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Michele Beck is a visual artist and filmmaker whose work moves between documentary, installation, and performance. Her projects explore the body as a site of language, memory, and psychological experience. Her films and installations have been presented internationally at venues including the ICA in London, Galerie Chez Valentin, the Bronx Museum, the Queens Museum, PS122, the Kassler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest and on Amazon Prime.

Her documentary My Erotic Body (2018) screened at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, the Berlin Porn Film Festival, and the NYC Independent Film Festival, and received the award for Best Short Documentary at the Chain Film Festival. Her most recent film, Learning to Speak (2025), has screened at Film Forum, the American Psychoanalytic Association National Meeting, Division 39 (APA, Psychoanalysis), the International Bion Conference, and other psychoanalytic institutes

Michele's work has been supported by grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, and by residencies at Yaddo. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from Parsons School of Design, a BA in Art History from New York University, and a Certificate in Psychoanalysis from the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis. She teaches video production at The New School and maintains a private practice as a psychoanalyst in New York City.

Film Screenings
Learning To Speak

2026
NYC Independent Film Festival
American Psychoanalytic Association, San Francisco
Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute
Toronto Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
APA Division 39 (Psychoanalysis)
Believe Psychology Film Festival, Hollywood, CA
National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis
Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis

2025
Meliora Film Festival, Quad Cinema, NYC
Association of Psychoanalytic Culture & Society, Rutgers University
COPA Health, Phoenix, AZ
13th Annual Bion Conference, New School, NYC

My Erotic Body
2018
Berlin Porn Filmfestival
Amazon Prime

2017
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

Anthology Film Archives

Jacksonville Documentary Film Festival

Chain Film Festival, winner Best Short Doc

NYC Independent Film Festival

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

HERE, NY,NY

Exhibitions / Performances
2019 
Moving Bodies- live performance with video. Abrons Art Center , NY, NY


2014 

Somebodies, solo show of drawings, Deb Koffman Artspace, Housatonic, MA

2013

Passage, solo exhibition with Jorge Calvo, ISE Cultural Foundation, NY, NY
I Am Sitting, performance, Dixon Place, NY, NY

2012
Water Garden, performance, Space on White, NY, NY
Time Passes, performance,  Space on White, NY, NY

2011
Imagination, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Cave, performance, Babayan Culture House, Cappadocia, Turkey

2010
Currents, Pulse Arts, Housatonic, MA
Pigeon House, Corporation of Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY

2009
Orange Echolon, Chashama Gallery, NY, NY
STATIC, performance, solo show at St. Mark’s Church, NY, NY
Blue Moon, Cave, Brooklyn, NY
When the Stage Sets Collapses Radiant Movement, Long Island City, NY

2008
Cyclops, Ferment Festival, The Cave, Brooklyn, NY
La Danza di Confine, Lerici, Italy
My Little Membrane, NurtureArt Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2007

Endoskeleton at Avant-Garde-Arama, PS 122, New York, New York
Il Giardino Segreto, Primo Piano LivinGallery. Lecce, Italy
between to and from Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ
Experimental Video, The Incubator, Kansas City, MO
Contaminate 2, Test, Boston, MA

2006
uneARTH, The Present Tense, Boston, MA
Genius & Madness, Primo Piano LivinGallery. Lecce, Italy

2005
Serial Cases_1 Acquaintance,Sofia, Bulgaria
Endoskeleton NurtureArt, In celebration of PERFORMA 05 Brooklyn, NY
Chong Dam, Seoul, Korea
Paper, Papel, Papier, NurtureArt, Brooklyn, NY

2004
Whirlwind White, ARC Gallery Media Room, Chicago, IL (solo exhibition)
Video X, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
Contemporneity, Kyrgyz Republic. Curated by Leeza Ahmady
Video Salon, Alternator Gallery of Contemporary Art, Kelowna, Canada

2003
Randall’s Tunnel, HEREart, NY (solo project sponsored by Dept of Cultural Affairs & NYFA)
Biennale de L ’Image en Mouvement, Centre pour L’image Contemporaine, Geneva
Single Channel, Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum at the University of TexasMuseum, Texas
SELF/PROJECTED, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
Immedia 2003, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

2002
Multiplex, Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris, France
Kinda Figurative, HEREart, NY, NY
Zwishenraum vol. II, Satellite Project Space, LIC, NY

2001
Performance: The Art of Daily Life”, Columbia Medical Center, New York, NY.
Zwishenraum, Satellite Project Space, LIC, NY
Shelters for Women, Sofia Municipal Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
BOX, Villa Julie College Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Reaching the Heights, Columbia Medical Center, NY, NY

​2000
Exchange: An Evening of Performance, 16 Beaver Group, NY, NY
Snapshot, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD
Bulgaria, NY, Elizabeth Foundation, NY, NY (funded by The Trust for Mutual Understanding)

1999

XMAS, Kent gallery, New York, NY

1998
Reading Between the Lines, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Room, Bazar Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Creació Jove Mercé ’98, La Capella de la Santa Creu, Barcelona, Spain

1997

Making Light, 57 Hope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Carving the Forces of Change, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL

1995
Copyright Island, Bilbao River, Portugalete, Spain
Sink, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Drawings in Progress, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

1994
Annual Exhibition, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Emerging Berkshire Artists, Image Gallery, Stockbridge, MA

Screenings

2013
Festivalleitung Forum : : Wallis, Zurich, Switzerland 2012
Jinen Butoh, Center of Poetry, Avignon, France

2010
SanctionedArray, White Box, NY, NY
Rencontres Internationales in Paris
ArcheTime, New York, NY

2008
Eject 2: Mexico City International Videoperformance Festival
Festival By Chance 7002 Pecs, Hungary
Bac! Festival 2008, Barcelona, Spain
SIMULTAN04, Timisoara, Romania
Intimate and Public in Self-Portraits. Seoul, Korea

2007
Oral Action, Studio 27, San Francisco, CA
Latin@ Media Festival, Toronto, Canada

2006
Inport Video- Performance Festival, Tallinn, Estonia
Festival de Arte de Accion Zonadearte, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Saison Video, Roubaix, France
PI Performance and Intermedia, Poland & Germany
Terminal Frontier Vancouver, Canada
Digital Showcase, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England

2005
Beyond Stills, Gallery Korea, NY, NY
The Videodrome, Marseilles, France
Fake Snow, Magic Lantern Theatre, Providence, RI

2004
Angle International Film & Video Festival, Xiamen, China
Inport Video- Performance Festival, Tallinn, Estonia
Festival Images Contre Nature, Cedex, France
Fine Arts Theatre, Asheville, NC
Hidden Camera, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, England
CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
Drift, aRaMoNa Gallery, NY, NY.
Whiz Bang, New York, NY. Curated by Meg Shiffler
LABoratory Exhibition of Experimental Film & Video, Salt Lake City, Utah

2003
DUMBO Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY
backup2003_festival.new media in film, Weimar, Germany
New Filmmakers, Anthology Film Archives, New York, New York
Experimental Video selected by the Video Data Bank, Sofia, Bulgaria
Rencontre Internationales Paris/Berlin
New Forms Festival, Montreal, Canada
Antimatter Festival, Victoria, BC, Canada
Bridge Magazine, Artists DVD Project
Detroit International Film Festival, Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI- “Best of Show”
Vertical Video, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Spark Video, Beacon, NY
Love and Other Difficulties, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA, Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Firestation #3, Houston, TX, Cinema Obscura, Santa Barbara, CA
Visual Affect, Remote Lounge, NY, NY. Curated by Susan Joyce
Art in General Video Marathon, Art in General, NY, NY

2002
Digital Showcase, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England
Z Film Festival, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Media[less]Medium, Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA
Spark Video International, Spark Contemporary Art Space, Syracuse, NY
Mash Bash Video, Bcat-TV, Brooklyn, NY
LA Freewaves Los Angeles, CA
MediaArt Friesland, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Video-Zone, International Video Art Biennial TA Cinematheque, Tel Aviv, Israel
Photophobia, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Canada
Tagawa International Short Film Festival, Japan
Video 825, Gallery 825/LAAA, Los Angeles, CA
Independent Exposure June 2002, Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Experimental Show, Hotel Astor, South Beach, Fla.
Screeners Club, Level X, Brooklyn, NY
Nomad Video Film Festival, Fine Arts Cinema, Berkley, CA
Music Video, Coolidge Center Theatre, Brookline, MA
HiLow Film Festival, Victoria Theater, San Francisco, CA
The Best of Z Fest. 21 Grand, Oakland, Califonia
Tratado de Libre Video, Centro Multimedia, Mexico City, Mexico
Art in General Video Marathon, Art in General, NY, NY

2001
Festival des Cinémas Différents, Paris, France
Z Film Festival, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL.
backup2001_festival.new media in film, Weimar, Germany
Kassler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest, Kassel, Germany
Leeds International Film Festival, Millennium Square, Leeds, UK
EATOMSK, Toynbee Studios, London, UK
Video Catalyst, Bronx Museum of Art, NY, NY
Fully Human, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
Open Zone 6, Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
The 2:30 Show, Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, MD
Expanded Media: (VIDEACY), Side Street Live, Los Angeles, CA
Vancouver Underground Film Festival, BC Canada
Axelgrease, Squeaky Wheel Cable Access, Buffalo, NY
Wigged.net

1998

Festival Internacional de Video de Canarias, Palma de Gran Canarias, Spain
BTV (Barcelona Televisión), Barcelona, Spain
Escape, Sala Amárica, Vitoria, Spain
Catacomb Micromedia, Winnepeg Manitoba, Canada
Soros Center for Contemporary Art, Republic of Macedonia
Kicking the Machine, Project 304, Bangkok, Thailand

1997
Artists Television Access, San Francisco, CA
Independent Exposure, Seattle, WA
The Sync, http://www.thesync.com/indexposure/arch1.html
Talking Crazy Talk, Knitting Factory Video Lounge, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art/ Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection

Grants / Residencies

2025
Ragdale Artist Residency, Illinois
Alchemy Artist Residency, Canada

2013
Manhattan Community Arts Fund, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Chunches del Mar, Costa Rica

2011
Babayan Culture House, residency, Cappadocia, Turkey

2010

NYSCA Residency Grant in Film and Electronic Media
Residency at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY

2008
Crosspoint, conference and artistic collaboration at Art Center Vihroni, Sofia, Bulgaria

2005
Residency at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York

2004
Residency at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York – January, July – August

2003

Special Opportunity Stipend Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

2002
Special Opportunity Stipend Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts

1998
Residency at ARTELEKU, San Sebastian, Spain

Education

2026  LP, Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis
1996  MFA, Sculpture, Parsons School of Design

1989  BA, Art History, New York University

Visiting Artist Lectures

2015  Institute for Advanced Studios, Princeton, NJ
2012  The Honors College at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD

2011  Art as Mental Health, MOMA Education Department

2010  The Honors College at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD

2009  The Erikson Institute at the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA

2007  School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Artist Talk
1998  
“The Work of Valie Export”, Fundació La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain.
1998  Winchester School of Art, Barcelona, Spain, Artist Talk
1998   Women’s creative process”, Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

Bibliography

The Pole-arizing Taboo of Female Sexuality, October 2015 by Velleda Ceccoli PhD

http://psychologytomorrowmagazine.com/the-pole-arizing-taboo-of-female-sexuality/

Interview in Psychology Tomorrow 
http://www.psychologytomorrowmagazine.com/artist-gallery-michele-beck/

“Arte Moderna Tra Genio e Follia a Lecce”, Vito Caiati, Bari Sera, Oct 18. 2006
Voice Choices, The Village Voice, Kim Levin, Oct 29- Nov 4, 2003.
“Love and Other Difficulties”, Eric Campos, Film Threat, Feb 13, 2003.
Biannual film festival leave Berkley with a mouth full of spittle”, The Berkley Daily Planet, June 2002
“Video Voyage”, The Boston Globe, March 28, 2002.
“Res Reports: Videacy and adHocArts.org” Res Magazine, July 19, 2001.
“The Real Thing: Michele Beck & Adelina Popnedeleva”, Fair Play, April 2000.
“Bulgaria, NY”, Novoye Russkoye Slovo, November 10, 2000.
“Art on the Margins”, Review: The Critical State of Visual Art in NY, June 1997.
“Something Big: Sculptor Michele Beck talks about her work” The Women’s Times, Jan/Feb 1994

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