Barbara Gallucci is a New York-based sculptor and photographer whose work examines the intersections between sculpture, furniture and interior design, resulting in hybrid objects where the role of function collapses and compounds. Her sculptures are appropriations of Modernist icons; Corbusier, Nelson, Eames. They are critically altered, yet still functional, still providing seating for the viewer.
In her most recent project, her over-scaled beanbag topiary chairs are scattered across a "terraced landscape" built of plywood and cork. The setting became a social space for viewers to rest, contemplate, converse with each other, and become "part of" the piece. This work revisits and questions the Utopian promises of mid-century Modernism and the relationship between nature, culture, and consumerism. In these designs nature is "behaving" for culture; manicured, existing for our pleasure, and functioning to provide us comfort. Her UTOPIARY project is "in nature's image," but without the muss and fuss of real life or lawn.
Gallucci has exhibited extensivley in New York and across the U.S. and Europe, including solo exhibitions at Derek Eller Gallery in New York, installations at Site Santa Fe in New Mexico, and at Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire in Paris. She earned her MFA at Yale University in 1987 and has received numerous reviews in publications such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Artforum, and others. She has received grants and fellowships from the Pollack Krasner Foundation, the Gottleib foundation, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
