Elizabeth Stephens

Elizabeth M. Stephens
Born (1960-11-18) November 18, 1960
Montgomery, West Virginia
Other names Beth
Education B.F.A., Tufts University (1986)
M.F.A., Rutgers University (1992)
Occupation Atist, sculptor, film maker, photographer, art professor, performer, professor, former Chair of the Art Department at UC Santa Cruz
Employer UC Santa Cruz
Notable work SexEcology, Love Art Laboratory
Title Professor
Spouse(s) Annie Sprinkle (2007 - present)

Elizabeth M. "Beth" Stephens (born November 18, 1960) is an American artist, sculptor, film maker, photographer, professor and former Chair of the Art Department at UC Santa Cruz. Stephens, who describes herself as "ecosexual", collaborates with her partner since 2002, ecosexual artist, radical sex educator, and performer Annie Sprinkle.[1]

Life and career

Stephens was born in Montgomery, West Virginia on November 18, 1960. Her family co-owned Marathon Coal-bit company. She grew up in Appalachia, moving to Boston, New Jersey, and later to San Francisco.[2]

Stephens studied Fine Arts at Tufts University, The Museum School, and Rutgers University. She worked with Martha Rosler and Geoffrey Hendricks[3] in her graduate education. She has been a professor at UCSC since 1993, and chaired the department from 2006 until 2009.[4]

In December 2004, Stephens committed to doing seven years of art projects about love with her wife and art collaborator, Annie Sprinkle. They call this their Love Art Laboratory. Part of their project was to do an experimental art wedding each year, and each year had a different theme and color. The seven-year structure was adapted to their project by invitation of artist Linda M. Montano.[5] Sprinkle and Stephens have done seventeen art weddings, fourteen with ecosexual themes. Critics relate the project to contemporary political debates including marriage equality,[6] ecofeminism, and the environmental movement.[2][7][8] Critics also note that Stephens' work explores and challenges the validity of the boundary between what is "art," and what is "pornography."[9]

Recently, Stephens has produced and directed Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story, a film addressing Mountaintop removal mining near her birthplace and its effects on the environment and nearby communities.[10]

Her work has been shown internationally, including at Museum Kunstpalast (Düsseldorf), El Ojo Atomico Antimuseo de Arte Contemporáneo [11] (Spain), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Bibliography

Director

Articles

Film/Video

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Toronto Life: Double Exposure
  2. 1 2 McSpadden, Russ (June 27, 2013). "An Interview with Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle". Earth First! Journal. Retrieved November 4, 2013. Following her artistic dreams, she left the trappings of racism and heterosexism in Appalachia to New York and San Francisco where she married the Earth, the Sea and Annie more than fifteen times.
  3. ↑ "Brooklyn Museum". Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  4. ↑ Bacalzo, Dan (April 30, 2007). "Exposed". Theater Mania. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ Benn, D. (2006). "Annie Sprinkle on the Adult Star Path of Fame: 43 Stars Laid in New Jersey". Porno News Network.
  6. ↑ Buckner, Clark. "I Do". San Francisco Bay Guardian 39 (17). Retrieved November 4, 2013. the artists make their personal lives public and, in so doing, challenge the policies of the state. Stephens and Sprinkle refuse to be denied their right to marry and lay claim to it on grounds that exceed the authority of the government. They present marriage as a cultural institution shaped by interpersonal dynamics and demonstrate the power of groups to construct communal bonds and systems of meaning on their own terms. In the process, they thematize the art already at work in social institutions – and in marriage and gender roles in particular.
  7. ↑ Khimasia, Anna (September 15, 2011). "Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens". Canadian Art. Each Sprinkle-and-Stephens wedding stresses not only sexuality and the environment, but also collaboration, participation and community. With more than 60 local, national and international performers and artists, and a technical and production team of 30, the Ottawa nuptials were also a tribute to performance in its broadest sense. The 300-plus guests were invited to participate by marrying the snow; wedding rings were provided in the afternoon’s program, and guests were encouraged to make individual vows to the environment.
  8. ↑ Dickinson, Peter (2010). World stages, local audiences: Essays on performance, place and politics. Manchester University Press. pp. 116–124.
  9. ↑ Dennis, Kelly (2009). Art/Porn, A History of Seeing and Touching. Berg Press, New York, NY. pp. 71, 172.
  10. ↑ Archer, Greg (August 15, 2013). "Goodbye Gauley Mountain: One Of The Most Seductive Environmental Documentaries Of The Year". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 4, 2013. In between, the audience is offered a heartfelt look at the people, the towns, the companies responsible for the drama and more. Although Stephens narrates the story, the duo produced, directed, and star in the film together. But it's Stephens who gives the film much of its heart. Part autobiography, part coal mining history, and part performance art soiree, the sobering mix of honesty and playfulness is downright infectious.
  11. ↑ Ruiz-Rivas, Tomás (February 18, 2006). "Love Party 2". Retrieved November 4, 2013.

External links

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