Anna Barriball
'It is never only about the surface; it’s about the whole presence of the object and surface together. This is when it starts operating in a sculptural language.'
Working across a range of mediums, Anna Barriball (b. 1972, Plymouth) investigates how the aesthetics of everyday objects, from brick walls to windows, can be reimagined or transformed in unexpected ways. Much of her work generates a dialogue between surface and image, or appearance and sculptural form. In her series Windows 1–10 (2006), for instance, the artist placed small, found photographs of windows on a white background, creating disembodied portals into imaginary spaces.
Different processes of drawing are at the heart of her practice, a medium that she treats in a way that is uniquely tactile. Wall (2021), a drawing of a section of brick wall in the artist’s studio, was created by placing a large piece of paper onto a brick wall and carefully applying graphite on its textured surface. Layers of grey shimmer subtly, creating at once an illusion of a brick wall and an abstract, meditative object. Blinds (yellow and pink) (2020) is the result of the artist dusting powdered pastel onto the paper before dipping it into molten wax and folding the new surface horizontally to replicate the venetian blinds in her studio. The labour-intensive process transforms the drawing into the sculptural realm, giving the pigments a jewel-like quality.
Photography and video are also key mediums for the artist, including the colouring techniques of early cinema. Whether in still or time-based mediums, the artist has an ongoing interest in how temporality, memory and the mechanics of sight all interact.
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Anna Barriball
New Works 18 Mar - 7 May 2016 Golden SquareBy meticulously tracing their surfaces with pencil or ink, she magnifies incidental details and textures created by everyday wear and tear, resulting in works on paper that have a sculptural...Read more -
Silver
17 Oct - 17 Dec 2014 Soho SquareSince opening, Frith Street Gallery has emerged as one of the art world’s most interesting forces, instrumental in developing the careers of internationally renowned figures as well as supporting those...Read more -
Anna Barriball
8 Nov - 21 Dec 2013 Golden SquareThis exhibition presents works on paper alongside a series of new videos inspired by the colouring techniques used in early cinema. The seven videos are shown on floor-based monitors and...Read more -
After the Volcano: A Summer Show of Gallery Artists 3 Jul - 14 Aug 2010 Golden SquareAfter the Volcano: a summer show of gallery artists features work by 14 gallery artists: Massimo Bartolini, John Riddy, Anna Barriball, Dayanita Singh, Dorothy Cross, Bridget Smith, Tacita Dean, Juan...Read more
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Anna Barriball
16 Jan - 6 Mar 2009 Golden SquareThe central piece in this exhibition is made from second hand curtains – chintzes and repeat patterns which feature images of flowers and other types of vegetation. Barriball has cut...Read more -
Resonance
The Final Exhibition at 59–60 Frith Street 3 Nov - 21 Dec 2006 Soho SquareFrith Street Gallery was established in 1989 with the intention of exhibiting drawings and works on paper. This exhibition recalls the gallery’s origins, bringing together works by gallery artists and...Read more -
Anna Barriball
24 Mar - 7 May 2004 Soho SquareMany of the pieces in this exhibition take the form of found objects, which the artist has subjected to sometimes subtle, sometimes not-so-subtle transformations. Much of Barriball’s practice explores and...Read more -
Frequencies
22 May - 4 Jul 2003 Soho SquareChantal Akerman’s Avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton is a portrait of the cellist and composer, Sonia Wieder-Atherton. In the film Akerman portrays the musician as an actor engaged in dialogue with her...Read more -
Drawings
5 Apr - 17 May 2001 Soho SquareWall-, floor-, light-based and free-hanging, the drawings in this show defy the status of the drawing as solely a preliminary study and revel in the use of colour – with...Read more