Barbara Smith Gioia

Buster Levi Gallery

November 1 - December 1, 2024

Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to announce, “Balance/Imbalance”,  a solo exhibition of new paintings by Barbara Smith Gioia. The exhibition will be on view from November 1 through December 1, with an opening reception on Friday, November 1, 6-8 pm.

“Balance/Imbalance” is a body of large, brightly colored paintings filled with rectangles and lines that travel across the picture plane creating rhythmic beats and movement. The colors create a steady flow while the lines punctuate staccato beats and changes in direction. There is an intensity to some of the paintings, as colors vibrate and graphic lines pop and recede. Others take on a milder demeanor with blues and yellows subtly changing in value to invite the viewer into and around the space. The feeling of potential discord is a result of Smith Gioia’s deviation from a grid-like structure which functions as the foundation of each work. Her painted surfaces reveal a substrate constructed from collage papers she has created specifically for the work. Sheets of printed papers are cut into fragments and pieced back together to create a new language. True to her “call and response” method of painting, the piecing together of fragments is only the first step in a long process of adding and subtracting fragments and color, until she finds balance within the imbalance. There is a playful quality to the paintings suggesting that she enjoys the process of making them. 

A reproduction of  “After the Storm”, shown below, is being featured in the BeaconArts Bus Shelter Art Project. Look for it hanging in the bus shelter at One Forrestal Heights and 9D in Beacon. The original painting will be in the Buster Levi exhibition.

The gallery will be open Saturday and Sunday from noon to five pm.

For more information:

Website: barbarasmithgioia.com

Instagram: @barbarasmithgioia

Contact: barbarasmithgioia@gmail.com