With wall texts and an audio guide, a first-person narrator accompanies visitors through the art exhibition: Barbara T. Smith leads them through her own life and work, in an intimate atmosphere rarely experienced. For over 50 years, Smith has been part of the avant-garde of the American West Coast. Her groundbreaking performances or her Black Glass Paintings, which helped her achieve her breakthrough in the 1960s, are just two aspects of a complex oeuvre that deals with the core of human existence. With Barbara T. Smith: The Way to Be, the Getty Center in Los Angeles is dedicating its first major museum exhibition to the artist. It will run from February 28 to July 16, 2023.
Barbara T. Smith was born in Pasadena, Southern California, in 1931. She has been one of California's best-known artists since the 1960s. The exhibition will feature numerous sensational performances such as Nude Frieze, Intimations of Immortality, Feed Me, and Pure Food on video. Smith herself says of her work: »This art has been the expression of my life! It has been a way for me to deal with pain, and isolation.«
