RESUME OF JAMES ANTHONY BEODDY

Born in Cleveland, Ohio - September 21, 1951

Died in Columbus, Ohio - May 13, 2015

 

Education

1969 - 1973, Attended Ohio State University, beginning during the fall quarter of 1969. He remains as an undergraduate for about 2 and a half years.

Participates in dormitory art shows at Morrill Tower and Hopkins Hall Gallery.

 

Grants

1982, Ohio Arts Council, materials grant to paint a mural at Northend Community Center, Columbus, Ohio.

 

Lectures

1980 - 1992 Worthington High School Political Thought Class, Worthington, Ohio; Beoddy has lectured twice yearly on a fairly regular basis concerning freedom of expression and art.

 

Exhibits

2015, James Beoddy Esprit Decor, The Vanderelli Room, Columbus, Ohio, May.

1992, Members show, ACME ART CO., Columbus, Ohio, May.

1992, Objects Gallery, Chicago, March - April.

1992, “Heroes and Victims”, group show, Katz and Dawgs Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, January - February.

1992, “Impact of AIDS”, group show, ACME ART CO., January.

1991, Bathroom installation, ACME ART CO., December.

1991, “New and Improved”, group show, ACME ART CO. October.

1991, “Outside and Beyond”, painting exhibit, Doo-Wac Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, October

1991, Ohio State Fair, group show, August.

1991, “Operation Desert Sandbox”, collaborative bathroom installation, ACME ART CO., July - August.

1991, Community Festival, group show, June.

1991, ”Nova Day”, bathroom installation, ACME ART CO, Columbus, Ohio, March.

1991, Becomes an advisory member of ACME ART CO. Board of Directors.

1990, December sale, ACME ART CO., Columbus, Ohio, December.

1990, The controversial “Toys in the Attic” show, “Buckethead’s Head” made into a sculptural display, Phantom and Suitcase Doll attend the opening, OSU Newark campus, November.

1990, “Art for Life” AIDS Benefit auction, Columbus, Ohio, October.

1990, “Creatures of Darkness and Light”, painting exhibit with sculptures by Aaron Schroeder, installation by Enid Quinn, ACME ART CO., Columbus, Ohio, August.

1990, ACME ART CO. auction, Columbus, Ohio, May.

1990, Group show, three paintings exhibited, Doo-Wac Gallery, January.

1990, Beoddy begins volunteer work for ACME ART CO. as gallery attendant and general assistant.

1989, Beoddy joins the Columbus Art League.

1989, “Art for Life” AIDS Benefit auction, Columbus, Ohio, August.

1989, “Daughters of Hell”, group show, “Beoddy’s Inferno” exhibited, ACME ART CO., December.

1989, Group exhibits, “Vortex” and “Millenium” exhibited at Cameron & Hyde, Columbus, Ohio, June - August.

1988, “Millenium” painting begun.

1987, “Network Realism” style taking shape in paintings.

1986, “Anarchist Art”, group show, Bleeker Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, September.

1984, “Out of the Hospital and Off the Streets”, painting exhibit, (with Charles Wince), OSU Student Union, Columbus, Ohio, July.

1984, Begins a new cycle of acrylic paintings which eventually lead to the “Network Realism” technique of the late 80’s.

1983, Participates with others in murals project and “Dedication to Elijah Pierce” show at Metropolitan Hall.

1983, Paints two stairwell triptychs, “Changes” and “The Atlas People”.

1982, One-person painting exhibit at Red Kat Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, fails to open due to the December 5th fire at the Northend Community Center. Beoddy’s paintings escape damage. The murals are rescued and partially framed by community volunteers and begin storage history at various locales, December.

1982, “Dedication to Elijah Pierce”, Metropolitan Hall, Columbus, Ohio, April.

1982, Retrospective exhibit and mural opening, major works shown, a new “Intermedia” character, “Goblinhood the Elevator Man” is created for the mural and begins enjoying a nebulous “street life” in the shadow of Buckethead, Northend Community Center, Columbus, Ohio, February.

1980, First “Buckethead/Suitcase Doll” cartoons published in “Subversive Scholastic”.

1980, Buckethead is sighted on Channel 4 television news.

1980, First mural, “Progress” painted at the Northend Community Center, privately funded, June.

1980 Article discussing Beoddy’s work appears in “Columbus Art”, October.

1979, Small oil painting exhibit, Black Cat Studio, Columbus, Ohio (office building at 16th and High St, now defunct), Spring.

1979, “Buckethead” character created, participates in “Wearable Art” seminar hosted by Alan Govenar at the main branch of the Columbus Public Library, Columbus, Ohio.

1979, Cover art, interior illustration, and illustrated poetry published in “Subversive Scholastic”.

1976, Concentrated on paintings, including “Arenas”; which was completed in early 1977.

1974, First important painting, “The Knife Is The Color Of Time”, is completed.

1973, Painting exhibit, World Theater, Columbus, Ohio, August.

1973, Creates the first of his notorious “Intermedia Characters” in Hebner’s “Expanded Arts” class. The character, “Captain Facehappy” was briefly captured on 8mm film and later evolved into a comic strip hero and a short story protagonist. When his costume was lost, the character was retired.

1973, Group exhibit, Lincoln-Leveque Tower, Columbus, Ohio, Summer.

1973, Draws the first covers and interior art for “The Columbus Free Press”.

1973, Collaborates with artist Bruce Soble in publishing a small book of drawings, “Mindscapes”.

1972, Drawing exhibit, group show, 2nd annual Invitational Drawing Exhibit from OSU at Krannert Gallery, Purdue University, Indiana, Spring.

1972, Group student exhibit, Hopkins Hall Gallery, OSU, Columbus, Ohio, Spring.

1970, Group show, Morrill Tower, OSU, Columbus, Ohio, Fall.

 

Murals

1990, Paints a window mural for temporary display to promote the ACME ART CO. fundraising sale. Participates in the sale.

1983, Paints small guest spot in a Smoky Brown mural.

1982, “Changes”, and “The Atlas People”, Metropolitan Hall, Columbus, Ohio, March - April.

1982, “Synchronauts”, Northend Community Center, Columbus, Ohio, January - February. (In storage after the fire.)

1980, “Progress”, Northend Community Center, Summer. (In storage after the fire.)

 

Performances

1992, “Rabbit Tobacco” and Other Poems (the Satanic AmeriFlora), Roy G. Biv Gallery, February.

1991, “Citizen Pain”, a Science Fiction Poetry Opera, ACME ART CO., March; Doo-Wac Gallery, May; Rio Grande University, May.

1991, Plans a funeral for Buckethead during a performance of “Citizen Pain” a “Poetry Opera”, ACME ART CO.,  scheduled for March.

1990, “Warhead” helmet first seen on the news during a peace rally.

1990, Goblinhood makes an Intermedia appearance at the 3rd annual Horror Marathon at the Drexel Theatre (“Night of the Living Drexel”), debut appearance of “Phantom” costume and “Warhead” helmet (later exhibited at the OSU Newark show). Suitcase Doll obtains a film star’s autograph.

1990, A new costume, “Phantom of the Space Opera” painted on a hazardous waste protection suit.

1990, Goblinhood, (sporting a new mask), makes a surprise appearance at the Smoky Brown opening, ACME ART CO., March

1989, New “Intermedia” character, “The Warlock Of Mars” unleashed, participates in “Doo-Dah parade (as seen on Channel 8 television in Columbus Ohio). Buckethead is still dead.

1984, Goblinhood auditions for a job as host of horror films at Channel 8 television., doesn't get the job.

1984, Buckethead’s bucket fatally injured in storage during a haphazard change of apartments, subsequently Goblinhood announces “Death of Buckethead” at Worthington High School.

1984, Buckethead and Suitcase Doll appear at the opening of an Exhibit of paintings by Beoddy and Charles Wince at the OSU Student Union on High Street, Buckethead performs the poem “Citizen Pain”, Columbus, Ohio.

1982, Buckethead and Suitcase Doll win third prize for costumes at “Creation” comic book convention in the Columbus Sheraton Hotel.

1982, Buckethead makes fairly regular appearances at “American Political Thought And Radicalism” speaker series hosted by Tom Molnar at Worthington High School. He paints small self-portrait / mural for students, sometimes performs his poetry.

1982, Buckethead and Suitcase Doll sighted at large on the streets of Greenwich Village. (Their only extra-local appearance.)

Other performances: Goblinhood and Chimera with the Comic Weevil Doll and Suitcase Doll. Sometimes Bucket Head too.

 

Publications

1989 - 1990, Beoddy’s Americana (newsletter).

1990, “Beoddy’s Americana” published in a very small edition to subscribers (18 issues, December 1989 to April 1990).

1989, Designs the masthead illustration for “The Journal of Bizarre Occurrences and Ridiculous Deaths #5” © 1989 by Harry Farkas.

1984, Contributes cartoons and illustrations for “Columbus Entertainment”.

1984, Occasionally draws cartoons for “The Columbus Free Press”.

1984, Contributes cover art, illustrations, cartoons and a film review to “Flashpoint”, a local fanzine.

1983, Illustrations in the book “Blacklisted News” Secret Histories From Chicato To 1984” (New Yippie Book Collective).

1982, Publishes cartoons and illustrations in “Columbus Free Press”, “Northend Recycler”, “Washington Post Mortem” and “Overthrow” (a national yippie magazine published in New York)

1982, Pond Publishing publishes “Citizen Pain and Other Illustrated Poetry” © 1982 by James Beoddy.

1981, “Nightmares For The Yesterday People”, (book).

1981, Cartoons published semi-regularly in “Columbus Free Press” and in Volker / Kubat Publication “Comic Relief”.

1981, Pond Publishing publishes “Nightmares for the Yesterday People and Other Illustrated Stories” © 1981 by James Beoddy.

1975, Small edition of “Beoddy’s Book Of The Damned”, an experimental “comic novel”, is distributed. It is a series of “intermedia characters” begun as “wearable art”, including “Private Hell” and “General Idea”, who both graduated from informal “street life” into major figures in paintings like “Beoddy’s Inferno” and “Basketcase”. He continued work on the glase/modeling paste technique in acrylic paintings.

1973 - 1986, Cartoons, illustrations, covers, poems, stories, published in Columbus Free Press, Overthrow, Comic Relief, and other publications and periodicals.

Beoddy was also quoted extensively in “Freedom of Expression in the Arts”, a handbook published by Arts Midwest, Minneapolis, MN.

“I begin to perceive there, in my  home in the alley, that my destiny was greatness, to be bought at a great price. And I was secure there in the grasp of my plans at the whim of ambition like a forge with its Vulcan, my home was “Arenas”, “Metropolis” was my lighthouse, and I fought in a bunker “The Battle Of the Galaxies”, pursued by my nemesis and companioned by the cats, I moved from one life to another.

From basement to basement I fought the campaign, always desperately searching for a permanent shore leave. I followed up some alley an elusive Greek siren-song. At the cave of the Red Eye I blinded the cyclops. I watched brazen Circe throw her pearls before swine, so that we could have pork chops for dinner.

And while we were dining on food of the gods, and children were proving that springtime is eternal, the gods were extending the duration of my pilgrimage and obscuring the route to my soul.

On a pilgrimage to hell to consult the blind seer, I met with the shades of my wartime companions who told me of the future and warned me of my burden and drank of the blood that I had brought there to offer. And soon I consulted with the shade of the oracle who prophesied the triptych and the blood on the walls.

Like a pilgrim of the future I would move toward my destiny on a star-fated pilgrimage to the end of the line. I would wrestle with angels and demons in a graveyard, in a duel with a triptych that would last three long years, this the oracle told me and told me as well that my journey would only begin with the triptych. I would move to the pages of local publications and capture a public; (What is art without a public?) and publicly proving my worth as an artist would result in my work on a series of murals and comics and books and even some poetry as a fashioned legend (What's an artist with no legend?) like a monument in my future I would build me a legend of greatness.

This the blind seer told me or maybe I dreamed it or saw it on the sidewalk in random tarot readings. Still searching for magic, I believed in my future for I sensed someone searching there for me, like a web spinning spider lurking there in my future, some synchronautic conjurer was weaving spells for me. To become what he would be (or I'd be, or whatever). I'll admit it sounds silly but all faith does by nature and believing in the future helped me work toward that future. With a single goal in mind in my never-ending battle ‘gainst the human condition, I strove for my cause. What cause? To correct life on behalf of the artist who created my life, to patch up a few holes. For my life was wretched and in truth always had been, a fact that had warped me and long poisoned my work. Seeing this I resolved as part of my work to paint life “as it should be” as well as “as it is”. I couldn't really change the events in my life, but I could build me a better life on canvas, a magic life on canvas that will last a thousand years or until the sun dies or the canvas all rots... at any rate, with luck it will outlast me.

And so I continued my noble undertaking, pausing only three years to accomplish a triptych and then tripping out on comics and creating a legend, a bucketheaded bozo with a suitcase for a sidekick and a zany cartoon mythos about my two favorite cats who ran away from home and founded a TV show. And my work did appear off and on, on the tube, as I voyaged to the outskirts of the whirlpool outlands, descending in my orbit down the long tube of destiny, only stopping to paint murals in convenient locations. Like my peers Buonarrotti and good old Rivera, I added my greatness to the walls of the public with my first public mural full of astronauts, first citizens, and nuclear madness, an attempt to synopsize the progress of our race.

And my mural which was paid for with public donations, helped me make my own progress in furthering my career. In the realm of the whirlpool I was launched, by my public, into further dreams of glory and schemes for further murals. But while I was waiting for those schemes to bear fruit, I began to write stories and to draw illustrations for a book I'd been planning, full of nightmares and yesterday, though I lived in newspapers, I still wanted more paper life.”

Resume of James Beoddy

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Photographs of Jim’s paintings are by Fred Scruton Photography.

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