Barbara Walker

02/01/20

I’ve been taking another look at Barbara Walkers work, I find her drawing and printmaking inspiring because she unashamedly uses her drawing skills and is also extremely contemporary in her choice of subject matter. Below I’ve taken an example of two of her projects which I find particularly interesting.

The first is from 2008 called ‘Show and Tell’, it’s almost anthropological in its conception. I need to be braver in my choices and make more political work, but political in a personal sense, to not be scared of casting my option based on lived experiences.

The second is from 2018 called ‘Vanishing Point’, to me this is an example of printmaking made relevant to a contemporary subject matter. The clever use of photopolymer combined with her drawing. It’s a startling body of work that so simply highlights within the history of fine art the invisibility and subjugation of black people. I need to make sure I’m developing work that speaks of today’s issues, they can be personal, about being a woman or mother or artists but they need to resonate and not be produced in a bubble of “me”.

From http://www.barbarawalker.co.uk

‘Show and Tell’, is a series of ongoing works which explore how clothing is used by specific groups of men as a status symbol within their communities. The portraits, created on paper depict faceless young men often turned with their backs to the viewer. By obscuring the identity of her subjects, invites an audience to scrutinise the ‘information’ available – clothing, hair and jewellery – in order to complete the portrait. The works investigate expressions of individuality, conformity and stereotyping – and provoke the following questions: How far are fashion and consumerism responsible for providing the styles that individual’s desire? Do individuals take a lead on how they choose to look while fashion and commercialism follow? And what role do the media play informing public opinion?’

‘Vanishing Point’, explores the visibility of Black subjects in Western European painting within a British national art collection. As demonstrated throughout Walker established bodies of work, she is interested in the representation of Black people in our public archives and collections. Vanishing Point is an opportunity to explore this interest further, and to focus in particular on Art History and the way it has been shaped by institutions and the art establishment in this country from the late Georgian period to the present day.’ (2020, Barbara Walker’s website).

I am aware I want my self-portraits to speak to wider experiences of universal feelings of the dark and light side of being human, but I need more than that for my final MA project.

I’m going to the British Museum on Monday to visit a Käthe Kollwitz exhibition of mainly self-portraits and there’s also an exhibition of drawings from their collection which I want to see. Maybe I’ll get some further inspiration there!