Clive Barker (artist)
Encyclopedia
Clive Barker is a pop artist who was born in Luton
, Bedfordshire
in 1940 as the second youngest of six children. He has been exhibited in numerous galleries around the world during his career and has works in permanent collections including the Tate
collection and the National Portrait Gallery. He lives in Hampstead. He has two sons from his marriage to artist Rose Bruen, Ras
and Tad.
car factory in Luton for 18 months. Doing so he was following a number of his relatives including his father, his uncle who was a Director at Vauxhall Motors, two of his older brothers and his two brothers in law. Whilst at Vauxhall Motors Clive realised the potential of sculptural qualities of industrially finished objects, particularly in leather and chrome plated metal. Many of his works are in chrome or bronze.
As well as being an artist , Clive is the subject of two photographic portraits in the National Portrait Gallery collection http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=sa&LinkID=mp07803&role=sit.
http://www.20thcenturymarks.co.uk/pages/sub/63.html.
Clive's more recent work is predominantly in aluminium and bronze and has featured, amongst other items, a storm trooper mask, Dennis the Menace
and Homer Simpson
, as well as a bronze depicting his own head underneath a large bunch of bananas http://alanwheatleyart.com/awa_artists_image.php?id=240.
He is a contemporary of Peter Blake
and contributed the back sleeve cover for The Who
's Face Dances
album, which Peter Blake commissioned, along with one of four front sleeve pictures of Pete Townshend
.
His works are in collections across the world including the National Portrait Gallery http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=sa&sText=barker&LinkID=mp07803&role=art, the Tate
collection http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=693&page=1&sole=y&collab=y&attr=y&sort=default&tabview=worklist and Aberdeen Art Gallery
and Museum http://www.aagm.co.uk/code/emuseum.asp?action=newpage&style=single&singlepage=1&searchxml=PGVNdXNldW1fc2VhcmNoIHNpdGU9IiIgZGF0ZT0iMjAwNy0xMi0xNiI%2BPGNyaXRlcmlhPjxwYXJhbXMgc2VhcmNoY29kZT0iLTEiIHBhZ2VzaXplPSI2IiBjdXJyZW50cGFnZT0iMSIgb3JkZXJmaWVsZD0iT2JqZWN0TmFtZSxJRCIgb3JkZXJkaXI9ImFzYyIvPjxiYXNpYyBjcml0ZXJpYT0iYmFya2VyIi8%2BPC9jcml0ZXJpYT48L2VNdXNldW1fc2VhcmNoPg0K&style=browse&pagesize=6¤tpage=1&sortfield=ObjectName,ID&sortdir=asc&page=search&browsepagesize=6&searchtype=basic&term=barker&basicterm=barker&pagetotal=2&pagestart=1&pageend=2].
Aswell as sculpture, Clive Barker has also produced a collage portrait of Peter Blake - the 'Peter Blake Box' http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp07803&rNo=1&role=art, and a number of pastel portraits, including Pete Townshend and George Melly
which were exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in the 1980s.
In 2001 Peter Blake, one of the key figures in the British pop art movement, invited artists whose work he admired, including Clive Barker, Tracey Emin
, Damien Hirst
and Sarah Lucas
to participate in the Royal Academy
's Summer Exhibition http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1364485.stm.
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
in 1940 as the second youngest of six children. He has been exhibited in numerous galleries around the world during his career and has works in permanent collections including the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
collection and the National Portrait Gallery. He lives in Hampstead. He has two sons from his marriage to artist Rose Bruen, Ras
Ras Barker
Ras Barker is an English actor, producer, editor, and writer. Ras was born in Hampstead, north west London. The son of artists Clive Barker and Rosemary Bruen, he spent his childhood between London and the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire.- Career :...
and Tad.
Career
Clive was a student at Luton College of Technology and Art from 1957. However, he left the course in 1959 and went to work on the assembly-line of the Vauxhall MotorsVauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
car factory in Luton for 18 months. Doing so he was following a number of his relatives including his father, his uncle who was a Director at Vauxhall Motors, two of his older brothers and his two brothers in law. Whilst at Vauxhall Motors Clive realised the potential of sculptural qualities of industrially finished objects, particularly in leather and chrome plated metal. Many of his works are in chrome or bronze.
As well as being an artist , Clive is the subject of two photographic portraits in the National Portrait Gallery collection http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=sa&LinkID=mp07803&role=sit.
Work
He made sculpture from everyday objects which he bought and had covered in chrome. Instead of taking real objects as they were he either commissioned fabricators to make replicas to his specifications or had the original objects recast or resurfaced so that the sculptures became non-functional replications of them. His early work included scultural representations of Coca Cola contour bottles, hand grenades and a Mars barMars Bar
Mars is a chocolate bar manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in Slough, Berkshire in the United Kingdom in 1932 as a sweeter version of the US Milky Way bar which Mars, Inc. produced...
http://www.20thcenturymarks.co.uk/pages/sub/63.html.
Clive's more recent work is predominantly in aluminium and bronze and has featured, amongst other items, a storm trooper mask, Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (U.S.)
Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. It debuted on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate...
and Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, as well as a bronze depicting his own head underneath a large bunch of bananas http://alanwheatleyart.com/awa_artists_image.php?id=240.
He is a contemporary of Peter Blake
Peter Blake (artist)
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
and contributed the back sleeve cover for The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's Face Dances
Face Dances
Face Dances is the ninth album by English rock band The Who. It was originally released in 1981 in the US on Warner Bros. Records and in the UK on Polydor Records...
album, which Peter Blake commissioned, along with one of four front sleeve pictures of Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
.
His works are in collections across the world including the National Portrait Gallery http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=sa&sText=barker&LinkID=mp07803&role=art, the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
collection http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=693&page=1&sole=y&collab=y&attr=y&sort=default&tabview=worklist and Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. It opened in 1885, in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie....
and Museum http://www.aagm.co.uk/code/emuseum.asp?action=newpage&style=single&singlepage=1&searchxml=PGVNdXNldW1fc2VhcmNoIHNpdGU9IiIgZGF0ZT0iMjAwNy0xMi0xNiI%2BPGNyaXRlcmlhPjxwYXJhbXMgc2VhcmNoY29kZT0iLTEiIHBhZ2VzaXplPSI2IiBjdXJyZW50cGFnZT0iMSIgb3JkZXJmaWVsZD0iT2JqZWN0TmFtZSxJRCIgb3JkZXJkaXI9ImFzYyIvPjxiYXNpYyBjcml0ZXJpYT0iYmFya2VyIi8%2BPC9jcml0ZXJpYT48L2VNdXNldW1fc2VhcmNoPg0K&style=browse&pagesize=6¤tpage=1&sortfield=ObjectName,ID&sortdir=asc&page=search&browsepagesize=6&searchtype=basic&term=barker&basicterm=barker&pagetotal=2&pagestart=1&pageend=2].
Aswell as sculpture, Clive Barker has also produced a collage portrait of Peter Blake - the 'Peter Blake Box' http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp07803&rNo=1&role=art, and a number of pastel portraits, including Pete Townshend and George Melly
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
which were exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in the 1980s.
In 2001 Peter Blake, one of the key figures in the British pop art movement, invited artists whose work he admired, including Clive Barker, Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
, Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
and Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s...
to participate in the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
's Summer Exhibition http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1364485.stm.