Today we took a trip to the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) to view an unusual and whimsical exhibition by British artist and filmmaker Barnaby Barford. This show continues through December 29 and it's worth your attention.
What's it all about?
Well, Barnaby Barford examines the human condition through ceramic sculpture. Barford is known for his work with antique or mass-produced porcelain figures (many of which you will immediately recognize) that he recombines and reassembles into narrative sculpture with often dark comic titles and sardonic implications. Lively and thought-provoking, his sculptural narratives draw the viewer into his stories and, doing so, present portraits of our contemporary lives.
Through humor the sculpture takes the viewer off guard, evokes relevant problems and concerns of our times, and allows the messages to permeate. By fusing reality with recognizable elements from fairytales and fantasy, Barford invites the viewer into an unusual and yet not completely foreign world.
Since Marcel Duchamp coined the term readymade in 1917, the found object has become more commonplace in art history, but not so in the realm of ceramics. Barford utilizes the ready-made figurine as the medium of choice in his work to tell unexpected stories and challenge the viewers’ preconceptions about porcelain, and the assumed-to-be naive, decorative ceramic figurine. Barford’s precise craftsmanship provides a seamless transformation as it offers a juxtaposition of past and present within the sculpture.
This exhibition is organized by MOCA and curated by Alison Byrne, Director of Exhibitions and Education at MOCA, and Andrée Cooke, Independent Curator based in London. A full-color catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition and will provide a wonderful opportunity to highlight the artist’s career and introduce him to new audiences in the United States.- See more at: http://virginiamoca.org/barnaby-barford-0#sthash.gKCDGLL2.dpuf
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