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Barrie West

Sunderland
Conceptual artist working in all media. Founder and supporter of The Sunderland Indie.

 "We are our History" My art explores, and attempts to understand the meaning of "being what you are". By identifying and isolating incidents in our past, we can go a long way to explain the thoughts, feelings and actions of the present. The work is a diary where the incidental and the traumatic jostle for attention in the eyes of a child or in the memory of an adult. The media and practice changes, depending upon the concept. The print/paintings often encourage some kind of interpretation from the viewer; thus the personal becomes universal. By using their own perception and interpretion of the image, the viewer owns the experience as it resonates with their past. Installations, sculptures and assemblages are often concerned with ethics and morality and are like to challange and to question. The work sits somewhere in the canon of Confessional Art depending upon the impact on the viewer.  

Career path I was unaware that I was becoming an artist. It was something I just did. Making art for me was a compulsion which has been endorsed and validated by the BA and the MA courses at University. Up until recently the teaching of art was my living but it is anticipated that this will be replaced by a greater reliance on art sales and commissions.

 

Solo exhibitions 2007 - Between Tides, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland 2007 - Origins, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland 2004 - A Long Time Remembered, Torre Abbey House and Gallery, Torquay, Torbay, South Devon 1996 - Art in a Caring Environment, Palmers Hospital, Jarrow 1995 - Art in a Caring Environment, Marie Curie Cancer Centre 1994 - Secret Gardens St Clares Hospice, Jarrow 1992 - Festival of the Air, Washington, Sunderland 1988 - Green Fingered Exercise, Urban Craft Design Ltd, Sunderland 1987 - Green Fingered Exercise, Royalty Theatre, Sunderland 1986 - Mural, Cherry Knowle Hospital, Sunderland 1986 - Two Steps Back, Royalty Theatre, Sunderland Group exhibitions 2009 - Art In A CD Case, EDAN Courtyard, Seaham, Sunderland 2009 - With Books In Mind, South Shields Central Library, South Shields, South Tyneside 2008 - Crook Hall Tapestry, Crook Hall, City of Durham 2008 - EDAN At The Gates, Gates Shopping Centre, Durham 2007 - Art in the Garden, ASSIGN - Frederick Street Studios, Sunderland 2007 - Autumn Exhibition, Biscuit Factory , Newcastle 2007 - I Only Asked, Biscuit Factory, Newcastle Upon Tyne 1997 - Jarrow Festival, Viking Studio 1996 - On the Corner, Sunderland Artists Initiative 1994 - NE8 Print Exhibition Bede Gallery and tour 1994 - Pieces of Eight, Tenants Auction Centre, Leyburn 1993 - Art in the Metro, Newcastle 1991 - Waterfront Festival, Sunderland 1990 - Vincent, Bede Gallery, Jarrow 1989 - European Art Schools, Antwerp 1989 - Three Northern Artists, Bede Gallery, Jarrow Live/Performance 2009 - Bad Memory Burning, Castle Eden Dene Lodge, Castle Eden, Durham 2009 - Regimental Colours, Crook Hall, City of Durham 2009 - The Birth of the Gerlingen Box, Stadtmuseum, Gerlingen, Stuttgart 2008 - Fish Box Burial, Stadtmuseum - Gerlingen, Stuttgart Projects 2002 - Wow

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