Beverly Semmes (born 1958) is an American artist based in New York City who works in sculpture, textile,[1] video, photography, performance, and large-scale installation.
[3] Semmes is known for her large-scale sculpture and installations, which often explore the relationship between craft and fine art while simultaneously dealing with issues related to feminism, gender roles and womanhood.
[4] She partially covers the models' bodies as they engaged in titillating positions and acts, turning them into boldly-colored, abstract shapes and leaving their extremities, faces, and limbs uncovered.
[4] Writing on the FRP series, critic Martha Schwendener stated, “What she leaves blank, amid these colorful, blobby abstractions, are grasping hands, supplicating eyes, or sharp stiletto heels we associate with pornographic images (and performances).”[7] The censoring of the images serves as an effort to protect the subject and the viewer from the imagery of porn, highlighting American society's conflicted relationship to pornography and sexual censorship.
[8] In October 10, 2021, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California, organized an exhibition titled Witch Hunt, featuring sixteen women artists from thirteen countries.