The Art Institute Of Chicago Presents Gio Swaby: Fresh Up

The exhibit is on view from April 8 through July 3, 2023.

The Art Institute Of Chicago Presents Gio Swaby: Fresh Up

The Art Institute has announced Gio Swaby: Fresh Up, an exhibition that explores the intersections of Blackness and womanhood from the textile-based, multidisciplinary artist Gio Swaby. On view from April 8 through July 3, 2023 , this is Swaby's first solo museum show and brings together seven of her series from 2017 through 2021, along with approximately 15 new works.

Having grown up in the Bahamas surrounded by the materials her seamstress mother used, Swaby chose to work in textiles-a medium traditionally associated with domesticity and femininity-as a means to imbue her works with both familiarity and labor-intensive care. From there, she upends tradition. Her often life-size portraits give a sense of monumentality to the techniques of embroidery and piecing, and she also presents the reverse side of her intricately rendered canvases so that the stitching process of her freehand style-the normally hidden knots and loose threads-is visible. While there's a vulnerability to "showing the back," Swaby embraces and elevates these imperfections.

Her embroidered portraits are anchored in the connections she forges with her subjects: each portrait begins with a photo shoot in which her sitters are captured in a moment of self-awareness and empowerment. Simultaneously individualized and representative-the subjects are not identified by name, and while the choices of fashion and accessories are the deliberate outcome of the artist/sitter collaboration, they also allow the viewer to see a reflection of themselves in a hairdo, a pose, a pair of fashionable shoes

The title of the show, Fresh Up, developed with the artist, is a Bahamian phrase often used as a way to compliment someone's style or confident way of being. Swaby has remarked, "It holds a lot of positivity and joy. It also speaks to the tone of confidence and power that I want to create with these works. I love that it is a way to form connections through a simple phrase."

Melinda Watt, chair and Christa C. Mayer Thurman Curator of Textiles notes, "Swaby's work in textiles is firmly rooted in her own personal history and in a desire to make art that is approachable and accessible to a broad audience, but in particular to Black women and girls. She offers her viewers the possibility of seeing themselves reflected in her work, and of seeing themselves on art gallery and museum walls, where they are underrepresented. Swaby's intention of creating more nuanced images of Black sitters who are empowered to be themselves, beautiful but not idealized, is a message that I and my colleagues are honored to share with our visitors."

Gio Swaby: Fresh Up is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.

The exhibition is curated by Melinda Watt, chair and Christa C. Mayer Thurman Curator of Textiles, Art Institute of Chicago, and Katherine Pill, curator of contemporary art, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. A fully illustrated catalogue, published by Rizzoli, accompanies the exhibition and includes an interview between the artist and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, as well as essays by the curators and contributions from Swaby herself.



RELATED STORIES - Chicago

Jena Friedman Comes To The Den Theatre In Seotember 2023

The Den Theatre today announced comedian Jena Friedman will perform a special one-night-only show Sunday September 10, 2023.

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at TimeLine Theatre to Present Planned Parenthood of Illinois Night

TimeLine Theatre Company will present Planned Parenthood of Illinois Night at What the Constitution Means to Me, Saturday, June 17 at 8 p.m.

Steep Theatre Names New Executive Director

Steep Theatre has announced that Marisa Macella will be joining the company as its new Executive Director, beginning June 12th. She comes to Steep from the Lyric Opera of Chicago where she served as Senior Manager, Fundraising Events. 

Wicker Park Fest Announces 2023 Music Headliners Including Built To Spill, The Regrettes, Biig Piig, Say She She, And More 

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce today announced the headlining music acts for Wicker Park Fest 2023, sponsored by Goose Island Beer Company and Chitiva Dispensaries.


Videos


#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Merrily We Roll Along
Invictus Theatre’s Reginald Vaughn Theatre (6/23-7/23)CAST
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# 2023 Summer Concert at Millennium Park
Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (8/14-8/14)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Cymbeline - Kelvyn Park
Midsommer Flight (7/21-7/23)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Rhythm World 33
The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center (7/16-7/16)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Unsung Gershwin: The Hidden Gems of George & Ira
Venus Cabaret Theater at Mercury Theater Chicago (6/30-7/01)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Gypsy
The Marriott Theatre (8/23-10/15)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Jane Lynch: A Swingin Little Christmas
Raue Center for the Arts (12/10-12/10)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Stomp
Broadway Playhouse (12/13-12/31)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Jane Lynch: A Swingin Little Christmas
Raue Center for the Arts (12/09-12/09)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Cymbeline - Harold Washington Park
Midsommer Flight (7/28-7/30)
VIEW ALL SHOWS  ADD A SHOW  

Recommended For You