Sharon Shapiro
Visionary Picnic
April 8–April 30, 2023

Visionary Picnic is a new body of work that began with a large-scale painting titled The Boulevard is not that bad (2022). Based on photos of two friends who modeled outdoors behind her studio, the image references Manet’s Le Déjeuner Sur l’herbe (1862) and Cezanne’s Luncheon on the Grass (1869). Shapiro staged the scene to look like a picnic, using props given to her over the years: a teapot, champagne, a quilt, and a picnic basket. These everyday items allowed her to weave her memories into a scene that manifests leisure and bounty.

The painting serves as the axis for the exhibit; the concept of a picnic and its multiple associations became Shapiro’s focus while preparing for the show. In most straightforward definitions, ‘picnic’ means ‘an outdoor meal, often in which the ‘participants bring food and other items with them’; it can also mean ‘an easy undertaking’ or a ‘fun experience.’ By leaving men out of these images, Shapiro emphasizes the agency and intimacy of the women.

In her use of graffiti in the paintings and on the gallery wall, Shapiro juxtaposes a dystopian element against the ideal of contently being in nature. Visionary Picnic celebrates the space between Arcadia and scrolling iPhones, between being self-conscious and totally unguarded. Shapiro questions how far we can get away from our anxiety when we allow ourselves to go on an imaginary excursion.

About the artist:

Sharon Shapiro is a Virginia-based artist with a versatile painting practice. Shapiro has shown throughout the United States, including one and two-person exhibitions at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NYC; the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA; {Poem 88} Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Garvey Simon Projects, NYC; and the Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL. Her group exhibitions include the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME; the McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA; and the Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA. She has been in residence at Ucross, Jentel, Ragdale, The Hambidge Center, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her practice has received grant support, including two awards from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and she was the recipient of the Atelier Focus Fellowship at AIR SFI in Georgia. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings, Whitewall, Art Spiel, Studio Visit, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Kolaj Magazine. Shapiro holds an MFA from the Maine College of Art and a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art. She currently shows her work with Garvey|Simon in New York City and San Anselmo, California.