Linda Carmella sibio

Wall Street Guillotine

September 27 - December 20, 2024

San Francisco: 349 Geary Street

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Olympia is thrilled to announce Wall Street Guillotine, Linda Carmella Sibio’s inaugural solo exhibition in San Francisco, which marks the debut of our West Coast expansion to 349 Geary Street. 

Fragmentation is a central theme in Sibio’s work, a reality that has influenced her since being diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 18. 

In the 1980s, Sibio’s independent research on the brain and schizophrenia led her to explore themes of delusion, dismemberment, and temporal shifts, culminating in work that reflects notions of atemporality. Her work with individuals on Skid Row deepened her insights:"They spoke to me and I understood them, and they understood me."

Sibio examines the myth of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, challenging the notion that poverty and homelessness results from laziness or personal failure. Her work dissects the complex interplay of governmental and corporate policies that contribute to wealth concentration among the powerful, while also offering nuanced perspectives on survival within these systems.

In Body Type C Minus, the fatal disease of currency creates internal conflict. Drawing from Mayan hieroglyphics, Sibio created hundreds of fragmented images that compose both the central figure and the capitalist-tinged landscape it inhabits. Double Trigger further explores existential anxieties related to capital. Sibio reflects, “We calculate what we could do with the cash if we gave up our bodies forever. We would give up touch, spirituality, and sex for money.”

The exhibition also features Sibio’s video performance piece, Wall Street Guillotine, which took place at Craft Contemporary in January 2024. This performance draws parallels between medieval forms of torture and contemporary wealth disparities, expanding two-dimensional forms into a multi-sensory experience.

Sibio’s exploration of fragmentation serves as a metaphor for societal disintegration, urging viewers to confront and illuminate the shadows of systemic inequality. 

Linda Carmella Sibio was born in West Virginia. After the death of her father and the institutionalization of her mother, she was placed in an orphanage, where drawing became a crucial coping mechanism. Sibio later attended Ohio University, earning her BFA in painting in 1975. During her time there, she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, a pivotal moment that significantly shaped her artistic path.

Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at The Craft Center (Los Angeles, CA, 2024), Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York, NY, 2019, 2003), Track 16 (Santa Monica, CA, 2005), and Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN, 1994). Sibio has also performed at venues such as Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN, 1999), Franklin Furnace (New York, NY, 2022, 1999), and Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles, CA, 2014).

In 2001, she founded Bezerk Productions, a non-profit organization where she developed Cracked Eggs, a series of workshops for neurodiverse individuals. Sibio is currently collaborating with the San Bernardino County Department of Mental Health and its Innovation Division on a pilot program for Cracked Eggs.