Judith Linhares: The Artist as Curator: Sarasota Art Museum, Ringling College of Art + Design, Sarasota, FL

With roots in abstract painting, Linhares’ work reconsiders the expressive possibilities in figuration and narrative. She uses her observation and formal skills to imagine a realm of her own making through layered brush gestures that fill the composition, expressing monumentality and directness. What often emerges are long-limbed, nude figures and wild animals that coexist in a kaleidoscope of colors, liberated from logic or expectation. The women, sometimes represented in groups, own their real estate. They are not posing for the viewer but are more likely to be involved in personal reverie, possessing the agency to climb, lounge, eat, and exist as they please.