Barbara Walker (artist)

Barbara Walker MBE RA (born 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a British artist who lives and works in Birmingham.[1] The art historian Eddie Chambers calls her "one of the most talented, productive and committed artists of her generation".[2] She is known for colossal figurative drawings and paintings, often drawn directly onto the walls of the gallery, that frequently explore themes of documentation and recording, and erasure.[3][4] Walker describes her work as social documentary, intended to address misunderstandings and stereotypes about the African-Caribbean community in Britain.[5]

Barbara Walker

MBE RA
Born
Barbara Walker

1964 (age 58–59)
Birmingham, England
NationalityBritish
Education
Awards
  • Evelyn Williams Drawing Award (2017)

Walker grew in a Jamaican family in Birmingham and graduated from the University of Central England, Birmingham in 1996.[6] Her work is part of private and public collections including the Arts Council Collection and the Usher Gallery.[7] She was selected to be included in the first Diaspora Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale 2017.[6]

In 2017 Walker was awarded the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award, part of the Jerwood Drawing Prize.[8] Walker was awarded the 2020 Bridget Riley Fellowship at The British School at Rome.[9] She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to British Art.

Walker was nominated for the 2023 Turner Prize for her work Burden of Proof.[10][11]

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
  • Place, Space and Who, Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent, 2019 - 2020
  • Shock and Awe, curated by Lynda Morris and Craig Ashley, mac, Birmingham, 2016
  • Louder Than Words, Unit 2 Gallery, London Metropolitan University, 2006
  • Testimonies, Queen's Hall, Northumberland, 2005
  • Private Face, EMACA, Nottingham, 2002

Group exhibitions
  • Protest and Remembrance, Alan Cristea Gallery, 2019
  • UNTITLED: Art on the Conditions of Our Time, New Art Exchange, 2017
  • The Meaning of Style: Black British Style, and the underlying political and social environment, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 2010
  • Families, Oxford House, London, 2006
  • Birmingham Artsfest 06, 2006
  • True Stories, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2003
  • Intervention Project, Birmingham, 2002

References
  1. "Barbara Walker". Diaspora Artists. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. Chambers, Eddie (2014). Black Artists in British Art: A History since the 1950s. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857736086.
  3. "Barbara Walker's large scale drawings remember Britain's Black servicemen and women | Arts Council England". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. Young, Graham (21 March 2014). "Birmingham artist is challenging stereotypes". birminghampost. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  5. "Boundary I | Arts Council Collection". www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  6. "Barbara Walker". ICF | International Curators Forum. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  7. Barnfield, Stacey (6 May 2014). "UK's biggest loan collection of British art buys work by West Midlands artists". birminghampost. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  8. "Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017 - Jerwood Visual Arts". Jerwood Visual Arts. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. "Place, Space and Who". 27 July 2019.
  10. Rutherford, Nichola (27 April 2023). "Turner Prize 2023: Windrush and Covid pandemic inspires nominees". BBC News. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  11. Marshall, Alex (27 April 2023). "Artist of Black Portraiture Leads Turner Prize Shortlist". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 May 2023.

Further reading
  • Walker, Barbara. Barbara Walker. Margate, England: Turner Contemporary, 2021. (ISBN 9781999608835)


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