Josephine Barreiro
(born in Newark, N.J.) – A daughter of immigrants from Spain, Barreiro grew up in Newark’s Ironbound area. This urban center and it’s diversity inspired her colorful and energetic paintings, which also developed out of her love for graffiti art. Barreiro earned a M.F.A. in fine arts and MA in art education from New Jersey City University (N.J.) and a B.F.A from the School of Visual Arts (N.Y.).
Currently, she teaches for Newark Public Schools and Kean University, She has exhibited at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery (New York, N.Y.); Paul Robeson Gallery, Newark Museum, NJPAC, City Without Walls, 27 Mix, Index Art (Newark, NJ); L.I.T.M, Lemmerman Gallery (Jersey City, N.J.); Ben Shahn Galleries (Paterson, N.J.); Raritan Valley Community College (Sommerville, N.J.); UMDMJ’s Robert Wood Johnson Gallery (Piscataway, N.J.) and the Contemporary Museum (Baltimore, M.D.) among other locations.
STATEMENT
I think of my paintings as vignettes, stories that focus on one moment in time, which capture ones personal experiences, life happenings, and everyday emotional reveries and responses to these occurrences and events. Whether in human or animal form, in my work(s), figures serve as protagonists within visual-dramas.
The true essence of existence is important in my work, representing unique ways of “living and being.” Emotions are felt and present in all living things, consisting of pain, love, sorrow, joy, anxiety and anger. Consequently, I believe painting is a means of feeling an awareness of existence of living and of being.
We all live, breathe, feel, suffer and love. Through my paintings, I am able to bring front and center these moments in gestural images that examine and/or focus on universal life experiences.
Courtesy J. Barreiro
More on Josephine @ www.josephinebarreiro.com
Artist Contact: josiebarreiro@gmail.com
