Exhibition Resource Pack
Anna Barriball
30 September 27 November 2011
Anna Barriball, Untitled, 2008. Curtain fabric, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London.
About this Pack
About the Artist
This pack has been designed to provide background information about the artist and their exhibition at MK Gallery.
Anna Barriball was born in Plymouth in 1972 and currently lives and works in London. Having studied at the Chelsea College of Art (MA Fine Art) and Winchester School of Art (BA (Hons) Fine Art), the artist has had solo exhibitions at Frith Street Gallery (2009), Walsall Art Gallery (2006), Gasworks Gallery, London and Newlyn Art Gallery (2005) and Arnolfini, Bristol (2003). Barriball’s work was included in the British Art Show 6 at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead and is also featured in Phaidon’s major publication ‘Vitamin D’, a survey of contemporary drawing.
It includes a short introduction to the artist and her work, including key themes, related artists and movements, along with suggestions for ways to approach the work with students. For more information about our schools, colleges & universities programme, please contact: Emma Fry: Head of Learning T: 01908 558 305 E: efry@mkgallery.org W: www.mkgallery.org/education
About the Work This exhibition is the first major survey of work by Anna Barriball, bringing together drawing, video, photography and sculpture made over the last decade. Barriball often coats ordinary objects in vivid colours or makes impressions of floorboards, brickwork, windows and doors by meticulously tracing their surfaces with pencil on paper and magnifying incidental details and textures created by every day wear and tear. At the same time, her work often evolves from spontaneous discoveries, channelling natural forces with little or no physical contact. A video records a sheet of paper sucked in and out of a fireplace by a draught while new images are created as bubbles mixed with ink burst over old photographs. Other works lie at a crossroad between interior and exterior or private and public spaces as the artist’s reflection is glimpsed on a monitor and a blown up image shows mysterious figures staring out of a window. Another enlarged photograph, placed on the floor, leads sharply into the undergrowth, bridging real space and a place for the imagination. Whether capturing specific instances or conjuring hazy memories, Barriball’s work combines intense, concentrated moments with slight, playful gestures, highlighting the fleeting moments and discreet surroundings that witness our passage through time and space.
MK Gallery 900 Midsummer Blvd Milton Keynes MK9 3QA
info@mkgallery.org www.mkgallery.org T 01908 676 900
Tuesday - Friday 12pm – 8pm Saturday 11am– 8pm Sunday 11am – 5pm
Things to discuss
Questions about the works on display
Installation images of Anna Barriball, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2011. Photographs: Gautier Deblonde. Š MK Gallery and The Fruitmarket Gallery
Long Gallery
Middle Gallery
Cube Gallery
All of the artworks in the Long Gallery are made from everyday found objects – are you able to name each one?
Look at 36 Breaths, how many photographs can you see in this piece? Do you think the photographs are old or new? Why? What do you think the black splodges might be on the photographs? How do you think they were created?
As with the Long Gallery, many of the works in the Cube Gallery have been created using everyday objects and their surfaces.
Describe what the artist has done to each object to create the artwork. What materials has she used? Look at Silver Map, can you see anything on the map? Do you recognise any places or landmarks? Do you think you would be able to use the map to help you navigate to a place? Look at the large artwork made from windbreaks. Does it remind you of anything in particular? Does it trigger any memories or make you think of a particular place? How does this artwork differ from the others in this gallery? How long do you think it took the artist to make? Can you describe how light, air and movement are used in some of the works?
What is it that covers the fireplace in the video piece? What do you think is causing the paper to move? What does the movement of the paper remind you of? Does the title suggest anything? Look at the leaves on the floor. What do you think they are made of? What colours can you see? Do the colours remind you of a season? What colours might you use if you wanted to represent a different season? Look up at the photograph of a window. What do you think you can see in the bottom right-hand corner? Is it easy or difficult to recognise what you are looking at? Look at the large black object propped up in the corner. From a distance, what do you think it is? What materials is it made from? How heavy do you think it is? Now moving closer, what do you discover about the artwork? How has the artist made the work?
How many objects and surfaces can you recognise? Look at works Brick Wall and Shutters. How have they been made? What materials has the artist used? What has happened to the paper in Shutters? Would you describe them as drawings or sculptures? Imagine you could open the shutters. Describe what you think might lie behind. Look at the TV on the floor. Describe what you see. What are the flashes? What do they allow you to see? Do you notice a figure, who do you think it is?
Things to think about
Topics for further discussion
Left: Anna Barriball, 36 Breaths, 2002. Ink on found photographs. Private Collection. Above: Anna Barriball, Draw (fireplace) 2005 (detail). Video projection. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London
Keywords
Key Stages 1-3
Sculpture Video Drawing Found Objects Everyday Life Time Memory Surface Texture The Body Senses Frottage Arte Povera Conceptual Art British Art Show 6
Found Objects and Memory “I was in a market again and found a pair of curtains that were the same as the curtains in the house where I grew up and I wanted to cut the leaves free from the patterns, which felt quite liberating. I collected a lot of second-hand curtains, so that they all carried ‘memories’ of a life somewhere in someone’s house.” Anna Barriball
Related Artists Susan Collis Ceal Floyer Louise Hopkins Rachel Whiteread Doris Salcedo Catherine Bertola Eva Hesse Robert Gober Max Ernst
Anna Barriball likes to use found objects in her work (objects that she has found from car-boot sales, the market or second-hand shops). What objects from her exhibition do you think are found objects? Why do you think she uses old objects instead of new objects? The photographs that Anna has blown ink onto once belonged to someone else, who do you think this might have been? How long ago do you think that the photographs were taken? Do you have old photographs of any members of your family at home? Do the objects that Anna has used in her work remind you of anything you have seen at home?
Key Stages 4-6 Time and Process “There is a real durational theme to this work as well, particularly with the bricked up door. That was very extreme to make, physically and mentally, because I was spending day after day literally inches away from a brick wall. It’s very unforgiving in lots of ways but I do find it pleasurable. It also goes in and out of being mindless and mindful. With that drawing, I started up a ladder and then worked down until; literally, I was lying flat on the floor. I liked that physical process even if it felt quite claustrophobic.” Anna Barriball Anna Barriball’s rubbings of objects and surfaces are often a lengthy process. Do you think that this is visible in her work? Do you think that the fact that it took so long to create makes it more interesting? The act of making pencil rubbings could be seen as a performance. What other pieces in the exhibition might include a physical action/performance from the artist? How do the other works explore time? Think about: the surfaces of the walls, doors and windows, or the use of old found photographs and curtain fabric. Why do you think the artist has used certain materials? Will these materials last in the future? How might they change?
Things to do
Activities for back in the classroom
Anna Barriball, Untitled, 2009. Pencil on Paper, 218 x 134 cm. Private Collection
Word Definitions
Suggested Activities
Portrait A painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, or other likeness of an individual.
Activity 1 Why not look around your school or at home for some unusual textures and surfaces and make pencil, charcoal or crayon rubbings of them?
Sculpture A three-dimensional work of art that may be carved, modelled, constructed or cast in a huge variety of materials. Landmark A prominent object on land that serves as a guide, especially to ships at sea or to travellers on a road. Navigate To plan, direct or plot your path to a destination Frottage The process of taking a rubbing from an uneven surface to create a work of art. Texture The feel or apperance of a surface or object.
Activity 2 Using a digital or manual camera, take a self-portrait photograph, print it out and have a go at making different marks on your photo with a mixture of ink and washing-up liquid. Why not frame the students images altogether like Anna Barriball’s work 36 Breaths? Activity 3 Have a go at creating your own leaf floor piece as a class project. Each student can make a leaf either from found fabrics, collaged materials or stencil designs and turn your school hall into an autumn day. Activity 4 Anna Barriball used second hand curtains for her Untitled (leaves, floor piece), which she believed carried ‘memories’ of their previous life. Many people create memory quilts out of fabrics or memorabilia to keep their own past memories or experiences together. How about having a go at creating a class memory quilt? See examples: http://www.originalquilts.com/memory_gallery.htm Activity 5 Have a go at writing a story about your adventures behind Anna Barriball’s door or one of her windows. Whose door or window is it? What objects might you find? Who might you meet? Activity 6 Have a go at drawing what you might see out of your window, or you could make rubbings of different window surfaces and stick them into the template. Find out more about Anna Barriball online MK Gallery / Frith Street Gallery / Saatchi Gallery
Exhibition Supporters The exhibition has been organised in collaboration with The Fruitmarket Gallery, with support from The Henry Moore Foundation and Frith Street Gallery.