Summer House: organized by Thea Smolinski
Pablo’s Birthday is delighted to present Summer House organized by curator and advisor, Thea Smolinski. The presentation features work by Alex Becerra, Mark Ryan Chariker, Gabrielle Garland, Brice Guilbert, Gala Knörr, Amy Lincoln, Maud Madsen, Nat Meade, Koichi Sato, Tony Toscani, and Lorena Torres. Smolinski borrows the title from a tradition of urban escapism, with all the implications of cooler breezes, slower paces, and endless afternoons; as if the warmer weather suddenly authorizes spontaneity, cheer, and idleness - and the occasional dubious decision.
With lusciousness comes both the drought and rain, the exhibition brings together artists whose main themes tend to reflect this summer agenda; our bodies desperate to reconnect with nature, our sudden amusement with mundanity, sweating in a collective revelry, and the ultimate authorization to be lazy. In Summer House, figures indulge in this nothingness; basking in apathy, appearing blissful in the slow passing of time, or posing together in celebration. Outdoor scenes evoke the awesomeness of nature and playfully use color tuned into the vibrancy of the season.
A quiet, heat-laden stillness permeates many of the works in Summer House. In Lorena Torres’ UNA VEZ EN ABRIL (2025), a man rests in a hammock, suspended in languor, while in Tony Toscani’s Where She Waits, a woman perches in airy summer clothes. Gala Knörr’s La fiesta terminó, larga vida a la fiesta (2024) drifts into the surreal, with a green face lost in ecstasy. Maud Madsen’s Pillow Fort (2022) introduces a playful mystery, cloaked in hues of blue. Nat Meade and Alex Becerra offer male figures immersed in summer reverie—whether caught in ocean waves or shaded beneath a brimmed hat. Nature comes alive in the dreamy, almost otherworldly color palette of Amy Lincoln’s Pink and Green Storm Clouds (2020), to the explosive volcanic light in Brice Guilbert’s Fournez. Gabrielle Garland paints an idyllic summer escape, while Koichi Sato and Mark Ryan Chariker create tender, reflective scenes that gently remind us of the joy—and strangeness—of being together again.
Thea Smolinski is an advisor, collection manager, and curator who believes wholeheartedly in the power of providing a platform for art and artists. She has a BA in Art History from Georgetown University, and completed an MA and doctoral exams at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She has held positions in various sectors of the arts, including museums (The Wolfsonian-FIU), galleries (Michael Werner and Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art), advisories (Allan Schwartzman), private collection management, and research (the great Linda Nochlin). She has only mild regrets about not taking that internship with Phillips in 2005, and knows more about international shipping regulations than she ever expected to. Recent curatorial efforts with the Jane Club (Los Angeles), the Pit (Palm Springs), Shrine (Los Angeles), Massey Klein (New York), Future Fair (Los Angeles), and Mrs (New York) reflect an ongoing interest in women, networks, and labor. She lives in Los Angeles with painter Craig Kucia and their two children.
