The Balancing Act

Sofia Sominski Gallery is thrilled to present The Balancing Act, the debut solo exhibition of emerging New York-based artist Joey Healey. A graduate of Brown University’s Class of 2024, Healey draws significant inspiration from his hometown, New York City. The ever-evolving landscape of the city serves as a powerful muse for Healey. The graffiti that adorns its walls, constantly painted over and re-emerging, reflects the passage of time, much like the clamor of sounds that fills the streets; from shouts to honks, which has become the soundtrack of his life. If the world is one’s stage, for Healey, the city acts like his sketchbook. The concept of time plays a significant role in his work, evident in the heavy materiality of his works. His paintings reveal layers of transformation, with fragments of past changes visible to the viewer, similar to the evolution of graffiti on a façade over time. In Red is Right, Healey keeps the shimmer of the gold paint he used in the past, intertwining it with substantial layers of paint applied later. The artist believes that paintings can speak between words, capturing glimpses of experiences that resist rational expression. Healey draws influence from Abstract Expressionism and European Modernism, as well as from Egyptian hieroglyphs and the art of the Ancient Americas. He often visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art in search of symbols and their meanings, which, in his opinion, have the power to simplify the complex relations we find ourselves in. Consequently, his paintings emerge as a new form of language, speaking in compelling visual terms. Much like in The Book of Kells, his works create a new visual dictionary in which words and forms become one. While the grid of What Now? articulates clearly the city of his upbringing, in Not Here, the artist introduces a figure caught between presence and disappearance, generating an atmosphere that feels both intimate and enigmatic. Healey is not afraid to pose significant questions, and through his work, he endeavors to uncover their answers. He believes that a simple idea can dispel major misunderstandings and does not shy away from expressing his emotions. In the End serves as a middle ground between True Blue and Red is Right, yet it offers so much more; it provides visitors with insights into a larger question. Once we find this middle ground, we can navigate our lives more peacefully, realizing that there is no absolute right or wrong. To coexist harmoniously, we require both freedom and rules, and neither should exclude the other. With this exhibition, Healey, who experiences life through a vibrant palette, teaches us that existence and the world around us are not merely black or white; rather, they consist of an infinite spectrum of colors in between.