Bill Barrett
Bill Barrett, one of today’s foremost sculptors, was born in Los Angeles, CA. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in Design from the University of Michigan, and later an M.F.A. from the same institution. Since the mid 1960’s Barrett has been exhibiting his unique metal sculptures and abstract paintings in numerous solo and group exhibitions in such places as the U.S., Switzerland, Bulgaria and Japan.
Barrett’s sculptures of fabricated aluminum, bronze or steel address the interplay between positive and negative space with grace, elegance and exquisite balance. His works call to mind the fluid effortlessness of calligraphic strokes, and betray a positivism to which many viewers feel drawn. His sophisticated constructions, through a delicate balance of form and content, transcend the starker aesthetics of minimalism with a warmth and humanity.
To the artist, the imagery of the sculpture is that of a book. The geometric shapes are the pages, while the organic shapes are in motion. What sort of motion, he leaves to the viewer to decide, and it’s okay to see what you need to see. “Abstract art is like music in that when you listen to a song, everyone has different ideas about it, feels different emotions because of it. Even the same person listening to a piece at different times will feel differently. That’s true of abstract art. As a viewer, you can interpret it for yourself as well as seeing what the artist made. That’s what I like about abstract art: you get a chance to participate.”
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2017-2018 AN ARTISTIC TOUCH, Oklahoma State University, maquette exhibition and year long outdoor sculpture installation, Stillwater, OK
2016 THE BRONZE TOUCH, Taylor Graham, New York, NY
2016 SANTA FE BOTANICAL GARDENS, Exhibition of 14 outdoor sculptures, Santa Fe, NM
2015 EMANATIONS in BRONZE small original cast bronze and gold leaf maquette exhibition
LewAllen Gallery, Railyard, Santa Fe, NM
2015 INQUIRE WITHIN Paintings and Sculptures by Bill Barrett at The Reading Public Museum,
Reading, Pennsylvania in the American Gallery, curated by Scott Schweigert
2012 BILL BARRETT: DNA Exhibition of Sculpture and Paintings, LewAllen Galleries, Railyard,
Santa Fe, NM
BILL BARRETT: Sculpture and Paintings, Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
2011 PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2010 POLYPHONIC ABSTRACTIONS, Painting and Maquette Survey, Iowa State University,
Christian Petersen Art Museum, Ames, Iowa
SYNCHRONICITY, Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2008-09 EXQUISITE BALANCE, Outdoor Sculpture, Exhibition, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
2008 Drawing Exhibition, Michigan State University, College of Arts and Letters, Kresge Art Center,
East Lansing, MI
DIVERTIMENTOS in BRONZE, LewAllen Contemporary, Railyard, Santa Fe, NM
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2007 SOLO SHOW, Bentley Projects, Phoenix, Arizona
2006 SOLO SHOW, Kouros Gallery, New York
2005 CONNEXUS, LewAllen Contemporary Art, Railyard, Santa Fe
2004 SOLO SHOW, Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
2002 BRONZE: PATTERNS and COLOR, Century Association, New York
Ira Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2001 SOLO SHOW, Kouros Gallery, New York
McCormick Works of Art, Chicago
Cline Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2000 BILL BARRETT: Sculpture and Painting, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco
1999 Harris Gallery, Houston, TX
1998 SOLO SHOW, J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco
Nardin Gallery, 57th and Madison Avenue, New York
1996 SOLO SHOW, J.J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco
Kouros Gallery, New York
Cline Fine Art, Santa Fe
1995 Mongerson – Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago
Roswitha Benkert Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
1994 SOLO SHOW, Kouros Gallery, New York
1993 SOLO SHOW, Cline Fine Art, Santa Fe
1990 SOLO SHOW, Shidoni Contemporary Gallery, Tesuque, NM
Galerie Roswitha Benkert, Zurich
1986 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
Galerie Roswitha Benkert, Zurich
1985–86 Bellevue Hospital Sculpture Garden (outdoor), New York, NY
1985 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
1983 Sculpture Center, New York, NY
1976–77 Brooklyn Borough Hall (outdoor show), Brooklyn, NY
1976 City University of New York, Graduate Mall, New York, NY
1975 County Executive Buildings, (outdoor show) White Plains, NY
1974 Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, Long Island, NY
Katonah Art Gallery, Katonah, New York, NY
1973 James Yu Gallery, New York, NY
1972 Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1971 Lantern Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
1970 Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1969 Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
10 Downtown Show, New York, NY
1967 Jason Gallery, New York, NY
1966 Kalamazoo Art Center, Kalamazoo, MI
1965 Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
1964 Hanamura Galleries, Detroit, MI
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2020 UNCOMMON GROUND IV, Bridge Gardens, Bridgehampton, NY
2017 Santa Fe Botanical Garden VISUAL POETRYExhibition of 14 Outdoor Sculptures, Santa Fe, NM
2015 GROUP MATRIX, Inaugural Exhibition, STUX+HALLER Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Comune di Pontedera, Pontedera, Italy
2011 Friends of Finn Square in Tribeca, City of New York and NYC Parks and Recreation Department present, 9/11 MEMORIAL SCULPTURE COMMEMORATING 10th ANNIVERSARY
2009 Villa Haiss Museum, “20 Bildhauer – 20 Skulpturen”, Zell a.H. Germany
2007 Los Angeles Art Show (exhibited by LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM) at Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA
2005 U.S. Embassy Residence in Vatican City, The Holy See
2004 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Eckert Fine Art Gallery, Naples, FL
2002 BRONZE: PATTERNS AND COLOR, Century Association Solo Exhibition, New York
2001 Ford Park Sculpture Exhibition, Art in Public Places Program, Vail, CO
30th Anniversary Invitational Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Shidoni Gallery, Tesuque, NM
2000 Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Sculpture 2000 International, New London, CT
ALVA Gallery, New London, CT
Euro Galleries, Minneapolis
2000 McCormick Works of Art, Navy Pier Expo, Chicago, IL
1999 Benson Gallery, East Hampton, NY
The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH
1995–99 Quietude Garden Gallery, East Brunswick, NJ
1998 Albright College Center For The Arts, Freedman Gallery, Reading, PA
1997 Thomas McCormick Works of Art, Chicago, IL
1992–97 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
1996 Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
Friends of Contemporary Art, Lewallen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
Armory Show, Kouros Gallery, NY
Bologna-Landi Gallery, East Hampton, NY
1995–96 Outdoor Installation, West Broadway and Varick Streets, New York, NY
1995 Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Mongerson-Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago, IL
La Quinta Sculpture Garden, La Quinta, CA
1994 Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Turner-Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Benkert Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Philadelphia Expo, Philadelphia, PA
1988–94 Eve Mannes Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1992 Kyoto Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
1991–92 1st Alabama Biennial, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
1991 Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Kouros Gallery, Outdoor Sculpture Garden, Ridgefield, CT
1990 Tokyo Expo, Nina Owen, Ltd., Chicago, IL
1989-90 Sculpture Tour, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN
1989 International Contemporary Art Fair, Los Angeles Convention Center,
Los Angeles, CA
Flat Iron Gallery, New York, NY
Basel Expo, Basel, Switzerland
Cavalier Gallery, Stamford, CT
Food Center Sculpture Park at Hunts Point, Bronx, NY
1988 Ruth Vared Gallery, Easthampton, NY
The Romanek Sculpture Garden, Chicago, IL
Hudson River Museum, Sculptor’s Guild, Yonkers, NY
1987 Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1984-87 Schulman Sculpture Garden, White Plains, NY
1986 Guild Hall Museum, Easthampton, NY
Shidoni Contemporary Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Tesuque, NM
1984 Snug Harbor Museum, Staten Island, NY
1983 Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York, NY
1982-83 Phoenix Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, AZ
1982 The Great Garden Sculpture Show, Sculptural Arts Museum, Atlanta, GA
International Sculpture Conference, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1981 Botanical Gardens (outdoor show, Sculptor’s Guild), Bronx, NY
1970-81 Sculpture Center, Sixty-Ninth Street, New York, NY
1980 Sculpture Center, Sixty-Ninth Street, New York, NY
“AREA” (outdoor show), Washington, DC
1978–80 “AREA” (outdoor show), Wards Island, NY
American Mission Building, United Nations, New York, NY
1978 Lincoln Center, New York, NY
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY
Alexander Milliken Gallery, New York, NY
Foley Square (outdoor), New York, NY
PS 1, Long Island City, NY
Art Train, Michigan Art Train, Inc.
1975 The Society of the Four Arts Sculpture Competition, New York Cultural Center, Columbus Circle, NY
1973–75 Storm King Art Center, Sculpture in the Fields, Mountainville, NY
1974 Large Outdoor Sculpture Show, Bach Festival, Bethlehem, PA
1973-74 Sculpture III, Department of Cultural Affairs, World Trade Center, Pratt Institute and LaGuardia Airport, New York, NY
1972 Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY
1970 University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
1970 Whitney Museum Sculpture Annual, New York, NY
1966 University of the South, Sewanee, TN
1964 The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
The Bundy Art Gallery, Waitsfield, VT
1963 The San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
1959-63 The Detroit Institute of Arts Shows, Detroit, MI
1959 Father/Son, Indiana Art Center, South Bend, IN
Museum and University Collections:
911 Memorial Museum, New York, NY
Albright College, Freedman Gallery, Reading, PA
Albuquerque Museum of Art, Albuquerque, NM
Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT
Allan Houser Foundation, Permanent Collection, Santa Fe, NM
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Eastern Michigan University Library, Ypsilanti, MI
Fine Arts Museum of Oklahoma City, OK
Goddard Visual Art Center, Ardmore, OK
Grounds for Sculpture Museum, Hamilton, NJ
Guild Hall Museum of Art, East Hampton, NY
Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM
Hope College, Music School, Holland, MI
The Hyde Collection Art Museum, Glens Falls, NY
Iowa State University, Art on Campus Collection, Gerdin Building, College of Business, Ames, IA
Iowa State University, Art on Campus Model and Maquette Collection, Ames, IA
Iowa State University, Department of Music and Theater, Ames, Iowa
International Foundation Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Mitchell Wolfson New World Campus, Miami, FL
Museum of Outdoor Art, Englewood, Colorado
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
Norfolk Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, McKnight Performing Arts Center
Purdue University, North Central, Westville, IN
Pyramid Hill, Sculpture Park and Museum, Hamilton, OH
Reading Museum, Reading, PA
Rice University, Houston, TX
Runnymede Sculpture Farm, San Francisco, CA
Santa Fe Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
Stony Brook University, Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology
Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke Virginia
The Utsukushi-ga-Hara Open Air Museum, Tokyo, Japan
University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan, School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan, School of Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan, School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Montana, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula, MT
University of Nevada, Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
University of the South, Sewanee, TN
University of Syracuse, Syracuse, NY
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
William Patterson University, Sculpture Collection, Wayne, NJ
Selected Public Collections:
Ann Arbor City Hall, Ruby Church Memorial, Ann Arbor, Michigan
City of Phoenix , Phoenix, Arizona
Criminal Court Building , Hartford, Connecticut
New York City, New Dorp High School, Staten Island, New York
Nyack Plaza Mall, Nyack, New York
Pennington Park, Patterson, NJ
City of Palo Alto, CA
Appaloosa Public Library, Scottsdale, AZ
Selected Private Collections:
200 Central Park South, Bernard Spitzer, New York, NY Spitzer Engineering
1615 L. Street, Washington, DC Spitzer Engineering
2001 K. Street, Washington, DC Spitzer Engineering
Belz Enterprises, Memphis, TN
Best Products Corporation, Richmond, VA
Bishop Ranch, San Ramon, CA
Brandywine Realty and Trust, Austin, TX
The Corinthian Building, New York, NY
Dell Corporation, Austin, TX
Eighty One Mainstreet Associates, White Plains, NY
Garden Communities, La Jolla, CA
Hitachi Corporation, Kyushu Plant, Kanda, Japan
Jade Pig Corporation, Gaslight Village, Grand Rapids, MI
La Jolla Crossroads, La Jolla, CA
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company Foundation, Fort Wayne, IN
Lumiere Place Casino and Hotel, A Four Seasons Hotel, St. Louis, MO
Neiman-Marcus, Dallas, TX
Nemocolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA
Pacific Enterprises, Law Library, Los Angeles, CA
Palazzo Hotel Resort Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Peabody Hotel, Little Rock, AR (Belz Enterprises, Memphis, TN)
Portman Corporation, Northpark Town Center, Atlanta, GA
Rockefeller Realty Corporation, #3 Embarcadero West, San Francisco, CA
Saint Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe, NM
Schulman Realty Group, White Plains, NY
Sempra Energy International, San Diego, CA
Tower Insurance Group, New York, NY
Trammell-Crow, Paramount, CA
Valley National Bank, Phoenix, AZ
West Group, One Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, CA
Awards:
1994 The Audubon Artists Silver Medal of Honor for Sculpture, NY
1992 The Audubon Artists Chaim Gross Foundation Award for Sculpture, NY
1990 The Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor for Sculpture, NY
1988 Fiftieth Annual Guild Hall Artist Members Exhibition, Best Sculpture Award, East Hampton, NY
1987 Hakone Open-Air Museum Award, Japan
1986 The R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award
1965 Kalamazoo Area Art Exhibition/Art Center 1965-1966, Second Annual Purchase, Kalamazoo, MI
Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti Merit Award, Ypsilanti, MI
1964 Forty-sixth Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists and Craftsman of the Western Reserve,
Jury Mention, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Awarded an exhibition at the Kalamazoo Art Center, Kalamazoo, MI
1962 Annual North Dakota Exhibition Prize in Sculpture, ND
Detroit Institute of Arts, Lewis Prize for Outstanding Work by a Michigan Teacher, Detroit, MI
1961 Western Michigan Art Gallery Award for Sculpture, Grand Rapids, MI
1960 Albert Kahn and Associates Award, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
1958 Tri Kappa Award, First Prize Sculpture, Fort Wayne Art Museum, Fort Wayne, IN