"Sylvia Snowden has a curiosity about the human condition that begets active, engrossing paintings. Her canvases hover delicately between figuration and abstraction, evoking abundant movement and energy. Standing before the artworks feels electric - like something in you is being activated, previously suppressed emotions riled to attention. Snowden and I met in November, after her solo exhibition opened at White Cube New York."
"The heart of the exhibition is her M Street series - abstractly rendered portraits of bodies with engorged extremities. While they are not depictions of individual people, they are named after her neighbors from the eponymous street in Washington, DC, where she has lived since 1978 and raised her children. Their purpose, however, illustrates something more universal about the nuances of human emotion."
Sylvia Snowden produces paintings that hover between figuration and abstraction, using vibrant color and textured surfaces that physically undulate. Her canvases convey movement and energy and often activate suppressed emotions in viewers. She draws on a lifelong affinity for color instilled by her mother, describing color as essential. The M Street series presents abstractly rendered portraits with engorged extremities named after neighbors from Washington, DC, yet aiming to express universal human emotional nuances. Snowden studied at Howard University under James A. Porter, Loïs Mailou Jones, and James Lesesne Wells, and has exhibited at major museums. At 83 she paints daily, continually developing tactile texture.
Read at Hyperallergic
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