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Beth Letain

Beth Letain is a painter whose palette engages with the history of color and abstraction. She developed a minimalist language in the legacy of Agnes Martin, Mary Heilmann and the Bauhaus theories of color. Her vivid compositions feature dissonant yet harmonious lines and geometric structures that explore themes of logic, system and shape.

Beth Letain (b. 1976, Canada) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions were held at Peres Projects, Berlin (2024); Peres Projects, Milan (2023); Leeahn Gallery, Seoul (2022); L21, Palma de Mallorca (2021); De Brock, Knokke (2020); Peres Projects, Berlin (2019) and Pace Gallery, London (2018).

Beth Letain, Every Other, 2017, oil on canvas, 230 x 190 cm

I’m fascinated by what you can achieve with extremely limited resources.

Beth Letain

Biography

Education

  • 2008

    Master of Fine Art in Painting, SUNY Purchase, New York, NY, USA

  • 2005

    Bachelor of Fine Art, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada

  • 1999

    Bachelor of Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Awards and Residencies

  • 2013

    Triangle Arts Association Residency, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2010

    Visual Arts Project Grant - Canada Council for the Arts

  • 2009

    Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship supported by the Dedalus Foundation

  • 2008

    SUNY Purchase College, Graduate Scholarships

  • 2007

    Dedalus Foundation Fellowship nominee

  • 2006

    SUNY Purchase College, Entrance Scholarship

  • 2005

    Regional winner, BMO 1st Art! Invitational National Student Art Award, Canada

  • 2003 / 2004

    Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Travel Bursary

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2024

    Dumbbell, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

  • 2023

    Bring the Ground to You, Peres Projects, Milan, Italy

  • 2022

    Trees for the Forest, Leeahn Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

    Art Antwerp, with De Brock, Antwerp, Belgium

  • 2021

    Mountain Climbers, L21, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

  • 2020

    Warm Grey, De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2019

    Ultrapath, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

  • 2018

    Signal Hill, Pace Gallery, London, UK

  • 2017

    The Company She Keeps, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

    Air Horn, Open Forum, Berlin, Germany

    Heavyweight, l’Escalier, Montreal, Canada

  • 2010

    Beth Letain, Fireproof Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2005

    Nothing’s Notation, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Canada

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2023

    Jingle Bells VII, De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2022

    Jingle Bells VI, De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2021

    x_minimal, curated by Friederike Nymphius, Cassina Projects, Milan, Italy

    Group Show, De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

    Nothing in particular, Friedrichs Foundation, Weidingen, Germany

  • 2020

    Kindred Spirits, BJORN & GUNDORPH GALLERY, Aarhus C, Denmark

  • 2019

    What’s Up / London, curated by Lawrence van Hagen, London, UK

    Abstract Cabinet, Eduardo Secci Gallery, Florence, Italy

    Road to the Unconscious, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

  • 2018

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Wädenswil, Switzerland

    An Action without Image, curated by Christian Malycha, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany

    Letain Thurman Wadden, McNamara Art Projects, Hong Kong

    Trust Your Brush, Towards, Toronto, CA, USA

  • 2017

    The Second Self, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

  • 2014

    Do It Yourself, curated by Ian White Williams, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    OFFLINE, Radiator Gallery, Long Island City, NY, USA

    Visceral Integrity, et al Projects, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2011

    The Interconnected World, Hampden Gallery at UMass Amherst, MA, USA

    Here, There and Everywhere, in conjunction with 2011 Transcultural Exchange Conference, Boston, MA, USA

    Dexter to Sinister, The Dirty Dirty, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2010

    Group Show, Happy Birthday Homestead!, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2009

    Get My Flash On, Homestead, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2008

    The Mumbler, MFA Thesis Exhibition, The Richard and Dolly Mass Gallery, Purchase, NY, USA

    Purchase College MFA Thesis Exhibit, curated by Thom Collins, White Box Gallery, NY, USA

    Annex, New York, NY, USA

  • 2007

    Valhalla, The Richard and Dolly Mass Gallery, Purchase, NY, USA

    Place Setting, curated by Thom Collins, Supreme Trading, Brooklyn, NY, USA

  • 2005

    BMO 1st Art! Exhibition, First Canadian Place Gallery, Toronto, Canada

    Group Show, And Gallery, Halifax, Canada

  • 2004

    Work is work, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Canada

    Figure Painting, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Canada

  • 2002

    Printed Matter, Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, Canada

    Anna’s Bash, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Canada

Selected images

Exhibitions