"Gio Swaby: Fresh Up" at St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts -- Portraits

"Gyalavantin'" (2021) -- next stop for this work
is the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas, Swaby's home country 

Gio Swaby's first solo gallery show opened last year at Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem. (The exhibit now on at St. Pete MFA is her first solo museum show.) Swaby was just a 28 year old grad student. The show quickly sold out -- and not to people like you and me. Instead, museums and other institutional buyers snapped up the works. Oh, and Roxanne Gay. Another 100 or so buyers were left waiting in the wings, eager to shell out up to $25K for one of Swaby's unique thread and applique paintings. She must have been bruised from repeatedly pinching herself. Deb, Em and I had the chance to see Swaby's work first hand when we recently visited the St. Pete MFA. It is indeed special. 

"Love Letter 7" (2021)

Swaby's work and life are intimately intertwined. My previous post focused on Swaby's self-portraits, which are inspired by her memories. In her portraits of others, Swaby depicts the women in her life. It's a way to honor them while also deepening their connection. 

Swaby begins by having conversation with her model, an interview of sorts. While that might sound a bit awkward, just imagine what you can learn about someone when you have an intentionally focused dialogue. She's not just being nosy, of course. Instead, she's working to capture her sitter's essence in a way you might not in casual conversation. 

Swaby's next step is to photograph the model in different poses of her choosing. Again, the goal is to capture her personality. I can imagine the sitter feeling a bit self-conscious as Swaby starts clicking her camera but then getting into it. While the women she portrays are not identified in the title of the work, it's apparently not hard for people who know them to figure out who they are. I like this woman's sassy attitude -- and her yellow sneaks. 

In her Love Letter series, Swaby uses black and gold fabrics for the background. The choice adds a bit of drama to the work. Different types of shimmery cotton fabric are used for the skin. The variations are a subtle reminder of the varied skin tones of people who are considered Black. It's yet another way Swaby's work celebrates people often not seen on the walls of museums and galleries. As she said in the wall card, "I hope that when Black women and girls see my work, they see part of themselves reflected with reverence, utmost care and love." The unspoken hope is that other people will see these women the same way. 

"Going Out Clothes 3" (2020) 

Then there was the "Going Out Clothes" series. I love the way Swaby described what's going on in these works. 

"In the Bahamas, your wardrobe is separated into three main categories: yard clothes, church clothes and going out clothes. If you are like me, you were raised with a certain reverence for the latter. It was strictly forbidden to wear your going out clothes around the house or for more casual activities. So it always felt like a momentous occasion when your mummy would let you wear your good jeans and a dressy top. This is especially true if you had the opportunity to put together your own outfit. My mother rarely let me have this responsibility because it would often end up with me dressed in a glittery pink swimsuit with jeans and white patent leather heels...Going Out Clothes encompasses that joy and self-fulfillment through a presentation that is regular but regal." 

Swaby's focus once again is on something we can all relate to -- that special outfit that just makes you feel good. (Of course, it might not make you feel quite as good when you look at pictures of yourself in your prized duds years later, but that's a story for another day.) In "Going Out Clothes 3," Swaby used a shirt from the sitter's closet to create the glasses she wears. It makes the portrait all the more personal. And with any luck, the shirt is still wearable since only a small portion of fabric would have been needed to make this accessory. 

"Gio Swaby: Fresh Up" runs at the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts through October 9. Get there if you can. For more info, click here. And for an interesting podcast with Swaby, click here. Scroll down for links to some great articles.  Enjoy!