The Caribbean he misses, his youth in Brooklyn, his present in London; hip hop, Joseph Beuys, his grandmother's tablecloths… Alvaro Barrington's artwork stirs together a whole pile of influences to produce festive, colourful, sensual artwork that is winning over London's critics. Represented by as many as 6 different galleries in a deliberate escape from the idea of exclusivity, Barrington has just shown at MoMA PS1 in New York and this 2020 he'll be exhibiting in Los Angeles, in New York again and, of course, in London, where he lives.
“For me it's a very romantic Caribbean. It's a Caribbean I left when I was seven or eight and it's all in my memory, so things have to be bigger and brighter and not exactly what they are.” Alvaro Barrington was born in Caracas in 1983 but soon moved with his family to the island of Grenada, where he spent his childhood before leaving for Brooklyn to live with relatives. In an interview with Mousse Magazine, the artist talks at length about the powerful influence his family and cultural roots have had on his artwork.
“I remember I was fifteen and my aunt gave me a really bright red tablecloth she had sewn, and I thought, ‘The last thing I need is a tablecloth’ (…) But as I got older, that tablecloth stuck in my mind and I remembered how imaginative and inventive it was (…) But I didn't want to sew the way they sewed either, so I thought I could explore the formal qualities of sewing.”
One of the decisive elements that have shaped Barrington's style has been his use of fabrics, which he incorporates into his artwork or which even form the very base of his painting. It isn't only the need to establish a link with his intimate past, but to stand up for a culture threatened by oblivion: “I remembered being in Barbados for a couple of months when I was young and I remembered burlap (…) So I laid out a load of burlap canvases and tried to work out how to make them function artistically.”
A 2017 graduate of the Slade School of Art in London, described by The Guardian as the best art school in the United Kingdom, the Caribbean artist has seen the price of his artwork shoot up in a matter of months once the MoMA showed interest in him and gallery offers started raining down. But Barrington decided he didn't want exclusive representation, something that clashes with the conditions many galleries impose when it comes to promoting an emerging artist's artwork.
The gallerists who work with the Caribbean painter say they're delighted with this peculiar arrangement, since “it forces all of us to think individually about what each gallery can do for an artist”. Although the Caribbean painter admits that at some point he may have to make up his mind: “There will be moments when I'll have to choose, sign a commitment and be responsible about it… it's like, if one day I have a kid, I can't spend my life running round the city like an asshole”.
Until that day comes, Alvaro Barrington keeps enjoying his growing fame in London, with the luxury of being commissioned by famous critics such as Norman Rosenthal. Beyond his by now iconic work with natural fabrics like burlap, juicy colour, sensuality and plant references are other dominant notes in Barrington's artwork. The hibiscus flower, in this sense, has become another staple of his work. Many see in it not just a reference to his cultural roots but something more, though Alvaro sets the record straight: “A friend of mine said about one of my flower artworks, ‘That's super phallic!’ And I said, ‘It's just a red flower’. You know? The flower isn't worried about those things, it's just a flower.” And with a sense of humour, too…
Comments (0)
Log in to leave your comment. Log in