ABOUT
bio
Born 1982, Durham, UK
Lives and works in Philadelphia, USA
Bea Huff Hunter is a British American contemporary art writer and critic. For many years, her criticism, interviews, and essays appeared in publications such as Artforum, Frieze, Art in America, and Art Papers, where she served as a contributing editor. Her writing has also been exhibited in gallery and museum contexts, including at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Sol Mednick Gallery of Photography, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and the Durham International Festival of Art, UK.
Hunter holds a BA (Hons) in fine art painting from Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL), and an MA (Distinction) in art history from the University of York, where her AHRC-funded research centered on Agnes Martin and was supervised by Prof. Jo Applin. She participated in the Art Writers Workshop, organized by the Warhol Foundation, Creative Capital, and the Association of International Critics America, and the Art Critic Mentorship Program at CUE Art Foundation, New York, mentored by Nancy Princenthal. She was nominated for the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation Prize in Art Journalism.
Alongside her writing, Hunter was an active contributor to Philadelphia’s contemporary art community. She served on the Board of Directors of storied artist collective gallery Vox Populi, as Board secretary and grant writer, and was a curatorial trainee there under Andrew Suggs. As the first digital editor at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania, she founded the online platform NOTES and organized digital exhibitions and programs including work by Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Tamarin Norwood, and Florian Kräutli. Supported by the Sachs Arts Innovation Fund, she co-organized “Rewritings: Contemporary Art and Writing Practices” with Gina DeCagna at the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and ICA, and “Writing Art and Life” at ICA, Kelly Writers House, and Ulises Books. Hunter was a visiting speaker in the MFA programs at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of the Arts, and Tyler School of Art, and at the Delaware Contemporary museum.
note
Since 2021, Hunter has been living with complex chronic illness — which has significantly constrained the pace and scope of her creative work, including her capacity for writing at the professional level her previous career required. After many years working as an art critic and writer, she has more recently been developing a new practice in handwoven textiles, working slowly and within considerable physical and cognitive limits as advised by her medical team. This site currently serves as an archive of that critical writing; it will be updated to reflect the new work as it takes shape.
CV
education
2014–21 — Postgraduate Seminars in Fine Art, History of Art, and Ancient Languages & Cultures, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2009–10 — MA (Distinction) in History of Art, University of York, UK
2006 — Seminars in Drawing, The Royal Drawing School, London, UK
2002–05 — BA (Hons) in Fine Art Painting, Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, UK
2004 — Exchange Program, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, USA
2001–02 — Diploma in Fine Art Studies, Newcastle College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Selected Exhibitions (Experimental Critical Writing)
2019 — “A gathering, a sensuous meeting of thinking bodies,” in Intimate Immensity (group), curated by Alexis Granwell, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2019 — “The Everybody Ekphrastic Audio Tour” (with Levi Bentley and Matt Kalasky), in Just in Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice (group), Vox Populi, Philadelphia, USA
2017 — “Cat Eye Universe,” in Call and Response: An exploration in photography and writing (group), curated by Juliana Foster, Sol Mednick Gallery of Photography, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2017 — Letter to the artist, in Object Temporarily Removed (Lenka Clayton solo exhibition), Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, USA
2013 — “Practicing Mindfulness,” Show and Share (performance series), The Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, USA
2008 — “Dancing the Robot,” in Robots (James Johnson Perkins solo exhibition), Durham International Festival of Art, Durham, UK
Awards, Residencies & Grants
2019 — Independent Creative Production Grant, The Sachs Arts Innovation Fund, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2017 — Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation Prize in Art Journalism (nominee), Portland, USA
2016 — Art Critic Mentorship Program (mentored by Nancy Princenthal), CUE Art Foundation, New York, USA
2015 — Community-Supported Art Writing in Philadelphia (fully-funded independent Kickstarter), Philadelphia, USA
2015 — Professional Development Fund, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2015 — Discretionary Grant (for ICA’s digital editorial platform), Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, Philadelphia, USA
2015 — metaLAB Summer Institute, Getty Foundation and Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
2014 — Art Writers Workshop, Warhol Foundation, Creative Capital, and Association of International Critics America, New York, USA
2012 — Concept Plus Object (with Marika Rose, organized by Tim Porlock), Philadelphia, USA
2011 — Conference Presentation Travel Grant, Association of Art Historians, London, UK
2009 — Research Preparation Studentship, Arts and Humanities Research Council, London, UK
2009 — MA Dissertation Research Travel Grant, University of York, UK
Publications (Art Writing)
- Reviews, interviews, and features
Published in: Artforum, Art in America (online), Art Papers, CAA Art Journal Open, Frieze, MAP, Sculpture, Sotheby’s Magazine, The Art Blog, Two Coats of Paint. [Publications Archive →]
- Book Chapters, Exhibition Catalogues, and Texts
“Deus ex machina,” in Jesse Krimes: Deus Ex Machina, ed. Julie Courtney (Philadelphia: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University Press), forthcoming.
“This Thing Has Been There: Memory, Forgetting and ‘Punctum,’” in Memento Mori: Mariel Capanna, Norman Dixon, Ava Hassinger, Garrol Gayden, Cindy Gosselin, ed. Samantha Mitchell (Philadelphia: The Place Press), 2021.
“A gathering, a sensuous meeting of thinking bodies,” exhibition essay for Intimate Immensity, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 2019.
“Pareidolia,” in Sean Thornton: Pareidolia, ed. Corina Larkin (New York: CUE Art Foundation), 2017.
“Mimesis,” in Mimesis, artist book exhibited at Westminster Arts Reference Library (London: Amelia Critchlow & Evy Jokhova), 2015.
“Philadelphia Social Art,” in Artists Reclaim the Commons: New Works/New Territories/New Publics, ed. Twylene Moyer (Washington: International Sculpture Center/University of Washington Press), 2013.
“A Fine Line” and “Street Sights,” exhibition texts for ICA@50: Pleasing Artists and Publics Since 1963 (Philadelphia: Institute of Contemporary Art), 2014.
“Distributed Practice” and “When Context Takes the Game,” in This ‘Me’ of Mine: Self, Time, and Context in the Digital Age (London: Jane Boyer Projects, Arts Council England funded), 2014.
“In and for themselves,” in Juliana Foster (Philadelphia: Wind Challenge Award/Fleisher Art Memorial), 2013.
“Meditation on Medium,” in James Bacchi-Andreoli: 365 Days (London: Simulator Gallery), 2011.
“Here Not There,” in Here Not There, ed. Adam Clarke (Middlesbrough: Here Not There Gallery, ACE-funded), 2010.
Selected Curatorial, Editorial & Public Projects
2018–19 — Rewritings: Contemporary Art and Writing Practices (with Gina DeCagna), public programs, Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and ICA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2015–17 — Writing Art and Life, public programs, Kelly Writers House, ICA, and Ulises Books, Philadelphia, USA
2015 — Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Af·fixin g Ceremony: Four Movements for Essex, online exhibition, ICA, Philadelphia, USA
2015 — “The Problem with Work,” online and print, Temple Contemporary, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
2015 — NOTES, founding editor of digital editorial platform, ICA, Philadelphia, USA. Archive: icaphila.org/notes
2014 — Florian Kräutli, Backstory: 13 years of HIV/AIDS on Wikipedia, online exhibition, ICA, Philadelphia, USA
2014 — Tamarin Norwood, A Fine Line, part of ICA@50: Pleasing Artists and Publics Since 1963, ICA, Philadelphia, USA
2014 — Street Sights/@ICAPhiladelphia, part of ICA@50: Pleasing Artists and Publics Since 1963, ICA, Philadelphia, USA
2014 — Reading Room, exhibition, Little Berlin, Philadelphia, USA
2012 — Duett: Matt Giel and Alanna Lawley, exhibition, Grizzly Grizzly, Philadelphia, USA
2012 — Art Writing, performance series, AUX Performance Space, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, USA
Professional Contributions
2005–22 — Art Writer and Editor (freelance), London, UK, and Philadelphia, USA
2021–22 — Associate Director, Leadership Communications, Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, USA
2017–21 — Board of Directors, Board Secretary and Grant Writer (volunteer leadership), Vox Populi, Philadelphia, USA
2012–20 — Contributing Editor, Art Papers, Atlanta, USA
2016 — Visiting Speaker, MFA Program, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2013–15 — Digital Editor, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2014 — Session Leader, “Histories of Art Writing Online,” College Art Association THATCamp, Chicago, USA
2012 — Visiting Speaker, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, USA
2011–12 — Research Assistant (internship), ICA, Philadelphia, USA
2011–12 — Curatorial Trainee (mentored by Andrew Suggs), Vox Populi, Philadelphia, USA
2011–12 — Visiting Speaker, MFA Program, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2010–12 — Member, Core Gallery, London, UK
2006–07 — Archivist (volunteer), Middle East Section, The British Museum, London, UK
2005–06 — Gallery Assistant, Jerwood Artists Platform, London, UK