Maria Theresa Barbist was born in Schwaz, Austria and lives and works in Miami, Florida. She translates traumatic memories and emotional states into performative actions, moving pictures and sculptural objects. Barbist holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Innsbruck and received her MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Selected Solo exhibitions include KINDERLAND (2019), Taplin Gallery, Miami, Florida, FADENSPIELE (2015) Swenson Gallery, Miami, Florida and LEBENSBILDER – Life in Pictures (2013), Studio 16 Gallery, San Francisco, California. Selected group exhibitions include at the Diego Rivera Gallery, ‘Echoes: From There To Here’ (2019), at the Neue Galerie Home Is Where The Heart Is (2018) and at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami Intersectionality in South Florida (2016).
Barbist received an Ellies from Oolite Arts (2020), a Community Grant from the Miami Dade Department for Cultural Affairs (2019), and an Awesome Foundation grant (2018) as well as residencies at the Bakehouse Art Complex and the Culver Overtown library through ProjectArt. Her work is in the Miami Airport Collection and several private collections. As part of the BABA Collective she is collecting oral histories of South Florida based artists in the Rocking Chair Sessions podcast. During the pandemic she has recorded her debut EP of original songs under the moniker MY AUXILIARY EGO which was released in June 2021.
[Headshot by Monica McGivern]
Solo Exhibitions
2022
PERFORMATIVE ACTIONS, Brockway Memorial Library, Miami Shores, FL
2019
KINDERLAND, Taplin Gallery, Miami, FL
2015
FADENSPIELE, Swenson Gallery, Miami, FL
2013
LEBENSBILDER – Life in Pictures, Studio 16 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
FRAGILE CONNECTIONS, Paul Sack Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions, Film Screenings & Performances
2023
Fall Faculty Exhibition, Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, Davie, FL
INTERSECTIONS, New World School of the Arts Miami, FL
BLUECHIP, Club Gallery, Miami, FL
305 & Havana Film Festival, Miami, FL
2022
BLUPRNT, Bridge Red Studios, Miami, FL
BEGRABUNG, Immersion VR Salon, Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC
FOMENT, Studio Judy G, Watsonville, CA
UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR, Carolyn M. Wilson Gallery, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
MY AUXILIARY EGO, Miami International Performance Festival, Bass Museum, Miami Beach, FL
GRASS STAINS 2022, The Curtiss Mansion, Miami, FL
2021
VIEWPOINTS: Expressions of an artist community, Audrey Love Gallery, Miami, FL
RECENT ACQUISITIONS, Miami International Airport, Miami, FL
SHOW YOUR WOUND, German Cultural Center, Goethe Institute, Atlanta, GA
2020
ART IN NATURE, Common Grounds, North Miami, FL
WEAVING (Labor Day), Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, FL
2019
MIAMI RELOAD, Edge Zones, Miami, FL
ECHOES: FROM THERE TO HERE, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
ARTISTS DRAW THEIR STUDIOS, Art and Culture Center South Florida, Hollywood, FL
COLLABO 6, Mana Contemporary, Miami, FL
EXPOSED, Art and Culture Center South Florida, Hollywood, FL
305 + HAVANA INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FEST, Miami, FL and Havana, CU
SCREENDANCE MIAMI, Miami Light Project, Miami, FL
2018
SOLIDARISCHE SPEKULATIONEN. Warten im Testbild, members exhibition Tiroler Kuenstler*schaft, Kunstpavillion, Innsbruck, AT
2018 FLORIDA BIENNIAL, Art and Culture Center Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
B18: WIREGRASS BIENNIAL, Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, AL
BLUEPRINT, Audrey Love Gallery, Miami, FL
PRELUDE LIEBEN, Filmabend, Taxispalais Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AT
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS, Filmsalon Tiroler Kuenstlerschaft, Neue Galerie, Innsbruck, AT
EXPOSED, Art and Culture Center South Florida, Hollywood, FL
SCREENDANCE MIAMI FESTIVAL, Miami Light Project, Miami, FL
2017
ROUTE 1804, Magic City Warehouse, Miami, FL
BITCHES, WITCHES AND SHOTS, Pinta Miami, TBD Independent Project, Miami, FL
SNAP TO GRID, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA
LE SALON DE DIEGO, San Francisco Art Institute Alumni Exhibition, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
LOCAL ARTIST SERIES VII EXHIBITION: Truth and Reconciliation, curated by Marie Vickles, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami, FL
SALON EXPANDED, Kuenstlerhaus Buechsenhausen, Innsbruck, AT
MIAMI PERFORMANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, Edge Zones, Miami, FL
305 + HAVANA INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FEST, Miami, FL and Havana, CU
HOT HOUSE, Design Sublime, Miami, FL
9 TOPICS TRIAD, Arthill Gallery, London, UK
ARTFIELDS, Lynches Lake Historical Society, Lake City, SC
EXPOSED, Art and Culture Center Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
THE NERVE, FAT Village Projects, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2016
ERIE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Erie, PA
MIAMI SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, MIAMI, FL
FIBERISH, curated by Pip Brant, FIU Miami Beach Urban Studios Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
INTERSECTIONALITY IN SOUTH FLORIDA, curated by Richard Haden, MoCA, North Miami, FL
LOS ANGELES CINEFEST, Los Angeles, CA
MIAMI PERFORMANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, Edge Zones, Miami, FL
NOLA SHORT FILM COMPETITION, FilmGate, O Cinema Wynwood, Miami, FL
WISH YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THIS, curated by Ma Li, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
RECENTLY ACQUIRED, curated by Mindy Solomon, Audrey Love Gallery, Miami, FL
A REAL SHIT SHOW, Flowerbox Projects, Miami, FL
2015
WEST OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, honorable mention, Miami Lakes, FL
WE PLAY SO HARD AT BEING HUMAN, curated by Kate Barton, curatingcontemporary.com
ART FALLOUT, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FL
7th ALL-MEDIA JURIED BIENNIAL, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
9 TOPICS GUEST EXHIBIT, Girls’ Club Collection, Fort Lauderdale, FL
COLLABO 5, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
TALK BACK, Edge Zones, Miami, FL
MIAMI PERFORMANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Miami Beach, FL
ON TIME, ON ACCIDENT, curated by Cassidy Garbutt, Gallery 102, Washington, DC
2014
EINKEHR, Scrawl Center for Drawing, San Francisco, CA
FRAGMENTS, Bay Area Student Film Festival, Berkeley, CA
IF…, Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA
MIAMI PERFORMANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, Edge Zones, Miami, FL
PRINCIPAL, San Francisco Art Institute MFA Show, The Old Mint, San Francisco, CA
ENGENDERING PERFORMANCE: A CALL AND RESPONSE, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
TIME/SPACE, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PERFORMANCE PLATFORM, San Francisco, CA
GENERATION, Something Spacious, Oakland, CA
THE MATERIALITY OF TABLEAU, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
BEGEGNUNG, 100 Performances for the Hole, SOMarts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013
PAINTING BETWEEN ACTION AND IDEA, curated by Liam Everett, ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
BORDER/LINE, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
VISUAL TRANSLATIONS, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA
CONTINUING MFA SHOW, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SPUREN: WE LEAVE TRACES, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Education
2005 PhD in Psychology, University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
2009 Psychodrama Psychotherapy Training, University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
2010 Movement-based Expressive Arts Education and Therapy, Tamalpa Institute, Kentfield, CA
2014 MFA in New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Recognitions
Miami Individual Artist Grant, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, 2022
The Ellies Award, Oolite Arts, 2020
Community Grant, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, 2019
Awesome Foundation Grant, 2018
Residencies
The School of Making Thinking, Wilmington, NC
Grass Stains, Pioneer Winter Collective, Miami, FL
ProjectArt, Culmer/Overtown Library, Miami, FL
Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
Scrawl Center for Drawing, San Francisco, CA
Presentations and Workshops
Teen Art Force, Mixed Media Class, MOCA, North Miami, FL
First Aid Kit for Artists, workshop series, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
Live Virtual Local Views at PAMM, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL
The Portfolio Review Series Online, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL
MBUS Live Art Talk, Fiber Art Series, Miami Beach Urban Studios, Florida International University, Miami Beach, FL
Selected Press and Publications
Local artists get a tailwind boost from MIA acquisitions initiative, News Miami Airport, September 16, 2020
Swampspace: The BABA Collective “Rocking Chair Sessions”, Miami Herald, May 3, 2019.
We are moving stories. “Erie International Film Festival – Testimony“. online, 2016.
Open Studio Press. “Studio Visit Magazine Volume 34”. Boston, 2016
Arroyo, Eddie. “Miami Performance International Festival.” Miami Rail, Fall Issue, 2014.
San Francisco Art Institute. “Principal, MFA Catalogue.” San Francisco, 2014.
Root Division. “MFA NOW 2014 Archive.” San Francisco, 2014.
Contemporary Performance. “Contemporary Performance Almanac 2015.” New York, 2015.
Barbist, Maria Theresa. “Einkehr“. Bruderherz Verlag. San Francisco, 2014.
Collaborations
SF ARTISTS ALUMNI, community project, 2020 – ongoing
MY AUXILIARY EGO, music project, 2020 – ongoing
ROCKING CHAIR SESSIONS, podcast and exhibits, 2017-2020
LAND, 2016, directed and choreographed by Jenny Larsson, FIU Nature Preserve
GENUS GENET, 2015, directed and choreographed by David Rohn and Danilo De La Torre, MTC, Miami, FL
THE FUTURE WHITE WOMEN OF AZANIA, directed and choreographed by Athi Patra-Ruga, The Bass Museum, Miami Beach, FL