Julia Barello – glance

Beginning on October 2, 2009 Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, at 435 South Guadalupe Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico will present two separate shows opening on the same night.  We will be showing glance, an exhibition of new work by Las Cruces artist Julia Barello.  We will also be exhibiting Perception, the first exhibition of new work at Zane Bennett by Santa Fe’s own, Pascal. There will be a reception on Friday, October 2, 2009, from 5-7 pm, and the shows continue through November 7, 2009.

Julia Barello is a Professor of Art at New Mexico State University, where she teaches Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Concurrent with teaching, Barello has maintained a productive career as a visual artist, working both within the fields of art jewelry and mainstream contemporary art.  Her primary research has been based upon an examination of the body culturally and metaphorically, and Barello’s primary material is discarded medical imaging films. The material contains a range of subtle photographic information, including intimate details of the interior of human bodies.  Barello cuts and organizes the film into patterns, shaping the film into leaves, birds, etc., which are then pinned to the wall in huge arrangements.  She says “Obsession is my working method”.  The results of her “obsessive process” are spectacular installations, which employ a visual complexity using intricate shapes, colors, layering and transparency that are breathtaking to view.  The shadows that are created once the work is installed are a crucial part of the effect of the whole piece.  Barello says her goal is “finding a dialog between excess and order, as well as individuality and anonymity”.  Barello has exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad. She was recently awarded Best in Show, Alternative Media at the 2008 Southwest Biennial at the Albuquerque Museum. This is her second show at Zane Bennett.