While many of our compadres were frolicking in New Orleans, a few of us decided to get in a little fun and enrichment of our own. We booked a trip to the Getty to see the PAA funded show Barbara T. Smith: The Way To Be. It did not disappoint! The show is centered on her performance art and there is a fabulous video on the Getty website (narrated by Barbara herself) to give context to the pieces. However, Linda Brownridge, who knows Barbara, was an excellent guide as well. We learned that Linda was invited to some of her crazy dinner parties, “stored” some of her resin tubes and was intimately familiar with xerox machine that she kept in her dining room.
The views from the Getty Center were exceptional, our lunch divine, and we thoroughly enjoyed our day (even if it didn’t include beignets!). Barbara will be speaking at the Permanent Collection event this month and she will also have another PAA sponsored show at ICA/LA later this year. She is certainly having her PAA moment! The Getty show is up until July 16th.
Patty Zuber
Barbara T. Smith: The Way to Be (getty.edu)