In this exhibition, A Gathering, Liotta explores how a number of sculptures interact; how they dance together. All of this work is entirely new. The roughly two dozen pieces are smaller than works that have been shown in previous years. Emerging, as if out of a mist, is a congregation of beings. Each column is a singular individual. They convene as a group, but have, for the moment, drifted into smaller conversations. Liotta hopes that you will wander among them, will sense the being in each, and enjoy their dances.

Barbara Josephs Liotta is a sculptor working primarily in suspended shattered stone. She has exhibited extensively both in the United States and overseas. Her work is included in the public collections of The Phillips Collection, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the US Consulate in Hyderabad, India. The Kreeger, the Katzen Museum, Halcyon House, the Mint Museum, and several others. Her nine large stone monoliths stand in Legacy Memorial Park. She has also been exhibited in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Sophia, Bulgaria; Athens, Greece; Tirana; Albania, and Pristina, Kosovo; as well as at the Mexican Cultural Institute, The Art Museum of the Americas, the World Bank, and the Cafritz Center for the Arts. She is represented in the private collections of Tony Podesta, Susan and Dixon Butler, Bob Woodward and Elsa Walsh, Beverly and Chris With, as well as many others. She lives and works in Washington DC.

I am a sculptor working, primarily, in suspended shattered stone. I use a wide variety of broken granites, slates and marbles. These hang freely, either from above or attached along a wall. The clean parallels formed by the lift cord restrain the violence of the raw smashed stone. The verticals, being ‘string’ tremble and breathe but remain plumb. The sharp stone itself exudes violence and danger. Sometimes more cord pools across the floor below; sometimes there is no stone at all, but simply the dance of the lines. Each work relies on an intricate balance between the formality of the verticals and the power of the stones or the grace of the cascading cords. The works are akin to chamber music, using an austerity of elements to weave and sing into a euphonious whole.

Artist Talk with Barbara Liotta

Saturday, December 13, 12  pm

Barbara Liotta will lead a gallery discussion about her exhibition titled, A Gathering. In her exhibition, Liotta explores how sculptures interact as if emerging out of mist to form a congregation of beings.

Free to the public (a donation of $10 is suggested)