Barbara Shelly
Cool J., 2023
Mixed medium - acrylics, magazines, newspaper, markers
24" x 24"

Artist Statement

I come from a long line of activists and art lovers. My Grandmother was in the Red Army in Russia, immigrated to Philadelphia and marched with the suffragettes. My mother was a democratic committee women in a Republican neighborhood in the suburbs of Philadelphia. "My art reflects and represents current events in performing arts and politics. People in the news inspire me, their movement, their expression, their passion for change. There is an emotional part of me in every painting.

Artist Bio

Barbara Shelly is a self-taught mixed media artist. She literally and figuratively tears through the print media, layering it into textured collages using sketches, newspaper, ink and paint. Her creative instincts place the images, covering some for texture and highlighting others. The intentional and unintentional relationships to the subjects emerge in the finished work and leave room for the viewer's interpretations. Her love of the performing arts has been rewarded by her paintings finding their way to her subjects including Spike Lee and Stella Abrera, ABT. Most recently, her painting "Doja Cat" was part of the Empower Her Art Forum, a multinational exhibition dedicated to raising women's voices and the empowering ethos of art, at The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, Egypt." She is represented by Saphira & Ventura Gallery located at 4 W 43rd St #416, New York, NY

barbarashellyart.com

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