Exhibition - In Vivo by Sarah Barnett: Surreal Paintings Exploring the Paradox of Biotech

This September, Gallery 110 presents an exhibition by Sarah Barnett entitled In Vivo—a biological term used to describe processes or experiments conducted within a living organism.

Despite signifying organic life, in vivo processes also reveal a paradoxical relationship between flesh and the technology that surrounds, probes, and changes it. On one hand, technology enhances our understanding and enables life-saving medical advancements. On the other hand, it disrupts natural states of life and, sometimes, life itself.

Showcasing recent oil paintings by Barnett, this exhibition reflects on the implications of developing biotechnologies through a surreal and emotionally charged lens. The works explore themes of life preservation, mortality, augmentation, and the uncanny blurring of the natural and artificial.

Through intimate close-ups, viewers encounter highly rendered yet ambiguous forms, including plastic-wrapped humans and animals, gloved hands at work and looming from out of frame, fabricated medical devices, machines that mimic bodily organs, and disorienting perspectives of the body both inside and out.

Vivid in detail, richly colored, heavily layered, and distorted, the works emerge from the artist’s conflicting feelings about the body and an uncertain future. The exhibition aims to ask questions, stir thoughts, unsettle slightly, and resonate emotionally with the viewer.

Sarah Barnett has exhibited both regionally and nationally, including the 2021 AXA Art Prize Exhibition at NYAA, MANIFEST in Cincinnati, OH, the Women’s Museum in Fair Park, Dallas, TX, and the Chase Gallery in Spokane, WA. After earning a BFA from the University of North Texas in 2018 and attending a Summer Undergraduate Residency Program at the New York Academy of Art, she received her MFA in 2022 from Washington State University. She is also a 2023 recipient of the Artist Trust Fellowship Award.

In Vivo will be on display at Gallery 110 from September 5-28, 2024. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday from 12–5pm and by appointment.