphis on an exhibit titled "Street Trash". In 2016, Overton and other artists participated in the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

Artists Awards Program. She created an original work to be given to the winning filmmakers as decided by the Tribeca Film Festival jury. In 2018, Overton became the first female artist to have a solo exhibition at the

with her site-specific sculpture exhibit "Built". Her exhibit "Built" used construction materials such as steel and wood to rethink raw material and "explore issues of labor, economics, and the land in contemporary society."

Collections

Overton's work is included in the collections of the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, which holds eleven of her pieces, and in the

Museum of Modern Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overton, Virginia 1971 births Living people 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Sculptors from Tennessee University of Memphis alumni Artists from Nashville, Tennessee