Alvaro Barrington, Gated Community 1, NYC 2023, 2023, steel shutter, 66⅛ × 66⅛ × 14⅝ inches; 167.97 × 167.97 × 37.16 cm
Alvaro Barrington in The New Social Environment #729 “Alvaro Barrington: Oh, Sandy? Sandy, Sandy”
January 20, 2023 at 1pm ET
Artist Alvaro Barrington joins Rail contributor Gaby Collins-Fernandez for a conversation. We conclude with a poetry reading by Yasmina Martin.
Sponsored by Karma and Anton Kern Gallery, produced by The Brooklyn Rail.
Register and read more HERE
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La Vie en Rose, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, installation view
Alvaro Barrington in La Vie en Rose
at Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg
January 29 – April 2, 2022
I thought about imagining music as a painting and the show follows through with that. – Alvaro Barrington
Alvaro Barrington’s most recent series explores the centrality of music as a constant source of inspiration in his practice, describing these works as the result of his ongoing pursuit to ‘turn physical the music that I love’. Growing up during the 1990s in Brooklyn, New York, Barrington was heavily influenced by the late American rapper Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), whose often autobiographical lyrics describe a world marked by hardship, but also perseverance and celebration. These ideas resonated with Barrington’s own environment and are reflected in his works, which he infuses with references to his personal and cultural history. ‘When you look at my paintings, you’re encountering parts of my identity,’ he explains. ‘I grew up in a culture where it was really about erasing hierarchies, where we’re all participating in cultural production.’
The exhibition’s title La Vie en Rose references Tupac Shakur’s autobiographical poem ‘The Rose That Grew From Concrete’, which explores the potential for beauty and fragility to arise from harsh surroundings. The artist explains that he pursued ‘this idea that even in the toughest conditions there are people that are beautiful and fragile and tough – all the kind of qualities that you see in a rose.’
Read more HERE
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Alvaro Barrington, photo: Jeremiah Cumberbatch
Conversations | The Artist and the Gallerists: Alvaro Barrington
Art Basel, Miami Beach
Friday December 3rd, 2021
Alvaro Barrington, artist, London and New York
Tim Blum, Co-founder, Blum & Poe, Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York
Pedro Mendes, Co-founder, Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo, Brussels and New York
Kyla McMillan, Founder, Saint George Projects, New York
Moderator: Lou Stoppard, writer and curator, London
This panel offers a frank and informal conversation about the unique relationship between the artist Alvaro Barrington and his gallerists, including how they met, how they came to work together, and how their relationships have evolved over time. The panelists will discuss what it means for an artist to collaborate with and be represented by many galleries, working across different countries, situations and audiences. They will explore how ideas of artist representation are shifting, and how collaboration can go beyond simply sharing artists or spaces.
Born in Venezuela, Alvaro Barrington was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York, by a network of relatives. An unwavering commitment to community informs his wide-ranging practice alongside an exploration of migration and cross-cultural exchange. While Barrington currently considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion, philanthropy and contributions to carnival and the Notting Hill Carnival in London. His approach to painting is similarly inclusive – embracing non-traditional materials and techniques such as burlap and sewing – and infused with references to his personal and cultural history
Blum & Poe was founded by Tim Blum and Jeff Poe in Santa Monica in September of 1994 as a space to show local and international contemporary art in all media. Blum’s extensive experience in the Japanese art world combined with Poe’s keen knowledge of emerging artists in Los Angeles resulted in an international program of influential artists. Throughout a twenty-seven-year history, Blum & Poe has shaped the trajectory of contemporary art by championing artists at all stages of their careers—cultivating the lineages that run between emerging and established practices, and working with artist estates to generate new discourse surrounding historical work. Currently, Blum & Poe represents forty-eight artists and eight estates from sixteen countries worldwide.
Kyla McMillan is the founder of Saint George Projects, an agency specializing in curatorial projects and art consulting. McMillan organizes exhibitions, provides business management services to artists, and advises private and institutional clients on art collecting. Prior to founding Saint George Projects, she worked at David Zwirner Gallery and Gavin Brown’s enterprise as a sales director and artist manager. McMillan has also worked in marketing and communications on campaigns for several arts and cultural institutions, including Dallas Museum of Art, LACMA and Johannesburg Art Fair, as well as brands including: Adidas, Airbnb, BMW and Spotify among others.
Lou Stoppard is a London-based writer and curator. She has written for The Financial Times, Vogue, Aperture, The New York Times and The New Yorker. She has curated a variety of exhibitions including North: Fashioning Identity, an exploration of visual representations of the North of England, at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool and Somerset House, London; and The Hoodie, at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, which looked at this much-debated garment. Her first book, ‘Fashion Together’, an exploration of collaboration was published by Rizzoli in 2017. In 2019, she edited a survey of the work of street photographer Shirley Baker for Mack and her most recent book, ‘Pools’, an exploration of swimming in photography was published by Rizzoli in 2020.
Conversations take place in the Auditorium (Grand Ballroom), Level 2, North. They are free and open to the public on a first come first serve basis, no booking required. Doors will open 10 min before the event.
All conversations will also be livestreamed with subtitles on our Facebook page.
A recording will be available on our youtube channel after the event.
Headsets for hearing aids are available on request in the auditorium. Please check the Convention Center information page for visitor access details.
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Alvaro Barrington has created a series of drawings for download and collaboration.
They are available here.
Edit, color, collage, and tag @alvarobarrington on Instagram or send to info@karmakarma.org
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