Andrew Barns-Graham
|
Auckland based artist Andrew Barns-Graham creates hard edged portraits exploring concepts of the uncanny. Working in acrylic on canvas, the figures are rendered with smooth surfaces, colour gradients and restrained compositions. Barns-Graham's subjects exist in non-specific contexts inviting interpretation and speculation from the viewer.
On first encounter with the work one is struck by the outward direct gaze of the subject, the eye contact is simultaneously alluring and otherworldly. One then enters into a compelling world of dichotomies- Familiar yet foreign, captivating yet unsettling, beautiful yet confronting. Softly rendered minimal landscapes are the backdrop for the figures, alluding to a changing terrain or climate. At times there is a sense of impending danger or urgency in the background establishing a tension in the scene. Barns-Graham’s process for developing a composition is not unlike that of AI. Splicing, re-editing and assimilating found content, Barns-Graham re-constructs a reality. The current work has emerged from over 20 years of figurative painting in this mode. Early career pieces presented us with a modern take on the social construction of feminine beauty, references to fashion and idealisation simmered under the melancholic airbrushed early works. Later works place the subjects in conversation with props that allude to a changing world- masks and helmets appear, along with beautiful yet endangered environments and animals, the interplay of these elements with the figures creates a layered narrative. Barns-Graham invites his viewer to contemplate and scrutinise. His portraits serve as a prompt rather than a literal representation- questioning the role of painting in the technological age. |
Auckland based artist Andrew Barns-Graham creates hard edged portraits exploring concepts of the uncanny. |
andrew barns-graham works available at black door gallery
past works by andrew barns-graham
andrew barns-graham works in situ
