Artists Registry
New York NY United States
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Artist's Statement
Statement of Work
The Lexeme Series: Remembering 9/11
I began working on the Lexeme Series shortly after the Twin Towers were destroyed. I have lived in Tribeca for over 40 years and was devastated by the events of 9/11/01. I don’t like to dwell on the subject of death; I find it too depressing, and prefer to focus on the positive. As a way to process what happened, I went to work in my studio. I started arranging shapes and forms, building compositions from my emotions and thoughts. What emerged from this process was an image of two geometric shapes (the Twin Towers), enveloped in organic, energetic forms—forms that suggested renewal and continuation rather than finality. For the next eight years, I continued working on this idea, expanding upon it, and letting it evolve naturally. As the series progressed, the two tower-like shapes became more abstract, moving away from one another and branching out into new, independent forms. Connected, organic shapes found in earlier pieces became separate facets, constituting their own unique sculptures. The later Lexeme works were abstract and almost unrecognizable from the earlier pieces, and gave way to my current body of work, the DNA Series, which includes large oil paintings. While these abstract paintings may appear unrelated to the Lexeme Series they have, in fact, evolved from it. This evolution represents the human spirit’s power of renewal. From a single subject, endless creative possibilities emerged.
Looking back at the past ten years, and to the direction my work as taken since I first started with the subject of 9/11, I clearly see how the Lexeme Series highlights the strength of the human spirit. The series tells the story of humanity’s relationship to the towers: humans brought them into being, and humans will continue to create, even after their destruction. Installing my sculpture, “911”, at Finn Square in Tribeca provides a way for me to generate positive energy to the area, and to help renew our community.
Bill Barrett
April 2011
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Born in Los Angeles, California
Education:
B.S. and M.S. in Design, M.F.A., University of Michigan
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2010 Polyphonics, Iowa State University, Christian Petersen Art Museum, Ames, IA
Synchronicities, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2008-09 Exquisite Balance, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
2008 Drawing Exhibition, Michigan State University, College of Arts and Letters, Kresge Art Center, East Lansing, MI
LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ
2006 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2005 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2002 Century Association, New York, NY
Ira Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1982-2005 DeGraaf Fine Art, Saugatuck, MI
2001 McCormick Works of Art, Chicago, IL
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
Cline Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Harris Gallery, Houston, TX
1998 J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997–98 Nardin Gallery, New York, NY
1996 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
Cline Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1995 Mongerson-Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago, IL
Galerie Roswitha Benkert, Zurich
1994 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
1993 Cline Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1990 Galerie Roswitha Benkert, Zurich
Shidoni Contemporary Gallery, Tesuque, NM
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:
2011 Outdoor Installation, Finn Square Park, New York, NY (10 year commemorative anniversary of lives lost during World Trade Center attack)
2009 20 Bildhauer-20Skulpturen, Villa Haiss Museum, Zell am Harmersback, 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 Tenth Anniversary Invitational, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
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
2000–1999 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
1992–94, 97-98 Navy Pier Exhibition, Chicago, IL
1998 Albright College Center For The Arts, Freedman Gallery, Reading, PA
1997 Thomas McCormick Works of Art, Chicago, IL
1992–97Outdoor 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
1991–921st 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
1973-74Sculpture 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:
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
International Foundation Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Las Vegas Museum of Art, Las Vegas, NV
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
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
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 the South, Sewanee, TN
University of Syracuse, Syracuse, NY
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Selected Public Collections:
Ann Arbor City Hall, Ruby Church Memorial, Ann Arbor, MI
City of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ
Criminal Court Building, Hartford, CT
New York City, New Dorp High School, Staten Island, NY
Nyack Plaza Mall, Nyack, NY
Pennington Park, Patterson, NJ
Selected Private Collections:
2001 K. Street, Washington, DC
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
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