Robert Barry

Robert Barry, born in 1936, is a conceptual artist whose work challenges the fundamental essence of the art object by pushing the boundaries of materiality.

Robert Barry's Art Style

Employing language and invisible mediums like inert gases or radio waves, his work centers on its interaction with the surrounding environment and the broader social context. Barry endeavors to depict the unknown or the imperceptible through installations, performances, and specific works that situate the viewer within a particular time and space.

In the late 1960s, Robert Barry shifted away from painting and began to explore invisible materials such as electromagnetic energy, ultrasonic radiation, and inert gases. Starting in 1969, he presented a series of works consisting of words depicted on sheets of paper, spoken on tape, projected as slides, and directly imprinted on walls.

Barry's pioneering contributions to conceptual ideas stem in part from his expansive interpretation of space, which extends to include the mental space of the viewer. His artworks fully come to fruition when they are experienced and observed by the spectator. Words play a pivotal role in Barry's art practice, eliciting a state of contemplation and personal reflection in the viewer.