ART DESCRIPTION
This work is from Barry’s last ever series of twelve large-scale paintings. He was working on this series when he passed away from a rare and undetectable heart condition in 2015.
Works in this series gather together many conceptual elements that Barry Kamen was developing during his 30+ career as an artist. There is the use of the graphic script and graphite lines that appear in his work since the early 1990s, as well as the wordplay that is ever-present in his work; here the words ‘maybe’ and ‘almost’ are etched into the paint using graphite or pasted on using collage. These words, like other linking words or liminal words, fascinated Kamen as these words are about connection and openness. Kamen was interested in words that connect, or that cleave open possible narratives or futures.
The palette of these works is very singular, and although the sky blue and brown have a clear lineage from earlier usage in the ‘Caged Waits’ series of 1991-93, there are colours in this series that are entirely new to his work. Most importantly, it is during these final works of 2015 that the adhesive plaster motif (that functions as a signature in Kamen’s work) is left behind, leaving only its pink colour. The graphite circle recalls Kamen’s lifelong interest in Zen, and his study into existential existence, as well as a fascination with spaces that represent portals of some kind (drains, cages, holes) that can represent confinement, but also transcendence of confinement. It is interesting that here the circle is depicted as imperfect and has a certain agitation or even violence present. The broken, rough (yet exquisite) lines recall somewhat the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the ever-present influence of Cy Twombly is very visible.
OTHER WORKS
