Born in Montreal, she has exhibited in Québec since the early 60s. Goodwin's works most always revolve around the human body. Her media, while largely painting, drawing and print, include sculpture and collage.

As the critic Robert Enright has observed, "none have so consistently and movingly traced the body's fragile negotiations between being and not being, between presence and absence, and between hope and despair."

Betty Godwin was chosen to represent Canada at the Venise Biennial in 1995 and was furthermore acknowledged with the major retrospective exhibition, Betty Goodwin: Signs of Life at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in 1996. In 1998, she presents three important solo exhibitions, Pieces of Time: 1963-1998 at the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, The Art of Betty Goodwin at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and Voiceover at the Sable-Castelli Gallery.

Betty Goodwin also just recently exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Betty Goodwin: Prints, from the 30th of May until the 2nd of September 2002. Her work has been acknowledged by a multitude of prizes, such as the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas by the Government of Québec in 1986, the Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 1995 and the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2003. She is represented by the Galerie René Blouin in Montréal.

"Obstacles to human communication are clearly evident in one's everyday experience. Sometimes the effect is comical, but in the long-term historical context, the cumulative effect of misunderstandings has been tragic."
Betty Goodwin

View of the works presented at
the Biennale de Montréal 2002

2. Do You Know How Long It Takes for Any One Voice to Reach Another, 1985
Oil pastel, pastel, oil, charcoal and graphite on vellum
213,3 x 215,9 cm
Private collection (Toronto)

3. Study for Carbon, 1986
Charcoal pouder, wax, oil stick, pastel, graphite and tape on Transpagra
38 x 73 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin

4. Bound, 1987-88
Oil stick, carbon pencil and wash drawing on Geofilm
32,3 x 24 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin

5. Bound #2, 1987
Oil stick, carbon pencil and wash drawing on Geofilm
30,7 x 22,9 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin

6. Figure Lying on a bench, 1988-89
Pastel and graphite on paper, metal
213 x 145 cm
Private collection (Montreal)

7. La Mémoire du Corps, 1992
Tar, oil stick, graphite over translucent mylar film
54,6 x 58,4 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin

8. Untitled (Nerves), Nº 5, 1993
Oil pastel, tar, wax over gelatin silver print on translucent mylar film
131,6 x 196 cm
(143,3 x 206,6 cm)
Contemporary Art Museum (Montréal)

9. Untitled (Nerves), Nº 6, 1993
Oil pastel, tar, wax over gelatin silver print on translucent mylar film
143,4 x 205,6 cm
Private collection (Montréal)

10. Untitled (Nerves), Nº 8, 1993
Oil pastel, tar, wax over gelatin silver print on translucent mylar film
185,5 x 181,5 cm
Collection Musée du Québec, Québec
Don de Monsieur et Madame Jack et Maryon Adelaar

11. Voyage, 2000
Steel, oil stick, tarpaulin and oil paint
117 x 170 cm
(143,3 x 206,6 cm)
Private collection (Toronto)

12. The Colour of White, 2000
Oil stick, charcoal and graphite on translucent mylar film; tarpaulin and rope
155 x 179 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin