SABINA FORBES II
HEAT WAVE
July – August 2022
Woodward Gallery
It is about to heat up in New York City this summer at Woodward Gallery! Hot, vibrant colors sizzle urban cityscapes in artist Sabina Forbes II’s premier solo exhibition entitled, HEAT WAVE. Forbes ignites her canvases with patterns, textures, and brilliant fluorescent hues as she imagines the urban skyline brought to life by the hard-working hands that build the towers and by the people dwelling within their concrete walls. Her dynamic style of neon painting is a pulsating, sweltering celebration of color, channeling the collective spirit which vibrates around us and emanates from all creations. Ultimately, this electric body of work evokes the endurance of hope, even when the world seems hellish.
Visual heat emanates from Forbes’ reconceived landmarks made of textural two-dimensional fluorescent paint on canvas. Blocks, bricks, and even shapes that resemble roads all come together to highlight the unavoidable unification of people in a busy urban community. Although a metropolis may feel alienating, Forbes’ precise brush strokes and lined layers of paint invite the exploration of communal, urban stability. These inspired architectural structures simmer with their own light and joyful energy.
“The best is yet to come” was a sentiment that Forbes’s grandfather, Malcolm Forbes, often expressed throughout her childhood and one which became an inspirational force behind her art. Each of Forbes’ paintings is a manner of portraiture whether from the singularity of the individual form, an element of nature, or the perceived sterile neutrality of a building punctuating a city skyline. Walking around the city to explore this vitality, Forbes taps into the overall human spirit through flaming color, intricate patterns, and dynamic textures animating her notable building structures.
Watch the heat index climb this July and August and witness Forbes’ refreshing, original works from the Woodward Gallery street-level exhibition windows at 132A Eldridge Street, NYC, in the digital catalog on WoodwardGallery.net (see issuu catalog above) and also presented on Artsy.net.
