Art@Bainbridge | Elizabeth Colomba: Repainting the Story

Courtesy of the artist

A strong commitment to the figurative tradition defines Elizabeth Colomba’s provocative narratives. In her first solo museum exhibition, the colonial-era interiors of Bainbridge House provide an eloquent foil for the artist’s paintings, which foreground historical and fictional Black women, often richly dressed and placed in the opulent spaces from which they have been erased or in which they were assigned subservient roles. Colomba’s radical resettings of established themes in Western art and culture present her heroines—including the biblical Eve, the mythological Danaë, and the Black model Laure, who posed as the servant in Édouard Manet’s painting Olympia—as central and universal figures. Colomba liberates Black women from traditionally restrictive story lines to reclaim and celebrate their visual autonomy—while addressing her own dual identity as a French citizen of Martinican descent. Curated by Laura Giles, Heather and Paul G. Haaga Jr., Class of 1970, Curator of Prints and Drawings, with Monique Long, independent curator and writer.

Click here to view an online gallery of works in this exhibition.

Click here to download the exhibition brochure.

Art@Bainbridge is made possible through the generous support of the Virginia and Bagley Wright, Class of 1946, Program Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art; the Kathleen C. Sherrerd Program Fund for American Art; Joshua R. Slocum, Class of 1998, and Sara Slocum; and Barbara and Gerald Essig.

Additional support is provided by the Frederick Quellmalz, Class of 1934, Photography Fund; and Stacey Roth Goergen, Class of 1990, and Robert B. Goergen.