Born in Chicago in 1951 and raised mostly on the East coast, Speed dropped out of art school early. After a period of travel and intermittent employment (house-painter, horse-trainer, waitress, stock boy, farm worker, etc) she landed in Austin in 1978. Since then she has devoted herself full time to working in her studio and teaching herself to paint. In her words, “I keep hours just like a real job, only longer, and in my spare time I read books, drink tequila, garden, and drive around West Texas.” In 2006 she decided that just driving around West Texas wasn’t enough so she moved from Austin to Marfa where she has a studio downtown.
Julie Speed: Paintings, Constructions and Works on Paper was published by the University of Texas Press In 2004. The book features essays by art historians Elizabeth Ferrer and Edmund P. Pillsbury.SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 Not From Here, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, N.Y.
2009 Julie Speed, New Work/New Book Galleri Urbane, Dallas, Texas
2009 Julie Speed, Recent Collages, Boxes, Gouaches and Floaters, Galleri Urbane, Marfa, Texas
2008 Julie Speed, George Billis Gallery, NY, N.Y.
2008 Julie Speed, George Billis Gallery L.A. Ca.
2007 Talking Room, Galleri Urbane, Marfa, Texas
2007 Bible Studies, Westby Gallery, Rowan University, New Jersey
2006 Heads, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2006 Bible Studies, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2006 Bible Studies, Galleri Urbane, Marfa, Texas
2006 Bible Studies, Gerald Peters Gallery, N.Y. N.Y.
2005 Bible Studies, Flatbed Press, Austin, Texas
2005 Julie Speed, Gerald Peters Gallery, N.Y. N.Y.
2004 Julie Speed, Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, San Antonio, Texas
2004 Julie Speed, Squares, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2003 Julie Speed, Alters of My Ancestors, Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas
2003 Julie Speed, Alters of My Ancestors, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas
2003 Julie Speed, New Work, The Murder of Kasimir Malevich, etc. Etherington Fine Art, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts
2002 Julie Speed, Alters of My Ancestors and Other Recent Work, Pillsbury and Peters Fine Art, Dallas, Texas
2002 Julie Speed, Alters of My Ancestors, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2002 Julie Speed, Alters of My Ancestors, The Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas
2000 Julie Speed, New Work, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas
2000 Queen of My Room:A Survey of Work by Julie Speed 1989-1999, Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, Texas
2000 Queen of My Room:A Survey of Work by Julie Speed 1989-1999, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, Texas
2000 Queen of My Room: A Survey of Work by Julie Speed l989-1999, South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, Texas
1999 Queen of My Room:A Survey of Work by Julie Speed l989-1999, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
1997 Julie Speed, Paintings, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas
1997 Julie Speed, New Paintings, Allene LaPides Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1996 Julie Speed, New Work, Allene LaPides Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1995 Julie Speed Paintings, “Altered Realism,” Davidson Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1995 Julie Speed, Tarrytown Gallery, Austin, Texas
1994 Julie Speed, “Obsessive as I Wanna Be,” Carrington-Gallagher Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
1994 Julie Speed, New Paintings and Constructions, Ron Hall Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1993 Julie Speed, Jansen-Perez Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
1992 Julie Speed, Tarrytown Gallery, Austin, Texas
1991 Julie Speed, Guerilla Gallery, Austin, Texas
1990 Paintings by Julie Speed, Scott-Allan Gallery, New York, New York
1990 Julie Speed, First Chicago Exhibit, Joy Horwitch Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1989 Julie Speed, New Work, J.B. Tollett Gallery, Austin, Texas
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2009 Seven Artists, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, N.Y.
2008 Modern Art. Modern Lives.Then+Now, Austin Museum of Art, Austin Texas
2008 Where Are We Going?: Contemporary Artists Address the Issues of the 21st Century, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
2008 Pulp Friction: Contemporary Works on Paper, Deloney Newkirk Galleries, Santa Fe
2008 Counterbalance, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, N.Y.
2007 Amistad, Museo de Naciones, Lima, Peru
2007 The Figure, From Cubism to Post Modern, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, N.Y.
2006 Flatbed in Marfa, Flatbed Press, Marfa, Texas
2005 Not Dead Yet: Persistence of the Figure in Contemporary Art, Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University School of Art, Lubbock, Texas
2005 Still Crazy, Lawndale Art Center, Houston Texas
2005 Read With Your Eyes Not With Your Lips, Books by Artists with Etchings and Woodcuts, Etherington Fine Art, Vineyard Haven, Mass.
2005 Small Matters, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas Texas
2004 Art On Paper 2004, Weatherspoon Art Museum Greensboro, North Carolina
2004 The Barrett Collection, The Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas
2003 Flatbed Press, Texas Grit, William Campbell Contemporary Art, Ft. Worth, Texas
2002 People, Places, & Things: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
2000 Forbidden, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas
1999 Gallery Artists, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas
1998 National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
1997 A to B, Haggar Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas
1996 Real/Surreal, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas
1995 Texas Realism with a Twist, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas
1995 Texas Realism with a Twist, The Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas
1995 Texas Collects, Selections from the Barrett Collection, Dallas Visual Arts Center, Dallas, Texas
1994 A Peaceable Kingdom, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York
1993 Mindscapes, Tarrytown Gallery, Austin, Texas
1993 Texas Fine Art Association Map Show, Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas
1990 Collage, W&TW Gallery, Austin, Texas
1990 New Work, Janie Beggs Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1989 Gallery Artists, J.B. Tollett Gallery, Austin, Texas
1989 Gallery Artists, Joy Horwich Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1988 Art Horizons International, New York, New York
1988 New American Talent, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas
1987 The Fictional Figure, Caroline Lee Gallery, Houston, Texas
1987 Austin Visual Arts Association 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Austin, Texas
1986 Susqecentennial Exhibition, Dallas City Hall, Dallas, Texas
1986 The Show Must Go On, Amdur Gallery, Austin, Texas
1986 Introductions – Two Man Show, Toni Jones Gallery, Houston, Texas
1985 Four Austin Painters, J.B. Tollett Gallery, Austin, Texas
1985 New Images, Foxworth Gallery, New York, New York
1985 Forgotten Games:The Art of Box Construction, Foxworth Gallery, New York, New York
1984-85 Anna Chromy and Julie Speed, Foxworth Gallery, New York, New York
1984 Opening Show, Janie Beggs Gallery, Los Angeles, California
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Julie Speed: Paintings, Constructions and Works on Paper, University of Texas Press, 2004. Essays by Edmund Pillsbury and Elizabeth Ferrer
Julie Speed – Queen of My Room, published by the Austin Museum of Art curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, 1999.
Grace Glueck, "Art in Review," The New York Times, January 27, 2006
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Some Selections Surreal, Others Simplistic,” Austin American Statesman, April 10, 2003
Johnson, Patricia C., “Speed Offers Postmodern Renaissance,” Houston Chronicle, Section D: Lifestyle and Entertainment Section, April 6, 2000. pp.4A-4D
Brenner, Molly Beth, “Natural Selections: Julie Speed and Bale Creek Allen,” The Austin Chronicle, May 2, 2003
Rees, Christina, “By the Book, ”Dallas Observer, January 27 – February 2, 2000. p. 66
Daniel, Mike, “Julie Speed, David McGee, ”Art Lies, Winter 2000. pp. 64 - 65
Pleiades, Number 1, Volume 20, 2000. Front cover image Pleiades Press, Department of English and Philosophy, Central Missouri State University
Pleiades, Number 2, Volume 20, 2000. Front cover image Pleiades Press, Department of English and Philosophy, Central Missouri State University
Pleiades Volume 25, Number 1, 2005. Front cover image Pleiades Press, Department of English and Philosophy, Central Missouri State University
Pleiades, Volume 24, Number 2, 2004. Front cover image, Pleiades Press, Department of English and Philosophy, Central Missouri State University
New and Old World Philosophy by Vincent Luizzi and Audrey McKinney, Prentice Hall, 2001. Preface images to essays by Elizabeth Fee and Frans De Waal
Boulevard, Fall 2002, Volume 18, Number 1. Published by Saint Louis University, Front cover image
The Oval Hour, Poems by Kathleen Peirce. Front cover image, University of Iowa Press, 1999
The Ardors by Kathleen Peirce Front. Cover image, Ausable Press, 2004
Shawn Colvin, A Few Small Repairs. Front cover image, Columbia
Thompson, Stacy, “Common Ancestry,” Tribeza, April, 2002
The Deputy, Rolf Hochhuth. Front cover image, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Julie Speed,” Art Lies, Summer 1999. pp. 40
Schiff, David, “A Guide for Houston Area Art Collectors,” Houston Lifestyles and Homes, July, l999. pp. 42 – 47
Moser, Margaret, “Matchstick Crowns and Monkey Tails,” The Austin Chronicle, July 16, l999. pp. 34-36.
Dingus, Anne, “Speed, Queen,” Texas Monthly, August 1999. pp. 119-123
Van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “Speed’s Striking Images Reveal a Timeless, Shadowy World,” Austin American Statesman, July 1, l999. pp.47-49.
Corcoran, Michael, “Speed is Queen at Solo Exhibit,” Austin American Statesman, June 29, 1999. a.E-1.
The Wall Street Journal, Leisure and Arts, June 29, l999. pp. A-12
“Homeimprovement,” SPIN. Feb. 1997. pp. 60-61
Vaillancourt, Daniel, “The Paintings Lead, She Follows,” PASATIEMPO, l996
The Chronicle Review, "Surreality Checks," endpaper, July 2, 2004
Farb, Dr. Carolyn “Renaissance Woman,” Brilliant Magazine, August 2004
Van Ryzin, “Julie Speed: The Flatbed Etchings,” August 4, 2005, Austin American
Statesman
"Julie Speed’s Whimsical Work Takes Aim at Politics," Society Columbia Daily Tribune, May 1, 2005 by Natasha Gura.l Associated Press- Also ran in Herald Times,
Bloomington, Indiana, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Pittsburgh, P.A. “Arts,” May 1, 2005, Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. “Life,” April 14, 2005, Press Enterprise, Riverside, California, “Showtime,” April 16, 2005, Austin American Statesman, Austin, Texas, “Life and Arts,” April 12, 2005
"Julie Speed: The Flatbed Etchings," Jeanne Claire Van Ryzin, Austin American Statesman, August 4, 2005
OTHER
Queen of Her Room, 30 min. documentary, Gallery HD TV, produced by Karen Bernstein
Texas Monthly Talks, 30 min. interview with Evan Smith, KLRU TV PBS
"A (Third) Eye for Detail," by Antoine Sanfuentes, MSNBC.msn.com
