Anne Libby

Inspired by the visual seduction of the industrial sublime, Anne Libby’s work creates unexpected new forms by subverting and reinterpreting the signs and symbols of power and control created by contemporary corporate space. Skyscrapers, glass curtain walls, circuit boards, highway interchanges and other urban infrastructure are cannibalized and repurposed in her freestanding sculptures and hybrid wall works. Libby’s process begins as a dissection of industrial and household materials — surfaces of plastic furniture are peeled away to a clean grid of hollow bits that reinforce structure. The ornamental aspects of Libby’s work recall the biomorphic tenets of Art Nouveau. Libby’s highly specific material choices such as aluminum, ceramic, and polyester satin give form to her interest in the interaction between the man-made and the natural world. Seen together, Libby’s architectonic work creates an immersive environment that reflects the dizzying and spectacular effects created by our technologically advanced society, foreshadowing of utopian, or possibly dystopian, landscapes that might await us in the not too distant future.

Anne Libby received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI in 2009 and her MFA at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY in 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include: Dilated Sky, Soft Opening, London, UK (2020); Anne Libby: Form Constant, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, Switzerland (2019); The Golden Door, Magenta Plains, New York, NY (2018); Anne Libby, The Downer, Berlin, Germany (2018); Earthflash, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Anne Libby, Zak’s Project Space, Brooklyn, NY (2017); Marrow into Moxie, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2015); Lillies Lamellae, Metropolitan Structures, Baltimore, MD (2015); Les Annelés, Violet’s Cafe, Brooklyn, NY (2015). Libby has also been included in group exhibitions at Soft Opening, London, UK; Josh Lilley, London, UK; 315 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; SIGNAL, Brooklyn, NY; Nina Johnson, Miami, FL; and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR. Her work was exhibited at Magenta Plains in 2017 as part of a three-person exhibition alongside Peter Nagy and Barry Le Va.

Born in 1987, Los Angeles, CA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

Education

2017

MFA, Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

2009

BFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2021

See Me So, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Reflexions with Michael Henry Hayden, Del Vaz Projects, Santa Monica, CA

2020

Dilated Sky, Soft Opening, London, UK

2019

Form Constant, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, CH

2018

The Golden Door, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Anne Libby, The Downer, Berlin, DE
Earthflash, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2017

Anne Libby, Zak's Project Space, Brooklyn, NY
A Dumb Sound, A Sweet Bell, with Libby Rothfeld, 315 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2016

Marrow into Moxie, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2015

Lillies Lamellae, Metropolitan Structures, Baltimore, MD
Les Annelés, Violet's Cafe, Brooklyn, NY

Group Exhibitions

2022

The Views curated by Zoe Fisher, Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angeles, CA
Out of Bounds, TAM Torrence Art Museum, Torrence, CA

2021

Friends & Family, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
TOES, KNEES, SHOULDERS, HEADS + BUTTS & GUTS, Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
Psychosomatic, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, CA
Frieze Viewing Room, Night Gallery, New York, NY
Your Presence Is Encouraged, Nevine’s Yard, Los Angeles, CA

2020

Independent NY, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Sculpture from a Distance (Part II), Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2019

New Ruins, Soft Opening, London, UK
Group Show, 90 Green Street, Hudson, NY
Rise, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, CH
Dallas Art Fair, Magenta Plains, Dallas, TX

2018

Of Purism, Curated by Charlap Hyman & Herrero, Nina Johnson, Miami, FL
I Had the Landscape in My Arms, Josh Lilley, London, UK

2017

Brass Jingle/Brutalist Jungle, Curated by Keith J. Varadi, Et al, San Francisco, CA
NAGY / LIBBY / LE VA, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Sigh-Fi, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AK

2016

Flowers in Your Hair, Fused Project Space, San Francisco, CA
You'd Give Him a Flower, He'd Keep it Forever, Organized by Jenni Crain, ZAX, Brooklyn, NY
The Second Perennial, Grecian Pavilion, Prospect Park, NY
8/21, Rockaway Beach 96th Street, New York, NY
Summer Sculpture Garden, Signal, Brooklyn, NY
Pipe Dream, Night Gallery & Rachel Uffner, New York, NY
Inaugural Show, In Limbo, New York, NY

2015

Blue Roses the Play, U.S. Blues, New York, NY
Club '63, Violet's Cafe, Brooklyn, NY
There is No Fact As to Whether or Not P, 247365, New York, NY
Tears on My Spider Roll, Violet's Cafe Project Space, Brooklyn, NY

2014

The Fishbone Diagram: Sturgeon's Law and the 10% Potable, U.S. Blues, New York, NY