Gio Swaby facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gio Swaby
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | September 9, 1991 |
| Nationality | Bahamian |
| Alma mater | OCAD University
Emily Carr University of Art and Design The University of The Bahamas |
Gio Swaby (born Giovanna Swaby in 1991) is a talented artist from the Bahamas. She creates amazing art using fabrics and threads, which is why she's called a textile artist. Gio Swaby currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
She is famous for her unique fabric portraits and silhouettes. These artworks are like a special message, celebrating Black women. Her art is so important that it's kept in major museums, like the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Early Life and Art Training
Gio Swaby grew up in Nassau, Bahamas. She lived with her three older sisters and one younger brother. Their mother was a seamstress, someone who sews clothes for a living.
When Gio was a child, her mother taught her how to sew clothes for her dolls. This early experience with sewing greatly influenced her art. It helped her discover her own way of creating.
Gio first studied art at the College of the Bahamas. Later, she moved to Vancouver, Canada, to attend Emily Carr University of Art and Design. In 2016, she earned a degree in Film, Video, and Integrated Media.
In 2022, she completed a higher degree, a Master of Fine Arts, at OCAD University.
Major Art Shows
Gio Swaby's first big solo art show in a museum was called Gio Swaby: Fresh Up!. Two museums worked together to organize it: the Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Gio Swaby: Fresh Up! show first opened in St. Petersburg, Florida. It started on May 28, 2022. It was supposed to run until October 9, 2022. However, because of Hurricane Ian, the show closed a week early. It ended on October 2, 2022. The same exhibition is set to open at the Art Institute of Chicago on April 9, 2023.
A special book about her artwork was published on April 12, 2022. It was released by Rizzoli Electa. This book came out at the same time as her first solo museum show. It includes a special interview between Gio Swaby and Pulitzer Prize winner, Nikole Hannah-Jones.
In 2022, Gio Swaby also showed her art at EXPO Chicago. Her work was even featured in the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
Artworks in Collections
Gio Swaby's art is part of the permanent collections of several museums. This means her artworks are owned by these museums and can be shown to the public for a long time.
Here are some of the places where her art is kept:
- Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
- Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Florida
- Harper House, Detroit, Michigan
- Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota
Solo Exhibitions
These are some of the art shows where Gio Swaby's work was featured by itself:
- “Gio Swaby: Fresh Up!” Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL – 2022
- “Both Sides of The Sun” Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY - 2021
- "We All Know Each Other" Unitt/Pitt Projects, Vancouver, BC - 2017
