The Bunker Artspace

THE BUNKER Artspace

Opened in 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida, The Bunker Artspace presents rotating exhibitions from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, showcasing contemporary art and other curiosities. Housed in a historic Art Deco building originally constructed as a toy factory in the 1920s, The Bun-ker provides a unique setting to share DeWoody’s expansive collection through scheduled private tours.

Driven by DeWoody’s passion for championing emerging and historically overlooked artists, the collection reflects her vision and commitment to supporting artists and galleries. Each season, DeWoody and co-curators Laura Dvorkin and Maynard Monrow take a non-hierarchical approach to curating, bringing together works by established and emerging artists, moving beyond “the greatest hits” to offer unexpected connections and fresh perspectives on contemporary art.

This season, 80+ Women Over 80, guest curated by artist Martha Edelheit and gallerist Eric Firestone, with Jennifer Samet, brings together works by 80 women artists born in or before 1946, drawn entirely from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. Spanning generations, media, and artistic move-ments, the exhibition celebrates the continued influence and contributions of women artists from the mid-20th century to the present.

DeWoody says, “I’ve always admired Eric Firestone’s commitment to championing overlooked art-ists, especially women artists, and I’ve long loved Martha Edelheit’s work and unique perspective. Having them both bring their vision to the collection has been incredibly rewarding. This exhibition is a reminder that creativity knows no age.”

The selection reflects Edelheit’s eclectic interests and expansive artistic vision, bringing together established figures and historically overlooked artists whose work explores political and feminist themes, abstraction, surrealism, and the human figure. Artists include Mary Heilmann, Yvonne Wells, Judith Linhares, Carolee Schneemann, Gladys Nilsson, Barbara T. Smith, Malcah Zeldis, Joan Brown, Hannah Wilke, Joan Snyder, Agnes Martin, Sheila Hicks, Barbara Kruger, Joan Witek, Yoko Ono, and Carol Rama.

As Edelheit reflects, “Curating this exhibition with gallerist Eric Firestone, who is the same age as my son, has been an exhilarating, wonderful experience. The collection has a broad range, from geo-metric abstraction through gestural figurative work. It includes well-known artists, and ones never talked about—all doing intensely personal, illuminating work! ... The wonderful thing about being an artist is you never retire.”

Eric Firestone notes, “There was a lot of radical experimentation happening, which comes across in the show. There is a fantastic collision of the known and unknown, which is emblematic of Beth Rudin DeWoody’s collection.”

Other exhibitions at The Bunker Artspace explore a range of approaches to medium and color. Two exhibitions take an in-depth look at the use of wood and glass in both sculpture and two-dimension-al work, tracing how artists have experimented with these elements over several decades. Another exhibition examines the many artistic interpretations of the American flag, bringing together works from the 1960s to the present to consider how artists have used this enduring symbol, at times criti-cally, to address politics, culture, and American life.

Beth Rudin DeWoody, art collector and curator, resides between Los Angeles, New York City, and West Palm Beach. DeWoody is the Chair of the Rudin Family Foundations and recently retired from her role as Executive Vice President of Rudin Management. She serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hammer Museum, Desert X, the New Wave Artist Residency, Empowers Africa, and Save a Child India. She is also on the Parsons Board of Governors for The New School and the Photography Steering Committee at the Norton Museum of Art.

The Beth Rudin DeWoody collection does not accept unsolicited artwork. Thank you for understanding.