Artworks by Bonnie Lee

Welcome to my art portfolio. My name is Bonnie Lee Mac Donald and this is a compendium of my artwork over the course of roughly 50 years. I have been hesitant to show my work publicly. This website is my way of dealing with that reluctance or fear. Many of these pieces have never been seen by friends and family. They are my secrets in the closet.

 

I was a professor at a college and I frequently posed the following question to my students, “Are my paintings in my closet art with a capital A?” A discussion follows and I eventually get around to stating that art with a capital A (by my definition) must enter the public sphere via an institution of art such as, a museum, a gallery, publications, or an art school. Arthur Danto posed this definition of institutional art and the Artworld in 1964. Years later, he wrote about “art after the end of art."

 

So, we might call this collection a body of work, my oeuvre. Perhaps it is a “pre-humus” exhibition of my work. After all, there is no way to know how long I shall live. I cannot claim to be positioned in the Artworld and I am not sure how the Internet has affected the institutional Artworld. But it feels like a safe space for me right now. If you want to share your thoughts or have any questions as you peruse these images, please send me an email. I am interested.

                                                           Bonnie Lee