George Barber (artist)

George Barber received his BA in Sculpture 'A' (conceptual department) from St Martins School of Art in 1980 and his MA in Experimental Department from The Slade, in 1984. Barber considers his most important education was growing up in Guyana.[2]

Barber first gained acclaim through his low-tech video pieces composed of found footage which he deconstructed in an effort to display them as contradicting their intended purposes,[3] many of which become a 'deft reworking of cinematic narrative and cliché'.[4] Barber rose to prominence with these works, establishing the Scratch-video movement in the 1980s.[5] Many of Barber's Scratch works including Absence of Satan, 1985 and Yes Frank Don't Smoke, 1986 are seminal to the history of British video art.[6][7]

In 1990s, Barber moved away from Scratch in his practice and created low-tech video works which became 'influential in defining the then emergent ‘slacker' aesthetic'.[8] Barber's works became more varied in the later stages of his career as he shifted towards a more narrative style in his monologue works such as Refusing Potatoes, 2003 or I Was Once Involved In A Shit Show, 2003. With a focus on the narrative in his oeuvre, Barber sees 'himself, like Godard and Chris Marker, as a video-essayist'.[9]

Engaging with current issues and debates in his work, The Freestone Drone, 2013 and Fences Make Senses, 2015 'Barber’s way around art’s potential political inefficacy'[10][11] is to redefine the terms as to the artist, art is a reaction and reflection of the world and the effort to see this reality without veils is an achievement in itself as it allows room for rethinking with less bias and contemplation of a neutral alternative.[10]

Barber has been part of numerous programmes at Tate Modern and had retrospectives at the ICA, New York Film & Video Festival and recently at La Rochelle Festival, France. In 2014 Barber took part at exhibition 'The Invisible Force Behind.' at Imai – inter media art institute[12] within Quadriennale Düsseldorf.[13] In 2015, the artist had three solo exhibitions at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, Young Projects in Los Angeles and waterside contemporary in London. In 2019, the British Film Institute added his work to the National Archive. In 2020, The LUX released his first feature film, The Mindset Suite. In 2021, he was nominated for the Derek Jarman Award. He also returned to his early roots making new purely visual works combining analogue and digital CGI, Video Marilyns Andy Never Thought of is the first result of this new direction. It has been released as a short video work and also auctioned as 4 separate NFTS by daata. In 2022, his latest project in production is Mind Wandering in a Van.

Barber is also Professor of Postgraduate Research at University for the Creative Arts.[14]

Exhibitions & Events

2022 • daata (a new on-line video art platform in partnership with international galleries) launch 4 George Barber NFTs from the series, Video Marilyns Andy Never Thought Of.

2021 • George Barber nominated for the Derek Jarman Award.

2020 • daata launch 5 works with interview with Gareth Evans on The Mindset Suite. • LUX Player. Release of George Barber new feature film, The Mindset Suite, interview with Ben Cook. 2019 • British Film Institute, Southbank, London, We Need To Speak Tony screening. • 2 month Solo show TACO Gallery, London. • DIY Space for London, Basement Pool screening. • Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Absence of Satan and other Scratch works, part of London Short Film Festival. • British Film Institute National Archive place George Barber's work in their collection. The Tate Library also stores a collection of his notebooks, photos and other writings. 2018 • Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, Haroon Mirza curates the Arts Council Collection, Group Show entitled We stared at the Moon from the centre of the Sun, screening of Arts Council Scratch. • Queensland Art Gallery Brisbane, Group Show entitled Limitless, featuring The Freestone Drone. • Labocine.com: Machine Minds & Digital Neurons, Dude Down. 2017 • Split Film & Video Festival, Dude Down & We Need To Speak Tony screenings. • Rewind Exhibition in Shanghai, China. Scratch Works. • BFI Flare Festival London, 2001 Colours Andy Never Thought Of. • Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, Dude Down & We Need To Speak Tony. • Energy Flash MHKA Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp Belgium. Group show featuring 3 George Barber Installations. • Video Data Bank, Chicago, distribute We Need To Speak Tony 2016 • BFI London Film Festival screening of Dude Down. • Oberhausen Film Festival, screening of Akula Dream. And in Oberhausen Film Festival on Tour in UK. • Frieze Magazine. Autobiographical feature written on my influences. • Duolun MoMA, Shanghai, China, Automotive Action Painting screening. • Stuttgart Film Festival, Germany, Garden Centre screened.

2015 • Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff 3 month solo show, entitled, Akula Dream. • Young Projects, Los Angeles, George Barber 3 month solo show, By The Way. • waterside contemporary, London[15] 3 month solo show entitled, Fences Make Senses • SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Montréal, Absence of Satan screening. • Kate Macgarry Gallery, London, What’s That Sound? shown in group show. • The Whitechapel Gallery, London, curator Gareth Evans. The Very Very End shown as part of Abstract Filming Programme. • Split Film Festival, Croatia. The Freestone Drone exhibited as installation.

2014 • The Freestone Drone, waterside contemporary, London[16] • Art Istanbul International, Istanbul, The Freestone Drone exhibited waterside at contemporary’s art fair stand curated by gallery director, Pierre d'Alancaisez. • Touring Show including the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and Wall to Wall, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, screening of Life Fell to Earth, a Film & Video Umbrella commission, curated by Stephen Bode. • Rekurse Prague, Czech Republic, The Freestone Drone screened in Video Versus Film.

• BFI Southbank This is Now: Film & Video After Punk Salon, discussion on stage with George Barber and range of Scratch Video work shown.

2013 • Tate Britain, The Freestone Drone screened as part of, Assembly: A Survey of Recent Artists’ Film and Video in Britain 2008–2013. • Womad Festival, Charlton Park, UK. The Very Very End screened in festival video art section entitled, Rumble, Rattle and Spark: Fire and Explosive in Artists’ Film. 2012 • waterside contemporary, London[16]. The End of the Line, screening of Gibberish, review in Time Out. www.Waterside-contemporary.com

• Victoria & Albert Museum. Tilt and 2001 Colours Andy Never Thought of screened in gallery installation as part of Postmodernism, curated by Glen Adamson.

• Grand Union Gallery, Birmingham, screening Branson and other Scratch Video hits.

• Open File Milton Keynes Gallery, screening of Gibberish.

• The Cultural Centre of Bruges, Belgium, group show India: Visions from the Outside, curators Mr. Shanay Jhaveri and Mme Shai Heredia, screening of India Shouting Match.

• Chisenhale Gallery, Tilt shown as part of Infermental, introduced by James Richards and Dan Kidner.

• Kassel, Germany, 28th Documentary and Video Festival, screening of India Shouting Match.

• Edinburgh Festival, Stills Film Lounge, A selection of artists’ film and video curated by Emile Shemilt with Mineo Aayamaguchi, Doug Aubrey, George Barber, James Casebere, David Critchley, Claire Fowle & Jeanette Ginslov. • Onetakefestival, Croatia, Automotive Action Painting screened.

2011

• Oberhausen Festival, Germany, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • Museum Fur Deutsche Kinemathek, Germany, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • RTVE-Madrid, Automotive Action Painting screened on Spanish Television. 2010 • Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Retrospective Solo Show. • Vienna Art Fair, Gibberish shown in film video section. • Whitechapel Gallery, Gibberish shown. • waterside projects, London, Empty Sets, group show featuring Gibberish. • Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Germany, screening Automotive Action Painting. • South London Gallery, screening of Withdrawal. • Chicago Filmmakers, USA, screening of Shouting Match. • Biennial in Posnan, Poland, Mediations Group Show, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • Erazed Walls, International Project, Berlin, screening of Gibberish. • The Moor, Sheffield. An Evening of Artists' Film & Sound. Works by George Barber, William Basinski & James Elaine, Theo Burt, Roc Jimenez de Cisneros, Simon Cryan, Joe Gilmore & Paul Emery, Oliver Laric, and Guy Sherwin. Screening of Absence of Satan and Tilt. • FormContent Gallery, Ridley Market. Misty Boundaries Fades and Dissolves. Group show, George Barber, Stewart Home, Linder, Clunie Reid, James Richards, Eva Weinmayr. Screening of Tilt, Scratch Free State. • Gallery Primo Alonso, London, Mob Remedies, George Barber, Lothar Götz, Natasha Kidd, Piers Secunda. Screening of Walking Off Court, Yes Frank No Smoke.

2009 • Marc De Puchredon Gallery, Basel, Switzerland, 2 month solo show, Beyond Language. • Light Industry, X-initiative’s NO SOUL FOR SALE, New York City, screening of key works. • Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Automotive Action Painting, curated by Richard Wilson. • LUX release seminal DVD compilation, Beyond Language by George Barber. DVD on sale from Amazon. • Evolution festival, Leeds, George Barber retrospective screening. • Picture This, Bristol, Beyond Language screening with artist presentation. • Street Level, Glasgow, Beyond Language screening with artist presentation. • Vivid, Birmingham, Beyond Language screening with artist presentation. • Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, Beyond Language screening with artist presentation. • Theatre de Caen, France, screening of Withdrawal and Shouting Match. 2008 • Chapter Arts, Cardiff installation of Automotive Action Painting. • BFI, London, Automotive Action Painting. • Jack the Pelican Presents Gallery, New York group show with The Long Commute, video sculpture by George Barber. • Arouca Film Festival Portugal. Following Your Heart. Premiere of work. • Tate Modern, screening of Tilt in Colour Field Film and Video programme by Simon Payne. • 24th Hamburg International Short Film Festival. First Prize awarded to Automotive Action Painting. • Transmission Gallery Glasgow, installation of River Sky, a Film & Video commission. • KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg, screening of What’s That Sound? • BFI Southbank, Antartica Starts Here. Automotive Action Painting part of programme. • Seventeen Gallery, London, screening selection of Scratch Video. • Sadler’s Wells, London’s premiere dance theatre. Dancers respond live to screening of Automotive Action Painting, curator Sacha Cradock. • Stuttgart Film Winter, Germany, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • European Media Art Festival Osnabrück, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • Galway Arts Festival, Ireland, screening of Automotive Action Painting.

2007 • Festival International du Film de La Rochelle, La Rochelle, screening of George Barber Retrospective programme. • Kirkcudbright International Art Festival, Scotland, George Barber Retrospective solo show, mixture of Scratch Work and Automotive Action Painting. • Site Gallery, Sheffield, screening of Shouting Match. • FACT, Liverpool, screening of 1001 Colours Andy Never Thought of. • Festival 2Annas Riga, Latvia, screening of Walking Off Court. • Visonic Belfast, screening of I Was Once in a Shit Show. • BKK Festival, Bangkok, Thailand, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • VTape Toronto, screening of Withdrawal. • Kassel Documentary Film Festival, Germany, screening of Automotive Action Painting. • Transat Video CAEN, France. Screening of 9 works including Automotive Action Painting. • Touring Show, curated and produced by the Film & Video Umbrella, venues include Pump House Gallery, the Wapping Project, Arnolfini, Cornerhouse, Manchester Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery. Automotive Action Painting screened in 40 UK venues. 2006 • TATE Britain, London, installation. Automotive Action Painting, curated, promoted and toured by Film and Video Umbrella with special thanks to Stephen Bode. • Tate Modern & Tate Britain accompanying show to publication, Analogue: Pioneering Video from the UK, Canada and Poland (1968–88) Branson screened. • Tate Modern, Anticipating The Past conference, chair of discussion panel with screening of three works. • Split Film & Video Festival, Croatia, screening of George Barber Retrospective programme. • Free Speech TV, USA, public service station. Walking Off Court broadcast. 2005 • London Gallery West, London, New Work, solo show curated by Michael Maziere featuring various projected videos and large photos. • International Film Festival Rotterdam, screening of What’s That Sound? • Festival International du Film Amiens. Shouting Match screened. • Indielisboa, screening of Shouting Match. • Nuit Blanche, Paris, screening of Shouting Match. • Rotterdam Film Festival, screening of Shouting Match. • Némo Film Festival, Paris, screening of Shouting Match. • Sixpack Film, Vienna, screening of Shouting Match. • Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam, screening of Shouting Match. • Transat Video, Caen, France, screening of Shouting Match. • Festival International du Film d'Amiens, screening of Shouting Match. • MuHKA, Antwerp, Belgium, screening of Shouting Match. • Kino Arsenal, Berlin, screening of Shouting Match. • The Bloomberg Show, The City of London, entitled The Mind Is a Horse 2, screening of Withdrawal.

2004 • World Wide Video Festival, Amsterdam screening of Shouting Match. • Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 2 month solo show featuring Shouting Match, preview in Guardian newspaper. 2003 • Viper Festival Switzerland, screening of Walking Off Court. • Media Art Festival Friesland, Holland, screening of Walking Off Court. • New York Video Festival, Grand Prix awarded by international jury to Walking Off Court. • Split Film & Video Festival, Croatia, screening of Walking Off Court.

2002 • Gallery Contemporain Centre Regional D’Art, Sete, Upside Down Minutiae and Yes Frank No Smoke projected on building wall outside gallery. • Lumiere Cinema. Solo screening, interviewed by Gareth Evans, Time Out and Vertigo critic. • Tate Britain, Programme presented by Dryden Goodwin including Scratch Work. • Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London. Scratch Work part of The Video Show.

Publications, Reviews: 2018 • http://photomediationsmachine.net/2015/12/03/im-a-victim-of-psychotronic-torture/. • Publication of Barber short story, Editor Prof. Joanna Zylinska, Goldsmiths University.

2015 • Art Monthly, October 2015 Maria Walsh 6 page interview feature. • Dazed & Confused, Wired Magazine and Frieze. The Freestone Drone. http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/15600/1/a-drone-goes-native

2013

• Sight & Sound magazine, Sukdev Sandhu. Review of The Freestone Drone solo show at waterside contemporary.

2012 • Time Out Magazine review of The End of the Line held at waterside contemporary, London[16].

2010 • Solo Show Dundee Contemporary Arts, review in Frieze Jan/Feb edition • Solo Show Dundee Contemporary Arts, review in The Guardian Guide. • London’s Resonance FM, interviewed by Morgan Quaintance.

2009 • Art Forum review by Ed Halter. Beyond Language George Barber. The Beyond Language DVD on sale from Amazon. • Art Monthly review by Martin Herbert. • The Daily Telegraph review of The Freestone Drone by Sukhdev Sandhu . • Catherine Elwes, Barber featured as part of her book entitled Landscapes in Moving Image.

2009 • Frieze Magazine freelance reviewer and contributor: • https://frieze.com/contributor/george-barber • Mary Barnes review 2011 Space Gallery Hackney. • Douglas Gordon 2011 K364 Gargosian Gallery, London. • James Richards, 2012 Chisholm Gallery, London • Lindsay Seers 2013, Chapel Kilburn, London. • Life in Film, 2016, George Barber Frieze article. 2005 • George Barber - minigraph, by Gareth Evans and Paul Morley, Film and Video Umbrella, London. • London Gallery West Catalogue, by Michael Maziere, Gemini Press. • Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 2 month solo show featuring Shouting Match, preview in Guardian newspaper.

1988 • Close-Up: Nick Logan, by George Barber, Marxism Today, September 1984. • Looking at Pop Videos and Thinking About Other Things, by George Barber, Journal of Art and Education. References [15]

2008

• Automotive Action Painting, First Prize, 24th Hamburg International Short Film Festival

2004

• Walking Off Court, Grand Prix, Split Film & Video Festival

1998

• 2CB CURTAIN TRIP, Gold Award, ARS ELECTRONICA, Austria

1990

• Gold Award, ARS ELECTRONICA, Austria

1996

• Award, Exploding Cinema Group

2005

• George Barber - minigraph, by Gareth Evans and Paul Morley, Film and Video Umbrella, London
• London Gallery West Catalogue, by Michael Maziere, Gemini Press

1988

• Close-Up: Nick Logan, by George Barber, Marxism Today, September

1984

• Looking at Pop Videos and Thinking About Other Things, by George Barber, Journal of Art and Education