GROUP EXHIBITION PRESS DOSSIER · WOODLAND HILLS · 1994
WORDS AND SYMBOLS
In the spring of 1994 Barbara hung two life-size canvases side by side at Artspace Gallery: a woman in pink under the word HERSTORY, a man in blue under HISTORY, each crowded edge to edge with text. Scott Canty, who curated the exhibition, had written that “words become symbols and symbols become words”; her pair took him at his word.
The Los Angeles Times review of March 4, 1994 is the exhibition’s record. It names her, describes the work, and quotes the curator standing in front of it. The two canvases later entered a private collection in Studio City, where they were photographed hanging together in 2007.
THE VENUE
Artspace Gallery
21800 Oxnard Street, Woodland Hills. Noon to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. “Conversations With the Artists” began at 1:30 pm on March 12, 1994.
THE DATES
Through April 16, 1994
Nine artists: Michael McCall, Paul Bouchard, Tony Ramos, Doug Cluff, Nicholette Kominos, Brad Coleman, Dennis Hollingsworth, Kathi Martin and Barbara Romain. The opening date has not surfaced; the review ran March 4.
THE CURATOR
Scott Canty
From his curator’s statement, as quoted by the Times: “In this exhibit we see how words become symbols and symbols become words… Individuals have continued to develop a symbolic language in order to communicate their innermost feelings, thoughts and desires.” “I’ve always been fascinated with artists who use symbols in their work,” he told the paper. Some of the symbols “are very personal, others universal.”
ARTIST STATEMENT
What the curator saw
As I became legally blind, I questioned my ability to continue painting. I slowly transformed my thinking and techniques to incorporate my limitations as an integral part of my work.
I am increasingly inspired by aural influences—music and language. I use language as a gestural element—to create patterns, weavings, and layers of information. The viewer is invited to form associations and meanings.
My color palette has grown more vivid as my ability to see subtle color diminishes.
“I feel like I’m in the midst of the busiest city with lights and neon, and everyone wants your attention. You are being so over-sensitized with all of this coming at you.”
— Scott Canty, curator, on HerStory and HisStory, quoted by Nancy Kapitanoff, “Mixing Media,” Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1994