Gio Swaby, "Coded"

Episode No. 605 features artist Gio Swaby, and curator Leslie Jones.

The Art Institute of Chicago is presenting "Gio Swaby: Fresh Up," a solo exhibition of work Swaby made in 2017-2021. Swaby's embroidered portraits celebrate both Blackness and her subjects' self-awareness and self-empowerment. The AIC's Melinda Watt co-curated the show with the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Fla. curator Katherine Pill. Rizzoli Electa published an accompanying catalogue in association with the two museums. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for about $35.

This is Swaby's first museum solo exhibition. Her work is in the collection of museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Jones is the curator of "Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952-1982" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition examines how artists embraced computer technology in the first decades of the computer age. It is on view through July 2. DelMonico Books and LACMA co-published the exhibition catalogue. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for about $60-70.

Instagram: Gio Swaby, Tyler Green.