FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEBaltimore- Goya Contemporary Gallery is pleased to present a curated selection of works by
Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, USA) and Jo Smail (b. 1943, Durban, South Africa) at the
2023 Armory Show- New York’s premier Art Fair Exhibition at the Javits Center.Goya has been the global representative of both artists for over 20 years, highlighting and confirming
our commitment to artists who exemplify the ethos of our time by means of material culture, that pays
homage to historical movements and materials.A cornerstone of New York’s cultural landscape since its founding in 1994, The Armory Show brings
the world’s leading international contemporary and modern art galleries to New York each year.The fair plays a leading role in the city’s position as an important cultural capital through elevated
presentations, thoughtful programming, curatorial leadership, meaningful institutional partnerships,
and engaging public art activations.Goya Contemporary is honored to represent Maryland/DC/ Philadelphia as one of two galleries
selected from the region. (Along with Locks Gallery in PA)The first time Goya Contemporary exhibited at The Armory Show was back in 2002 with a selection of
rising artists such as Christian Marclay, Liliana Porter, Timothy App, Sam Gilliam, Louisa Chase, Robin
Rose, David Schafer, and both Joyce J. Scott and Jo Smail. Since that time, we have remained
committed to the representation and growth of the artists with whom we work, and have navigated
the landscape to celebrate both women identifying artists and black and brown artists as significant
cultural contributors well before many institutions.In 2021, only a couple of years following accepting management of her estate, Goya Contemporary
represented the Baltimore/ DC corridor with a solo Armory Show booth featuring the work of
Elizabeth Talford Scott. The NY Times called Goya’s presentation one of the top booths to see in an
article dated Sept 9th which spurred an enormous amount of attention on Scott’s practice as well as
the placement of works in important museum collections across the country.Our 2023 presentation hopes to equally celebrate the achievements and invention of Joyce J. Scott
and Jo Smail, solidifying their rightful place in the canon of Art History.FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy Eva Raehse, Executive Director/Partner at Goya Contemporary Gallery
P: 410-366-2001 / [email protected]

Joyce J. ScottMacArthur Fellow Dr. Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, MD) examines the extremes of human nature by conflating humor and horror, history and fantasy, as well as beauty and brutality to create artworks that not only mine the fabric of our complex collective history, but that reveal universal truths. Best known for her use of the off-loom, free-form, glass bead weaving technique referred to as the peyote stitch, Scott merges a spectrum of media with autobiographical, sociological, and political content to unapologetically confront themes of racism, sexism, violence, inequality, history, and oppression while simultaneously embracing splendor, spirituality, nature, and healing.Born to sharecroppers in North Carolina who were descendants of enslaved people, Scott’s family migrated to Baltimore where the artist was born and raised. Scott hales from a long line of makers with extraordinary craftsmanship adept at pottery, knitting, metalwork, basketry, storytelling, and quilting. It was from her family that the young artist cultivated the astonishing skills and expertise for which she is now renowned, and where she learned to upcycle all materials, repositioning craft as a forceful stage for social commentary and activism.Scott earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Instituto Allende in Mexico. In 2018, she was awarded an honorary fellowship from NYU, as well as honorary doctorates from MICA, the California College of the Arts, and Johns Hopkins University.Scott’s work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, books, articles, and curriculum. She has received commissions, awards, grants, fellowships, residencies, and honors from the MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman, American Craft Council, National Living Treasure Award, Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Smithsonian Visionary Artist Award, National Academy of Design Induction, among countless others. Major solo exhibitions include Joyce J. Scott: Kickin’ It with the Old Masters at the Baltimore Museum of Art (2000); Joyce J. Scott, Prospect.2 New Orleans (2011); Maryland to Murano: The Neckpieces & Sculpture of Joyce J. Scott at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York (2014-15); Joyce J. Scott: Truths and Visions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland (2015); and Joyce J. Scott: Harriet Tubman and Other Truths at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ (2018), as well as myriad gallery exhibitions at Goya Contemporary in Baltimore. In 2024 Scott will open a major 50-year retrospective coorganized by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum.Scott’s work is included in major private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Museum of Art and Design, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; Chrysler Museum, Norfork , VA; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH; Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ ; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC; and Seattle Art Museum, WA; among many others.

Jo SmailJo Smail (b. 1943, Durban) is celebrated worldwide for her inventive approach to abstraction across tactile media. Educated in South Africa, Smail moved to Baltimore in 1985 and was Professor of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1988-2017, where she is now Professor Emeritus. Formal exploration as well as innovations emerge from the artist’s personal history – delving into the past, present, and perception of future with equal weight and vibrancy. At once bold, intimate, vulnerable, strikingly beautiful, and inexplicably awkward, Smail’s art captures an uncompromising approach to touch the void where the complications and contradictions of contemporary life intersects with a resilient reinvention, expressively reflecting the human condition in unique ways.Influenced by the horrors of apartheid, a devastating Baltimore studio fire (1995), a life-altering stroke (2000), the sociopolitical content of personal effects, the natural world, and art history, Smail’s work has been the subject of myriad exhibitions and major publications with significant reviews printed in The New York Times, Art in America, The Hudson Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, Artblog, Baltimore Magazine, Artforum Magazine, among many others.In 2020 the artist opened a major career retrospective at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Her work has unceasingly entered numerous important public and private collections globally.Represented in the United States by Goya Contemporary Gallery, Smail has continued to collaborate with fellow South African artist and friend William Kentridge over several years. Contemplating poetry, Henri Matisse, native South African textiles, and even historic newspaper advertisements as her muses, Smail’s engagement with language and culture stand as confirmation that the only thing one expects to see in Smail’s work is something unexpected.Smail has been the recipient of numerous accolades including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award, Trawick Sapphire prize award, multiple Maryland State Arts Council Awards, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Fellowships, Rochefort-en-Terre Residency in France, and nomination for “Anonymous was a Woman.” Smail’s work is included in private and public collections internationally including Baltimore Museum of Art; US Embassy, Johannesburg; Chase Manhattan Bank, Johannesburg & New York locations; Durban Museum and Art Gallery; University of the Witwatersrand; Johannesburg Art Museum; Johns Hopkins University Collection; Mobil Corporation Art Collection; National Gallery of South Africa; Pretoria Art Museum; among many others.

Goya ContemporaryGoya Contemporary Gallery promotes the art and culture of our time by presenting ideas through exhibitions, curatorial practice, catalogues, print publishing, artist representation, and collections. The gallery builds private & public collections, assist in acquisitions, and facilitates auction activity. Goya Contemporary has earned international acclaim for its thought-provoking exhibitions, innovative programming, and unique collaborations with artists. Known as one of the most prestigious and long running galleries in the mid-Atlantic, Goya is dedicated to scholarly programming, and promoting the work of midcareer artists both internationally and locally.