Bettina's Geometric Explorations and Fourth Dimension Theories Revealed Through Recent Exhibitions

Bettina (Bettina Grossman, 1927-2021), a self-taught artist, created an extensive body of work exploring geometric forms, seriality, and the concept of the fourth dimension. Her practice spanned photography, sculpture, drawing, and early computer animation. In 1974, she produced a photographic series documenting a hair's movement in water at the Chelsea Hotel. Throughout her career, she developed modular systems, such as her "Finite Structures" series from 1965-81, which examined cube permutations. She collaborated with physicist Robert B. Weinberg in 1975-76 to create a computer-generated film visualizing these permutations. Recent exhibitions have brought renewed attention to her work. In 2019, "The Power of Two Suns" with Yto Barrada at LMCC's Art Center on Governors Island marked her first New York presentation since 1980. In 2023, "Bettina: The Fifth Point of the Compass" at the Hessel Museum of Art presented her aerial photography project from 1977-85. Gallery Ulrik showed "Bettina: New York: 1965-86" in 2023, and the Rivers Institute organized "Original Order Order Original: The Art and Archives of Bettina" at the Ruth Foundation for the Arts in Milwaukee in 2025. Bettina's estate, managed by Barrada, is being cataloged through public events and an online taxonomy. Her work connects to modernist abstraction, systems art, and spiritual pursuits through mathematical precision.