The Armory Show 2025: Booth 444

Alice Baber (b. 1928, USA — d. 1982, USA) was a pioneering American painter known for her radiant explorations of colour, light, and form within the context of post-war abstraction. Her practice, rooted in Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field painting, combined a distinctive lyrical sensibility with technical experimentation, producing organic, biomorphic compositions that reflected her deep emotional and sensory connection to colour. Born in Charleston, Illinois, Baber began drawing as a child and entered college-level art classes by the age of twelve. She studied at Lindenwood College and later transferred to Indiana University, Bloomington, where she completed her MA in 1951. After a brief period at the École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, she relocated to New York City and became part of the vibrant downtown scene. In 1958, Baber had her first solo exhibition and began developing the signature circular forms that would define her visual language. That same year, she began traveling regularly to Paris, aligning with a group of American expatriate artists including Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell. Her work gained international recognition throughout the 1960s with exhibitions in London, Edinburgh, Hamburg, and Paris—where she was selected alongside Helen Frankenthaler for the inaugural Jeune Biennale. Baber’s work evolved through continuous experimentation with staining techniques and a growing interest in translucency and movement. She pursued what she called “color hunger”—a process-driven approach in which pigment, light, and emotional response were inextricably linked. By the mid-1970s, she had introduced black into her compositions, expanding her chromatic vocabulary while refining her signature swirling forms. An advocate for gender equity in the arts, Baber participated in several landmark feminist exhibitions, including Women Choose Women (1972), curated by Lucy Lippard. Her work is held in over 40 public collections internationally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Albertina Museum, Vienna; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. 

Pauline Boty (b. 1938, UK— d. 1966, UK) was born in South London, and embarked on her artistic journey with a scholarship to Wimbledon School of Art in 1954. In 1958, she continued her studies at the Royal College of Art. Boty’s diverse body of work, encompassing paintings, collages, and stained glass, often depicted individuals she deeply admired, celebrated her unapologetic femininity, and explored themes of female sexuality. As her career progressed, her paintings began to incorporate more overt or implicit critiques of the male-dominated societal norms she confronted, thus shedding light on the inequalities of the “man’s world” in which she navigated. Boty’s artwork is held in the collections of: The National Portrait Gallery, London; Tate Britain, London; Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton; Stained Glass Museum, Ely; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester; Muzeum Sztuki Łódź, Portugal; Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisboa; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington.

Jann Haworth (b. 1942, USA), among the defining Pop artists, is regarded for her distinctive and restless artistic individuality, infused with wit and material sensitivity. Haworth is recognised as an advocate for female representation in the art world and uses innovative mediums to respond to contemporary culture. A pioneer in soft sculpture, Haworth has extended the reach of what has traditionally been deemed craft into the realm of fine art. Born in Hollywood California, Haworth is closely associated with the 60’s pop art movement in the UK. Her work is in permanent collections of Tate Britain in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Sintra Museum of Modern Art de Belem, Lisbon and Le Delta Museum, Namur. Recent museum acquisitions include Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, mumok, Vienna, Moderna Museet Stockholm, and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah.