Alicia Barney is a Colombian artist based in Cali who focuses her paintings and installation art on ecological questions and problems such as water pollution, deforestation and quality of life. She specializes in on-hand interactions with her surroundings and what the natural environment has to offer in order to educate the public about her environmental concerns. Barney's artwork reveals the evolution of her view of ecological aspects through landscape themes that hold traditional and representational vocabulary and express ecology in a creative and interesting way.
Biography
Barney was born in Cali, Colombia, in 1952. Barney studied at the College of New Rochelle, New York, and at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn where she came across the art of Claes Oldenburg. Oldenburg inspired Barney to create her first ever sculpture. She created, Diario objecto I and Diario object II to show how everyday objects can create art and a storyline with simple random objects found in her primary homes, New York and Colombia. Barney is a powerful influence on young Latin American artists, especially Colombians, who have an interest in environmental issues. She is currently resident in Bogotá.
Artworks
Reproductions: "Viviendas"
Puente sobre tierra
Los Estados que Compre, Wood, metal, postcards and leather, 30 x 37 x 3 cm
Tiempo de quema, Wood, metal, paper and leather, 30 x 90 x 13 cm
Diario objeto I and Diario objeto II, Found objects, 16 x 70 x 23/4 in. The Diario Object is an art installation of found objects that Barney collected on the streets of New York and Colombia. She collected urban waste and everyday objects. The items she collected were used in a diary format that eventually became a small fragment of her autobiography. The items she collected were placed in plastic bags and then displayed, pinned up on a wall.
Boca Grande
Estratificaciones de un basurero utópico, Installation of ten acrylic tubes with organic residues, sand, stones, vegetal charcoal and soil., 180 x 5 cm
Reproductions: "Rio Cauca", Installation;- Three clear acrylic tanks, test tubes, water, photographic record and 5 water drums.
Mis paticas inmortalizadas
La Requisa, Installation;- three aluminum casted triangles, 140 rustic copper semi-spheres, and ten dental acrylic corncobs with human molars, Variable dimensions.
1993 Aves en el cielo, Galeria Gartner Torres, Bogota
1998 Jugete de las hadas, Museo de Arte de Pereira and Museo La Merced de Cali, Colombia
2015 Basurero utopica, Instituto de Vision, Bogota
Honors and awards
In 1980 Barney was awarded first place at the third Salon Regional de Artes Visuals in Colombia, and her work has been featured in important group shows, such as the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo.
