Shifting Vision: Joel Babb’s Painted Universe

FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM • September 10, 2026

The imagination of Joel Babb is balanced by his painterly precision, resulting in sweeping landscapes that shift between illusion and reality. His emphasis upon passageways, often defined by light, results from multiple vantage points and degrees of detail. These visual shifts evoke a hiker’s sense of trek and discovery, whether through large-scale, aerial views of Boston or ground-view perspectives of the Maine wilderness. Shifting Vision: Joel Babb’s Painted Universe will feature a dozen large-scale works, ranging from his earliest to most recent Maine paintings, with an examination of philosophical and technical approaches that shape his practice. At Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, October 3, 2026 – January 31, 2027.