My name is Bethany Procopio and I am an American-born Basel-based painter.

Currently, I am making paintings with oil on plexiglass. By painting on both sides of this particularly substantial and transparent surface, my paintings show a dissection of the painting process, revealing or obscuring the colors and location of layers of paint. I am interested in what is seen and unseen in paintings, the theoretical construction and meaning of paintings, and the interaction of viewer and painting. As the viewer explores both sides of the image, turns the image upside down, and notices how the image appears when it lies on top of different colored surfaces, the viewer readjusts what he/she recognizes as important. These images can be adapted to any circumstances or preference of the viewer, while still maintaining my theoretical interest and my personal expression with color and form.

My interest in making paintings is intellectually and historically driven, which is a result of both my BFA in painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and importantly my Masters studies in the history of art theory and archaeology at University College London. I make no attempts to spread moral values or subversive comments. My art is about the nature of itself materially and historically, while naturally displaying my own structural biases in form, color, and concept. My interest concerns why painting existed in the past, why and how we continue to make art in this technique, and what is significant in a painting to the viewer and artist.