Name Glenn Barkley | ||
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Books String Theory: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art | ||
Exchange series aleks danko and glenn barkley with tom polo
Glenn Barkley (born 1972) is an Australian independent curator and writer based in Sydney, Australia. He was Senior Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) from 2008 to 2014, and was previously curator of the University of Wollongong Art collection from 1996 to 2008. Between 2007–2008 he was Director and curator of the Ergas Collection.
Contents
- Exchange series aleks danko and glenn barkley with tom polo
- Glenn barkley introduces string theory museum of contemporary art sydney
- Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
- Other institutions and projects
- Publications and other work
- References
Describing himself as "a fan" of art and artists, Barkley has written extensively on Australian art and culture for Art Monthly, Artist Profile and Art and Australia as well as for numerous catalogues and monographs. He has a diverse area of interest and knowledge including public art; artist books and ephemera; outsider art and other marginal art forms; public and private collection management and development; and horticulture.
Glenn barkley introduces string theory museum of contemporary art sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
In 2014, Barkley worked as Consultant Curator (along with Curator Terrie Sultan) on the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia's staging of the travelling exhibition Chuck Close: Prints, Process, Collaboration. In 2013 Barkley curated string theory: Focus on Australian contemporary art, a survey of Australian Indigenous textile and fibre arts. In the same year he curated South of No North: Laurence Aberhart, William Eggleston and Noel McKenna.
In 2012, Barkley co-curated As If, a retrospective of the work of Australian painter Ken Whisson, with Lesley Harding of Heide Museum of Modern Art Melbourne. The same year he also curated Volume One: MCA Collection, the first exhibition of the MCA collection to take place in its newly renovated and expanded premises. In the process of researching this exhibition Barkley examined every work in the MCA's collection of over 4,000 artworks.
In 2011, Barkley curated a retrospective of New Zealand-born, Berlin-based contemporary artist Michael Stevenson., and also co-curated with Inhye Kim of NMOCA tell me tell me: Australian and Korean Contemporary Art 1976–2011. The latter exhibition toured to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea.
2009–10 saw Barkley curate Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO. As well as the MCA the show toured to venues in Canberra and Wollongong. Other exhibitions Barkley curated at the MCA include Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, and avoiding myth & message: Australian artist and the literary world, both in 2009.
In 2006 during his previous role as curator at the University of Wollongong, Barkley curated the exhibition Multiplicity: Prints and Multiples from the Collection of the MCA and the University of Wollongong. This exhibition was presented at the MCA and toured nationally.
Other institutions and projects
Since leaving the MCA in early 2014, Barkley has undertaken a number of freelance curatorial projects. Now the heart is filled with gold as if it were a purse was curated by Barkley to celebrate Arts Project, Melbourne's 40th anniversary in 2014.
In 2014, Barkley worked with Darwin artist Franck Gohier and hotel group Merivale to curate the Work in Progress Bar at 50 King St Sydney.
Prior to his departure from the MCA Barkley had curated several projects in an independent capacity. On this day alone, an exhibition focused on photography and transformation, was curated for the annual Octopus exhibition at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne. "Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context" was co-curated with collector and curator Peter Fay and exhibited at Monash University Museum of Art and Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney. In another collaboration with Fay, Barkley co-curated with Dr Deborah Hart the exhibition "Home Sweet Home- Works from the Peter Fay Collection".
In 2014, it was announced that Barkley will be the 2015 Artistic Director of Art Month Sydney, an annual contemporary art festival run by 10 Group.
Publications and other work
In 2013 Barkley donated his major collection of zines to the State Library of NSW. He has also donated artwork to the University of Wollongong Art Collection and the Penrith Regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest.
Barkley is also known for his work with outsider artists within an Australian context and has published, spoken and curated broadly within this field.
He is also writing a monograph on Singapore-based Australian artist Belinda Fox and on Sydney based painter McLean Edwards. In 2013 Edwards' portrait of Barkley was a finalist in the annual Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
In 2014 Barkley's ceramic sculptures were included in the exhibition Glazed & Confused: Ceramics in Contemporary Art Practice at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre in Sydney.