Why You Should Pay Attention: The veteran painter's distinct style often mingles the real and the imagined, figurative and abstract. Swansea is known for her dreamy or ecstatic landscapes, often populated with a solitary human figure. Her painting at the Armory Show depicts a man of color in a chef's hat walking through a lush garden of green hedges and pink trees. A dusting of snow on the southern foliage gives a surreal edge to the scene, the white powder echoing the pristine garb of the man, who enters the elite club from the back door. The painting is set near Swansea's real childhood home near the country club in Charlotte, North Carolina; the man is invented. The scene feels subtly political, topical yet non-specific, and suggestive of the racial tensions gripping the country.
-Katya Kazakina
