Jennifer Banzaca "Utopia"

Afternoon Soirée: Saturday, Mar. 14, 2-6PM
Showing: March 11 - April 25, 2020

Voss Gallery
[The Down Low]

3344 24th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110

A painting of vibrant abstract plant scene titled "Chiffons" by Jennifer Banzaca.

Voss Gallery’s [The Down Low] presents “Utopia,” a solo exhibition of acrylic paintings by Jennifer Banzaca that whimsically depicts the exploration of an idealized world.

Join us for an Afternoon Soirée with the artist on Saturday, March 14, 2-6PM in honor of the exhibition. This event is free and open to the public; RSVP is encouraged for event updates and special promotions. The exhibition is on view March 11-28, 2020. Gallery hours are Wednesday - Saturday, 12-6PM or by appointment.

In addition to natural observation, “Utopia” relishes in a myriad of inspirations as varied as 18th-century portraiture and classic Hollywood films to botany and architecture. Fanciful fantasies unfold in heaps of assorted fabric and flora. Vibrant and luminous, these delightful works are an awakening from the monotony of monochrome. In this state of abundant abstraction, Banzaca offers a safe space for play and wonder.

These multilayered works are a visual palimpsest of a fictional universe; each brushstroke adding to the narrative but of which traces remain. Specialty patterns reference historical subjects and biographies. Tension is created through this uncertainty of time.

“My idea of utopia is a recurring inspiration for my work. Most of my paintings emerge from an interest in creating an imagined space and a unique visual language. As a former graphic designer for print and animation, I spent years looking at and manipulating imagery used in children’s books and television. I take that sense of color and whimsy and paint it as an exploration of color, and light. Abstract shapes and patterns from disparate sources are combined. It can start with a shape, a mark, and an idea of light and color.” –Jennifer Banzaca

Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's
Install image from Jennifer Banzaca's

JENNIFER BANZACA (b. New Jersey, 1969) is a painter and designer living in San Francisco. After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA), she went on to live in New York and San Francisco working as a digital designer for print and animation. In 2004 she resumed her painting practice and continued studies at the Art Students League and the New York Academy of Art.  Jennifer has exhibited throughout the Bay Area and has been an artist in residence at the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts.