Leigh Barbier presents new work in her third show at 60SIX. Inspired by her work in the movie world along with her fondness of religious art, muralists of the Mexican Revolution, and lingering 60’s Disney imagery, she creates an “other world” in her art called “Mushroomville.” It is an all-female community in a physically spare yet emotionally rich countryside, where women go to escape or transform. The Mushroom as a metaphor for life’s duplicitous nature provides Barbier (or the viewer) with a world in which to explore diverse subjects.
In this new work, the subjects of aging and technology are touched on and Barbier introduces a new character, “Florine,” part woman, part monster. In the Florine series Barbier’s drawings begin to emulate her abstract sculptures. In her sculptures, porcelain limbs, glass eyes and scraps of old photos intersect undulating fabric-stitched forms to create curious objects. In these drawings she creates the same unexpected collages of surreal juxtaposed forms. The drawings thereby dynamically break into a new vocabulary as fearless and unrestrained as the narratives Barbier conceives.
Joe Cunningham has been a professional quilt artist, author and lecturer since 1979. His work is in numerous private collections, corporate collections, and museums, including the de Young Museum. At 60SIX he presents fine art quilts which reference calamaties such as Haiti’s earthquake and Hurricane Katrina.
