Barbara Laube - Rhythm of Twilight

Exhibition text by Paul D’Agostino

October 20 - November 12, 2023
Opening reception: Friday, October 20, 6 - 9 PM

Also on view: Guy Goodwin: Light & Delight

Barbara Laube: Rhythm of Twilight

by Paul D’Agostino

As a complement to Guy Goodwin’s Light & Delight, Barbara Laube’s recent paintings exhibited in the project space demonstrate a different take on freshness and levity. In her expressive, materially immediate abstractions, Laube employs washy underpainting, variably stratified applications of media, and broad, brushy passages to create airy harmonies of bright colors and bold marks. Intimately scaled, by and large, and meditatively crafted, Laube’s new works generally operate with a couple distinct dynamics. Her more open, sparely worked compositions seem to exhale quietly, calm and reposed, while her more densely treated works feature darkened areas and layered interventions that harbor restive energies and latent tension. As a painter, Laube resists convictions, preconceived results, and planned destinations. Process gets her where she’s going, and instinct – whether wakeful or dream-like – is her trusted path. 

– Paul D’Agostino, PhD is an artist, writer, curator, and translator. You can find him on Instagram and Threads @pauldagostinostudio.

Largely self-taught, Barbara Laube has studied in Italy, France, and Germany. She also had the good fortune to study in New York with Joop Sanders, a founding member, along with Willem de Kooning and Milton Resnick, of the American Abstract Expressionist group.  She has studied at Pratt Institute, New York Studio School, and the School of Visual Arts. Laube’s paintings have been featured in shows in New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and Washington State. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections across the country.