Alvaro Barrington
Origin of Universe [D.2020]
All bids
| Year | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Medium | Colour pencil on paper |
| Dimensions | 18.9 x 25 cm |
| Nominated by | Jonathan Sharples |
About the work
The drawing is simply a red hibiscus flower next to a green leaf. I’ve drawn it so many times that it is, for me, no longer a flower but a metaphor for the fragility of birth. In this case, the image is all nature, but half is on one side of the page and half is on the other, with the stamen breaking the barrier.
About the artist:
Born 1983 Caracas, Alvaro Barrington lives and works in New York. Graduated from MFA, The Slade School of Art, London (2017); and Hunter College, New York (2013).
An unwavering commitment to community informs Barrington’s wide-ranging practice. While he considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion, philanthropy, and contributions to 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. The artist’s use of stitched yarn in paintings and postcards draws upon the traditionally gendered craft traditions passed down by the women in his family. His intimate compositions, rendered in a distinctive palette of reds, browns, yellows and greens, often focus on single subjects in closeup: tropical vegetation, abstracted portraits, and body parts.
Selected solo exhibitions include You don’t do it for the man, men never notice, You just do it for yourself, you’re the fucking coldest, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (2021); Garvey 2–They eyes were watching God, Corvi-Mora, London (2020); The Shop, Sadie Coles, London (2020); GARVEY: SEX LOVE NURTURING FAMALAY, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2019); A Taste of Chocolate, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London (2018); Condo, Emalin, London (2018); and MoMA PS1, New York (2017). Selected group exhibitions include Tempest, Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Sadie Coles HQ, London (2021); No horizon, no edge to liquid, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2020); Landscapes of the South, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2020); A Focus on Painting, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London (2020); Drawing 2020, Gladstone Gallery, New York (2020); After Image, Mamoth Contemporary, London (2020); 100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Center, New York (2020); Natura Naturans, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2018); Hog’s Curve, Halsey McKay, East Hampton (2018); and The Way Things Run (Der Lauf der Dinge) Part 1: Loose Ends Don’t Tie, PS120, Berlin (2018).
