Drawing Room and Modern Art Oxford jointly present A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, a group exhibition that celebrates the sustained power of drawing in the digital age.
The exhibition at Drawing Room brings together a dynamic selection of recent works by 6 international artists who are committed to the materiality of paper and pencil, showcasing a remarkable attention to detail and skill. In an age of mass media, where the rapid proliferation of images leaves many on the verge of digital exhaustion, A Slice Through the World explores the power of traditional drawing to make us slow down and reconsider how we look at the world.
By looking at this ancient communication technology as it meets the newest forms of digitised image culture, A Slice through the World will signal the resilience of drawing as a means of responding to contemporary questions of dialogue and representation, reinforcing its status as an inherently interdisciplinary medium that remains central to artistic practice across the world.
A Slice through the World is a collaboration with Modern Art Oxford. The featured artists across the two-venue group exhibition are ruby onyinyechi amanze, Nidhal Chamekh, Milano Chow, Kate Davis, Karl Haendel, David Haines, Ian Kiaer, Ciprian Muresan, David Musgrave, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Kathy Prendergast, Massinissa Selmani, Lucy Skaer and Barbara Walker.
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze (b. 1982, Port-Harcourt) lives and works in New York and Philadelphia. Graduated from BFA at Tyler School of Art, Temple University (2004); and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (2006). She was selected as a finalist for the Prix Canson Drawing Prize (2016); was an Open Sessions participant at the Drawing Center, New York (2015-17); and was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award in Drawing to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2012-13). Select residencies include Queens Museum, Flushings, New York (2015-16); Workspace Program, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York (2014-15); Bric Arts, New York (2014); BetterArt Residency Program, New York (2011); and Cooper Union School of Art, New York (2011). Select solo exhibitions include STAR FISH, Smack Mellon, New York (2017); The Armory Show Focus, Marian Ibrahim Gallery, Seattle (2016); SALT WATER, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg (2015); and a story. in parts., Tiwani Contemporary, London (2015). Select group exhibitions include Open Sessions, The Drawing Center, New York (2017); The Day Comes, Galerie des Galeries, Paris (2017); Studio Program Exhibition, Queens Museum, New York (2017); Dialogues in Drawing, Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco (2017); Un-becoming, Fridman Gallery, New York (2016); The Ease of Fiction, Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh (2016); KIN, Hanger, Lisbon (2016); Speaking Back, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2015); Telling Truths/Speaking Secrets [November 2014], Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green (2014); no one belongs here more than you, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (2013); Waiting for the Queen, Dyker Gallery, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York (2012); and Part II, Causeu Contemporary Gallery, New York (2011).
Milano Chow (b. 1987, Los Angeles) lives and works in Los Angeles. Received her BA from Barnard College (2009); and attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2013). Chow was awarded the Pollock- Krasner Foundation Grant (2018). Select solo exhibitions include These Buildings are Rated X, Chapter NY, New York (2018); Sightlines, Museo Apparente, Naples (2017); Egg and Tongue, Mary Mary, Glasgow (2016); The Painted Screen, Chapter NY, New York (2015); and Mode Pratique, Young Art, Los Angeles (2015). Select group exhibitions include Line and Verse, Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm (2018); The Beyond: Georgia O’Keefe and Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas (2018); Milano Chow/Ann Green Kelly/Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles (2017); 2016 Inaugural Exhibition, Romeo, New York (2016); I hope to God you’re not as dumb as you make out, Mary Mary, Glasgow (2015); Light Night, Wallspace, New York (2014); and Near Dark, Young Art, Los Angeles (2013). Her work is held in private and public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Nidhal Chamekh (b.1985, Dahmani) lives and works in Paris and Tunis. Graduated with a PhD Research in Fine Arts and Art Sciences from Paris I, Panthéon La Sorbonne, Paris; MA in Fine Arts & Art Sciences from Paris I, Panthéon La Sorbonne, Paris; and BA in Fine Arts, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Tunis. He was the recipient of grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Quebec (2015, 2012); and the Al Mawred Al Thaqafi Foundation, Brussels (2013). Select solo exhibitions include Mnēmē, Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said (2016); Burn, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan (2016); Dispars, Aïcha Gorgi Gallery, Sidi Bou Said (2014); and Entre les choses, Mariska Hammoudi Gallery, Paris (2014). Select group exhibitions include Memory Matters, Skissernas Museum, Lund (2018); A Slice Through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford and Drawing Room, London (2018); The Sea is the Limit, York Art Gallery, York (2018); Newwwar. It’s Just a Game?, Bandjoun Station, Bandjoun (2017-18); Graphic Witness, Drawing Room, London (2017); Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London (2017); Yinchuan Biennale: For an Image, Faster Than Light, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan (2016); Aïchi Triennale, Homo Faber: A Rainbow Caravan, Museum of Contemporary Art of Nagoya, Nagoya (2016); Effervescence, Institut des Cultures d'Islam, Paris (2016); Inventory, New Works and Conversations Around African Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire (2016); and All the World's Futures, 56th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2015). His work is held in public collections including The British Museum, London; Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth; Barjeel Foundation, Sharjah; Blachère Foundation, Apt; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris/San Francisco; and Kamel Lazaar Foundation, London.
Kate Davis (b. 1977, New Zealand) lives and works in Glasgow. Graduated from the Glasgow School of Art (2001). Awards include the Margaret Tait Award (2017); Creative Scotland Artists Bursary Award (2014); and Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Washington (2012). Residencies include International Visiting Artist Residency, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand (2016); Camden Arts Centre Artist in Residence, London (2010); Banff Centre Visual Arts Residency, Canada (2008); and Cove Park Visual Arts Residency Award, Scotland (2008). Select solo exhibitions include Charity, LUX, London (2017); Nudes Never Wear Glasses, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh (2017); The Unswept Floor, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand (2016); Eight Blocks or a Field, Temporary Gallery, Cologne (2013); Not Just the Perfect Moments, The Drawing Room, London (2012); Ranziges Fett, Galerie Kamm, Berlin (2012); Peace at last!, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (2011); Your Body is a Battleground Still, Art Now, Tate Britain (2007); and Stop! Stop! Stop!, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2006). Select group exhibitions include The Driver’s Seat, Cubitt Gallery, London (2018); Here was Elsewhere >>FFWD, Cooper Gallery DJCAD, Dundee (2018); A Slice Through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Drawing Room, London and Modern Art Oxford, Oxford (2018); NOW: Susan Philipsz, Michael Armitage, Yto Barrada, Kate Davis, Hiwa K, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2017); Drawn from Life: People on Paper, Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition (2016); GENERATION: 25 years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2014); and The End of the Line: Attitudes in Drawing, a Hayward Touring Exhibition (2009).
Karl Haendel (b. 1976, New York) lives and works in Los Angeles. Graduated from BA Art-Semiotics and Art History at Brown University, Providence (1998); the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York (1999); Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan (2000); and MFA University of California, Los Angeles (2003). Awards and residencies include the California Community Foundation; Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant (2015); Chinati Foundation Artist in Residence (2011); and the Penny McCall Foundation Award, Durfee Foundation Grant (2004). Select solo exhibitions include Doppelgänger, WENTRUP, Berlin (2018); Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2017); Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, Naples (2016); Organic Bedfellow, Feral Othello, Mitchell-Innes Nash, New York (2015); Weeks in Wet Sheets, Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zürich (2015); People Who Don’t Know They’re Dead, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2014); and MOCA Focus: Karl Haendel, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2006). Select group exhibitions include A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford and Drawing Room, London (2018); The American Dream. American Realism 1965-2017, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden (2017-18); I who make mistakes on the eternal typewriter, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Diepenheim (2017); Game On!, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa (2017); Biennial of The Americas, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (2015); 2014 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2014); Manifest Intention. Drawing in All its Forms, Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2014); and Drawn From Photography, The Drawing Center, New York (2011). His work is held in public and private collections including Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld; La Colección Jumex, Mexico; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Guggenheim, New York.
David Haines (b. 1969, Nottingham) lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Studied at Camberwell School of Art, London; and The Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. Haines' work is featured in publications including Vitamin D2, Phaidon (2013); Drawing People by Roger Malbert, Thames and Hudson (2015); and Interdisciplinary Encounters - Hidden and Visible Explorations of the work of Adrian Rifkin, I.B.Tauris (2014). Awards include the Irinox Drawing Prize, Artissima, Turin (2017); and the Jeanne Oosting Prize, The Hague (2012). Haines exhibited as part of the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011). Select solo exhibitions include A Fragile Membrane, an Illusive Screen, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017); Two Way Mirror, Tyneside Cinema (Gallery), Newcastle (2017); Disegni, Artissima, Turin (2017); Armory Show, New York (2016); Discoveries, Art Basel HK, Hong Kong (2014); and Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam (2013). Select group exhibitions include Trouble in Paradise, Kunsthal, Rotterdam (2019); A Slice Through the World, Drawing Room, London (2018); Drawing Biennial 2017, Drawing Room, London (2017); New Dutch Short Films, Rooftop Films/ Trilok Fusion Center for the Arts, New York (2016); Art at the Spaarne (The Collection/Donation of Bart Spoorenberg), Teylers Museum, Haarlem (2016); Transformer, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam (2015); Beauty of Violence, Museum Het Dolhuys, Haarlem (2014); and Nothing in the World But Youth, Turner Contemporary, Margate (2011).
Ian Kiaer (b. 1971, London, UK) lives and works in Oxford, UK. Kiaer studied at the Slade School of Art, UK (1995); and at the Royal College of Art, UK for his MA (2000) and PhD (2008). His installations involve groupings of architectural models, untouched or slightly modified found objects, and two-dimensional work to create fragmented narratives. These works are prompted by the ideas of utopian thinkers, architects, and artists from various periods of history whose common concern has been their resistance and critique of dominant ideologies – while providing possible alternatives for thought. Select solo exhibitions include Endnote, tooth, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (2017-2018); Neubauer Collegium, Chicago, USA (2016); Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico (2015); Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK (2014); Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK (2014); Centre International d'art et du Paysage, Vassivière, France (2013); Aspen Art Museum, USA (2012); Kunstverein, Munich, Germany (2010); Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin (2009); Bloomberg SPACE, London (2009); and British School at Rome, Italy (2005). Select group exhibitions include We Stared at the Moon from the Centre of the Sun, Towner Art Gallery, Sussex (2018); Strange Days, frac île-de-france, Paris (2017); Klappe eins, Affe tot, Kunstsaele Berlin, Berlin (2016); Concrete, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (2015); L'Image Papillon, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2013); The Space Between, Tate Britain, London (2012); All of this and Nothing, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011); British Art Show 7, Hayward Gallery, London (2010); and Setting the Scene, Tate Modern, London. Kiaer also participated in the 10th Lyon Biennale (2009); the 4th Berlin Biennial (2006); and the 50th Venice Biennale (2005). His work is held in public and private collections including Tate, London, UK; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA.
Ciprian Mureşan (b.1977, Dej) lives and works in Cluj. Graduated from Academy of Fine Arts, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj (2003); and The University of Art and Design, Cluj (2001). Select solo exhibitions include Ciprian Muresan, SMAK Museum, Ghent, BE (2019); Ciprian Mureșan, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2018); Art Club 22: Ciprian Mureșan, Accademia di Francia a Roma, Villa Medici, Rome (2018); Ciprian Mureșan: All Images from a Book…, David Nolan Gallery, New York (2017); Ciprian Muresan, Ludwig Museum-Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2015); Stage and Twist, Project Space, Tate Modern, London (2012); Recycled Playground, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims and touring (2011); and Ciprian Mureșan, n.b.k., Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2010). Select group exhibitions include Beating around the bush # 6: Scenes from the Anthropocene, Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, NL (2020); End of Future, SAPS La Tallera Museum, Cuernavaca, MX (2019); How We Live, Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill NY, US (2019); Perspectives, BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, BE (2019); Geta Bratescu, Adrian Ghenie, Ciprian Muresan, Serban Savu, Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, Rome, IT (2019); Ciprian Muresan and Serban Savu, L’atelier sans fin, Atelier Brancusi - Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR (2019); An Opera for Animals, Para Site, Hong Kong, HK (2019); Grande Révolution Domestique, Le Familistère de Guise, Guise, FR (2019); La Brique, the Brick, Caramida, La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, FR (2019); Ex-East, past and recent stories of the Romanian Avant-Garde, Espace Niemeyer, Paris, FR (2019); Ciprian Muresan and Serban Savu, L'entretien infini, Une saison roumaine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR (2018); The World on Paper, Deutsche Bank Collection, Berlin, DE (2018); A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Drawing Room, London and Modern Art Oxford, Oxford (2018); Acquisitions récentes du Cabinet d’Art Graphique, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2018); VIVA ARTE VIVA, the 57th edition of the Venice Biennale exhibition, Venice (2017); Freundschaftsspiel Istanbul: Freiburg, Museum fur Neue Kunst Freiburg, Freiburg (2017); Shape of Time – Future of Nostalgia, Works from Art Collection Telekom, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (2017); Drawing Biennial 2017, Drawing Room, London (2017); Without Reality There is No Utopia, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Sevilla (2011); and No New Thing Under the Sun, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2010).
David Musgrave (b.1973, Stockton-on-Tees) lives and works in London. Studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he now teaches. Musgrave was a finalist for the Prix Canson in 2015. His digital animation Studio golem was broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom (2013). He is the author of two novels: Unit, published by LemonMelon (2015); and Total Abstraction, shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize (2018). Select institutional exhibitions include Good Grief, Charlie Brown!, Somerset House, London (2018-19); The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2017); Space Force Construction, V-A-C Foundation, Venice (2017); Being Thing, CIAP, île de Vassivière, Beaumont du-Lac (2015); The Noing Uv It, Kunsthalle Bergen, Bergen (2015); Être Chose, CIAP Île de Vassivière, Beaumont-du-Lac (2015); and The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, and touring (2013). Select solo exhibitions include greengrassi, London (2018, 2016); Luhring Augustine, New York (2014); and Marc Foxx, Los Angeles (2015). His work is held in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; and Tate, London.
Wura-Natasha Ogunji (b. 1970, St. Louis, MO, USA) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. Ogunji received a BA in Anthropology from Stanford University, USA (1992) and an MFA in Photography from San Jose State University, USA (1998). She is a co-founder and lecturer at the Institute for Performing Justice (CWGS) at the University of Texas, Austin, USA and founder/curator of the experimental art space The Treehouse in Lagos. She has received awards and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship; The Pollock-Krasner Foundation; The Dallas Museum of Art; and the Idea Fund. Ogunji was an Artist-Curator for the 33rd São Paulo Bienal where her large-scale performance Days of Being Free premiered. Select solo exhibitions include Every Mask I Ever Loved, ifa-Galerie Berlin (2017/18). Select group exhibitions include City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris; A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Modern Art Oxford (2018); inaugural Lagos Biennial (2017); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kerala, India (2018); 1:54, London, UK (2018); Seattle Art Museum; Brooklyn Art Museum, USA; and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark.
Kathy Prendergast (b. 1958, Dublin) lives and works in London. Studied BA Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (1976-1983); and MA Fine Art at Royal College of Art, London (1983-1986). Awards include The David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Award (2018); and The Bryan Robertson Trust Award (2017). Prendergast won the Best Young Artist Award at the Venice Biennale for her work City Drawings (1995). Select solo exhibitions include Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Köln, Dublin (2019); Black Maps, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2016); Atlas, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (2016); Atlas - a reverie, The European Commission, London (2016); OR, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (2015); Black Map Series, PEER, London (2010); Dream of Discipline, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2006); The End and the Beginning, IMMA, Dublin (2000); and Art Now, Tate Britain, London (1997). Select group exhibitions include The Freud Project: The Ethics of Scrutiny, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2018); A Slice through the World, Modern Art Oxford, and Drawing Room, London (2018); Islands, Constellations and Galapagos, Yokohama Triennale 2017, Yokohama (2017); The Lie of the Land, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, Swindon (2017); 187th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2017); Bristle: Hair and Hegemony, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda (2017); Somewhat Abstract, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham (2014); Into the Light: The Arts Council – 60 Years Supporting the Arts, The Model, Sligo (2012); and With an Apple I Will Astonish, Large Glass, London (2012). Her work is held in public collections including Tate, London; United Kingdom Government Collection; the Arts Council of Great Britain, London; the Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin; the Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo; the Santa Barbara University Museum, Santa Barbara; the Contemporary Museum, Honolulu; Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville; and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin.
Massinissa Selmani (b.1980, Algiers) lives and works in Tours. Graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Tours (2010). Awards include tenth winner of the Art Collector Prize, Paris (2016); the laureate of the SAM Art Projects award (2016); a special mention at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. Residencies include the Veduta Residency, 13th Biennale de Lyon (2015); Studio Perro Bravo, Mexico; and L’Octroi, Tours (2011). Select solo exhibitions include Le calme de l’idée fixe, Centre de création contemporaine Olivier Debré (CCC OD), Tours, France (2019);. Choses fortuites. Château d’Oiron, France (2019); Ce qui coule n’a pas de fin. SAM Art Projects Prize, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018); Poles Apart, Museum of African Art, Belgrade (2018); Episodes. Itinéraires Graphiques du Pays de Lorient, École européenne supérieure d’art de Bretagne, Lorient (2018); Les choses que vous faites m’entourent, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris (2017); Même dans la pierre, il y a du sable, Galerie de l’Etrave, Thonon-Les-Bains (2017); Le vent ne veut jamais rester dehors, Selma Feriani gallery, Tunis (2017); Bleu comme une orange. Art Collector Prize, Patio Opéra, Paris (2016); and L’horizon était là, Maison Salvan, Labège (2016). Select group exhibitions include The wall at the end of the rainbow, Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NL (2020); Waiting for Omar Gatlato, The Wallach Art Gallery, New York (2019); Dimension supplémentaire, Salle St-Martin, Souillac, France (2019); Incursioni D’arte Nella Civiltà, Fondazione Pierluigi e Natalina Remotti, Camogli, Italy (2019); Inhabiting the Mediterranean, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia (2018); A Slice through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford (2018); Tamawuj, 13th Sharjah biennial, Sharjah (2017); Drawing Biennial 2017, Drawing Room, London (2017); I want ! I want!: Art & Technology, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham (2017); Mouvements, in collaboration with Veduta, Salle des Pavillons, Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2017); Statement, Art Basel, Basel (2016); All the world’s futures, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice (2015); and La vie moderne, 13th biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2015).
Lucy Skaer (b. 1975, Cambridge, UK) lives and works in Glasgow, UK. Skaer studied for her BA Honors Fine Art at the Environmental Art Department, Glasgow School of Art. Awards and residences include the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award (2016); Hammer Museum Residency, Los Angeles, US (2016); Villa Medicis Residency, Rome, Italy (2015); Résidence - Atelier Calder, Saché, France (2013); and Location One International Fellowship, New York, USA (2010). Nominations include the Prix Canson (2016) and the Turner Prize (2009). Select solo exhibitions include Sentiment, Peter Freeman Inc., New York, USA (2018); Available Fonts, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria (2018); Una Casa Más Pequeña (A smaller house), Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico (2017); Past Shows, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017); One Remove, Witte de With Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2016); Exit, Voice and Loyalty, Tramway, Glasgow, UK (2013); and A Boat Used As A Vessel, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2009). Select group exhibitions include Now Wakes the Sea: Contemporary art and the ocean, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland (2017); The Other Dark: Tacita Dean, Jeremy Millar, Nashashibi/Skaer, Sirius Arts Center, Ireland (2017); Generation: 25 years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, The Hunterian, Glasgow, UK (2014); Art Under Attack – Histories of British Iconoclasm, Tate Britain, London, UK (2013); Spies in the House of Art: Photography, Film and Video, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (2012); and Watercolour, Tate Britain, London, UK (2011).
Barbara Walker (b. 1964, Birmingham, UK) lives and works in Birmingham. She received her BA in Art and Design from the University of Central England, Birmingham (1996). Her work is informed by the social, political and cultural realities that affect her life and the lives of those around her. Growing up in the Black community in Birmingham during the 1960s and 70s, her experiences have directly shaped a practice concerned with issues of class and power, gender, race, representation and belonging. Her figurative drawings and paintings tell contemporary stories hinged on historical circumstances, making them universally understood and reflecting a human perspective on the state of affairs in her native Britain and elsewhere. Walker received the inaugural Evelyn Williams Drawing Award in 2017, in association with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. Select solo exhibitions include Shock and Awe, Midlands Arts Centre (2016); Sub Urban, James Hockey Gallery, part of the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham (2015); and As Seen, Tiwani Contemporary, London (2013). Select group exhibitions include Jamaican Pulse: Art and Politics from Jamaica and the Diaspora, the Royal West of England Academy (2016); Diaspora Pavilion, the 57th Venice Biennale (2017); and A Slice Through the World: Contemporary Artists’ Drawings, Modern Art Oxford (2018). Her work is held in private and public collections including Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery; The Herbert Art Gallery; and Arts Council Collection.