Victoria Behm

Victoria Behm is a very fine artist. You've probably never heard of her. I didn't either until her one-person show opened recently at the 440 Gallery, a small artist co-op gallery in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Her work is reminiscent of the drawings of Saul Steinberg or early David Hockney, without being derivative or copies of either artist. In a short printed statement about her work available to visitors, Vicki says the following: " I draw what I see: sardines, San Pelegrino water, Vespa scooters. I like getting all the little details right whether it is the seed pattern in oranges or the hinges on a box...I draw every day and have filled over 150 journals."

It is one of the tragedies of the art world that an artist as outstanding as Vicki can languish in relative obscurity while others with far less artistic talent sell their work for exorbitant sums and bask in undeserved glory. There is some saving grace in all this, however, which is that an ordinary art lover like me can easily afford to buy her exquisite framed ink drawings for $150-175 each from her current show. This is exactly what is happening during the course of her exhibition at my neighborhood gallery, where much of the work is steadily being purchased.

If you look up 440 Gallery on the Internet and then hit Vicki Behm under the list of gallery artists, you will see what I mean when I say that her ink drawings reflect great draughsmanship and contain memorable graphic imagery. I should also qualify my statement about her obscurity, because it isn't totally accurate. For example, in recent years Vicki unfortunately experienced the dual trials of breast cancer and heart problems. Focusing her artistic sensibilities on these problems, she created a memoir of her experiences in the form of illustrated journals which constitute a totally honest record of her illnesses. The drawings, especially in the heart book, are masterpieces. They wound up being published online by Health.com and can be found on the Internet under the heading " Artist's Notebook: My Adventures With Heart Failure". I believe I read that over 300,000 hits were recorded by visitors to the site.

It is difficult to pin down in words exactly what makes Vicki's drawings so outstanding and memorable. I take comfort,however, in the words of Edward Hopper, who said the most important thing about great art is something that cannot be expressed in words. Like Steinberg and Hockney, however, Vicki Behm's images display a combination of great technical skill in line drawing combined with the ability to capture a beautiful yet quirky image. I have also always been a fan of artwork which incorporates writing into an artwork, and her work has plenty of examples of that partnership.

One of the other nice aspects of the Internet is that, even if you don't read this blog in time to catch her current show, the images will remain for future reference and her work will still be available at the gallery.