Jane Barthès Pop-up Art Exhibition Announced, Chicago
24-28 March, by appointment only
Private View/POP-UP EVENT: 24 March 5.30-9.00pm
Venue: 5000 Bloomingdale Ave, Chicago, 60639. Viewings +(1) 773 417 9002

Chicago based artist Jane Barthès opens GRIDZ, her first solo show of the year, on March 24. The vast warehouse hosting the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to view 10 large scale paintings in a single space, all recent canvases featuring the artist’s signature geometric narratives. The Pop-up’s title reflects Barthès’ complex concerns with volume and form, chaos and order, and matter and energy. It also references her dynamic colour-punctuated relationship with the city landscape of Chicago including its architecture, skyline and waterways, all frequent sources of inspiration.

Barthès’ latest body of work extends from late 2016 to early 2018 with a focus on important acrylic and charcoal paintings on canvas. Implicit in each piece are the artist’s fascinations with minimalism and ‘the spaces in between’ as well as her meditative, intricate and visually approachable methodology. This draws on mathematical equations, a dialogue with physics, geometry and structure; and offers an evolving exploration of science and art’s parallels and borders.

Of her latest work, Metropolis (72×66+72×60+72×66″), completed in January and her largest painting to date, Barthès says: “It’s my most comprehensive effort so far to create a visual world, a complex city of energetic molecules. It alludes to my city Chicago’s vibes as well as the building blocks of life itself. It’s big enough to bring all the elements of my thinking together and seeks to better illustrate the existential connection between all things.”

Editor’s Notes: Jane Barthès was born in Nigeria to French and British parents. This inherited duality has always impacted her work as an artist. “I’m a good survivor,” Barthès says. “I’ve turned my world upside down many times”. Those conscious acts of self-implosion once seemed random but have become reflective of her artistic point of view. “My desire to demystify what is scary and unfamiliar and make it part of my personal evolution has clearly informed my work.” Barthès grew up in the UK and France, graduated with a degree in Anthropology and, subsequently following her muse, obtained a BA (Hons) in Painting at Wimbledon Art School, London in 1994. In the same year she became a French resident and her artwork evolved from largely figurative to mostly abstract. She exhibited in the UK and France over the next decade, combining work in her studio with teaching art. In 2005 she emigrated to New Mexico, USA, where she found artistic inspiration in the extremes of the desert. More shows followed. As the recession took hold in 2009, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, trained in Clinical Social Work and took a job in the Emergency Services. A serendipitous meeting brought her back to her passion in 2015, since when she has been entirely focused on her art, based in a studio on the near west side of the city.

All enquiries: janebarthes@gmail.com tel: +1 773 417 9002 www.jbarthes.com