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Barbara Muth Solo Exhibit August 2020
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Barbara Muth Solo Exhibit August 2020

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"I Can See Light Between Your Sister's Thighs" by Barbara Muth

My Body, Shamed

Gallery hours are 12:00pm-4:00pm Wednesday through Sunday. Masks and temperature checks required for entry. Limit of 10 persons in gallery at a time. 

 

My Body, Shamed, is a depiction of an artist’s journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance. Painter Barbara Muth documents her experience living in a “fat shaming” world, demonstrating the effects of a patriarchal society on the representation, acceptance, and rejection of women’s bodies, including her own. Muth also draws from the experiences of other women to illustrate the complicated relationship between body and mind, and the effects of family dynamics on self-image. My Body, Shamed, will be on view at The Art League gallery August 7—September 6, 2020.

Painted on a grand scale in electric shades of chartreuse, orange, and cerise, her paintings demand the eye’s attention. “Shaming Ritual” lays bare the reality many women endured on a regular basis throughout their childhood and adolescence — the judgement of the scale and the humiliation of never passing its test. Muth believes it is a burden carried by many women, no matter their body size.

Viewing Muth’s large canvases, with her signature stylized figures and high-voltage colors, is like peering through a fun house mirror. On the other side of the glass are the artist’s childhood memories, warped and twisted, not unlike the reflection of someone with body dysmorphia. ⁠

Muth’s work is deeply personal, yet it resonates beyond her own experience. She remarked that women who view her work often comment that they endured similar body shaming in their youth. Muth hopes that viewers who have struggled (or are still struggling) with such feelings know that they are not alone. “You can get through it,” she encouraged, “I am a very happy, content person these days.”

Barbara Muth is a professional artist, working primarily as a painter since
2008. Having studied psychology in college and graduate school, Muth now
expresses human emotions and relationships in her depiction of figures.
Until recently, Muth was an artist in residence at the Torpedo Factory Art
Center in Alexandria, VA. In 2019 Muth opened ArtBlitz Studios in the
western part of Northern Virginia where artists can set up their own studio
spaces or work part time in the space.

Barbara Muth’s work pulls the viewer into a world that reflects their own
experiences back at them. Often, in response to their questions, Muth asks
the viewers what they think the painting is about. They attribute many
meanings to a single work, almost always with a strong emotional response.
This, Muth says, is why she paints.

 

Watch Barbara’s artist talk below!

View more of Barbara’s work on our Flickr page. 

 

First Binge

Online Exhibit

Meet the Juror

For the 2020 solo artist program, our jury included Clint Mansell, director of Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA; Gayle Friedman, an interdisciplinary artist and director of Studio 4903 in Washington, D.C.; and Duane Gautier, founder of Honfleur Gallery in Wasington, D.C. and CEO at Arch Development.

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