Claire Godbee (b. 1990) is an artist living and working in Birmingham, Alabama. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2016. Her work has been exhibited at The Old Bailey Gallery, Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts, Birmingham Public Library Gallery, and Room 412 Gallery in Birmingham, AL; Bell’s Gallery in Dothan, AL; Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment in Huntsville, AL; Red 225 Gallery and Rock Wall Gallery in Nashville, TN; and WomanMade Gallery in Chicago, IL.
Statement
My work explores cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration as metaphors for womanhood, becoming, unbecoming, and grief. I am particularly interested in non-death grief and identity reconstruction, and how these experiences shape both personal and collective narratives. I approach painting as a space where personal experience intersects with archetypal frameworks, allowing familiar stories and symbols to be reworked rather than treated as fixed sources of meaning. Drawing from mythology and art history, I examine how inherited narratives continue to influence perceptions of femininity, morality, and power, and how painting can function as a site of revision.
CV
EDUCATION
2016 B.F.A., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Transfigurations, The Old Bailey Gallery., Birmingham, AL
2024 MAGICICADA, Basic., Birmingham, AL
2023 Soul Searching, Red 225 Gallery, Nashville, TN
2023 Shadow Burn, Shadow Bloom, Room 412 Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2022 Southern Charms, Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment, Huntsville, AL
2022 Press Pause, Gallery 1:11, Huntsville, AL
2021 Release, Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment, Huntsville, AL
2020 Broad Unity, Gold Sprint, Huntsville, AL
2019 The Hiding / The Healing, TrimTab Tasting Gallery, Birmingham, AL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Thread, Basic., Birmingham, AL
2024 Intimacism, Red 225 Gallery, Nashville, TN
2024 Cosa Nostra, Rock Wall Gallery, Nashville, TN
2023 G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South), Bell’s Gallery, Dothan, AL
2022 Feminist Biennial, WomanMade Gallery, Chicago, IL
2022 Wax & Wane, Stay Home Gallery, Paris, TN
2019 Amending Gender, Avondale Upstairs, Birmingham, AL
2018 BHM Loft Show, MAKEbhm, Birmingham, AL
2016 Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition, AEIVA Gallery, University of Alabama at
Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
2016 Annual Student Juried Exhibition, AEIVA Gallery, University of Alabama at
Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
2016 Painting Exhibition, Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, AL
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023 “Claire Godbee: Soul Searching,” Red 225, November 2023
2023 No Bad Art Podcast: Episode 47
2023 G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South), Exhibition Catalogue, Bell’s Gallery,
Huntsville, AL
2022 Create! Magazine, Issue No. 28
2021 Birmingham Lifestyle Magazine, Featured Artist, February 2021 Issue
SELECTED AWARDS, HONORS, & EXPERIENCE
2023 Guest Juror, Annual Juried Foundation Exhibition, University of Montevallo,
Montevallo, AL
2018 Featured Artist & Volunteer Teacher, Bare Hands Workshops, Birmingham, AL
2017 Featured Artist, Teacher Workshop / dreamARCHITECTURE, Alabama Center
for Architecture, Birmingham, AL
2017 Curator, Group Exhibition, Roots & Revelry Parlor Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2015 Artist Technique Demonstration, University of Alabama at Birmingham
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Works held in private collections in Birmingham, AL; Montgomery, AL; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; Chicago, IL; Portland, OR; Dever, CO; and New York, NY.