Claire Barclay
{{Short description|Scottish artist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Claire Barclay
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}
| birth_place = Paisley, Scotland
| death_date =
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| nationality = Scottish
| alma_mater = Glasgow School of Art
| style = installation, sculpture and printmaking
| training =
}}
Claire Barclay (born 1968) is a Scottish artist. Her artistic practice uses a number of traditional media that include installation, sculpture and printmaking, but it also expands to encapsulate a diverse array of craft techniques.{{Cite book|title=Openwide.|last=Barclay|first=Claire|date=2009|isbn=9780947912642|location=The Fruitmarket Gallery|language=en|oclc = 811321128}} Central to her practice is a sustained exploration of materials and space.{{cite web|last1=Shannon|first1=Liz|title=Claire Barclay: Openwide|url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/16047-claire-barclay-openwide/|website=list.co.uk|access-date=6 March 2015}}{{cite web|title=Claire Barclay|url=http://belowanothersky.org/artists/claire-barclay/|website=belowanothersky.org|access-date=6 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510224305/http://belowanothersky.org/artists/claire-barclay/|archive-date=10 May 2018|url-status=dead}}
"While there is always a concept behind the work its actual form comes out of the 'play' with materials and my response to them"{{Cite book|title=Here + Now - Scottish Art 1990-2001|last1=Brown|first1=Katrina M.|last2=Tufnell|first2=Rob|publisher=Dundee Contemporary Arts|year=2001|isbn=0-9535178-7-X|pages=36}}
Early life and education
Claire Barclay received a Master of Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art, where she focused on environmental art.{{cite news|last1=Sherwin|first1=Skye|title=Artist of the week 103: Claire Barclay|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/sep/02/artist-week-claire-barclay|website=The Guardian|date=2 September 2010 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=8 March 2015}} She graduated in 1993 with an MA.{{Cite book|title=Claire Barclay : shadow spans|last=Barclay|first=Claire|date=2011|publisher=Whitechapel Gallery|others=Ogg, Kirsty., Whitechapel Art Gallery.|isbn=9780854881918|location=London|pages=47|oclc=752814701}}
Career
Barclay's first solo exhibition was at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow in 1994. In 2003, Barclay represented Scotland in the Venice Biennale. Her work was the focus of a solo exhibition at the Tate Britain in 2004.{{cite web|title=Art Now: Claire Barclay: Half-light|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/art-now-claire-barclay-half-light|website=Tate|access-date=7 March 2015}} In 2009 she had a solo exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery, which documented significant works created by Barclay over the previous 12 years, alongside newly-commissioned installations. She has had several solo exhibitions at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. In 2017 she showed new large scale sculptural work at Tramway Gallery in Glasgow,{{Cite web|url=https://www.stephenfriedman.com/artists/claire-barclay/news/claire-barclay-yield-point-at-tramway-glasgow-scotland|title=Stephen Friedman Gallery - News - 'Claire Barclay: Yield Point' At Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland|website=www.stephenfriedman.com|access-date=2019-09-03}} and the work made here amongst others were reworked and adapted at Mission Gallery, Swansea, in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.missiongallery.co.uk/exhibitions/deep-spoils/|title=Claire Barclay, Deep Spoils|website=www.missiongallery.co.uk|access-date=2019-09-03}} She was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 2024.{{Cite web |date=12 December 2024 |title=The RSA welcomes four new Members |url=https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/news/42-the-rsa-welcomes-four-new-members/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Royal Scottish Academy |language=en}}
= Themes =
Situated within realms of the domestic, Barclay's work juxtaposes the reified space of the gallery with that of the everyday. The objects present within her installations allude to dichotomies between function and dysfunction; subsequently, this imbues them with qualities of both the familiar and strange, simultaneously imparting them with an elusory nature.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/art-now-claire-barclay-half-light|title=Art Now: Claire Barclay: Half-light – Exhibition at Tate Britain {{!}} Tate|last=Tate|website=Tate|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-09-23}}
= Style =
Barclay creates large-scale installations, often made in situ and in response to the spaces in which they are shown. Her practice is also deeply rooted in process and craftsmanship; accordingly, her installations include an array of materials that oscillate between those associated with mechanization and those associated with the domestic: steel, cast-concrete, machined aluminium, rubber, brass mesh, ceramic, leather, canvas and printed fabric.{{Cite journal|url=https://frieze.com/article/claire-barclay-0|title=Claire Barclay|journal=Frieze|date=7 March 2017 |issue=187 |language=en|access-date=2017-09-23 |last1=Sharratt |first1=Chris }} These dualities further position her artistic process between the handcrafted and industrially produced, as well as the natural and man-made.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/sep/02/artist-week-claire-barclay|title=Artist of the week 103: Claire Barclay|last=Sherwin|first=Skye|date=2010-09-02|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-09-23|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
Selected exhibitions
- 'Nettverk Glasgow', Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo, 1998
- Zenomap'. 50. Venice Biennale, 2003
- 'Art now: Claire Barclay. Half-light', Tate Britain, 2004
- 'Claire Barclay: silver gilt', Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, 2005
- 'Claire Barclay: shifting ground', Camden Arts Centre, London, 2008
- 'Claire Barclay: openwide', The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2009
- 'Claire Barclay: Pale Heights', MUDAM, Luxenburg, 2009
- 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans', Whitechapel Gallery, 2010
- 'Overlap - Claire Barclay', Glasgow Print Studio, 2010{{Cite web|url=http://www.glasgowprintstudio.co.uk/Home/DisplayExhibition/60?year=2010|title=Overlap Exhibition at Glasgow Print Studio - Claire Barclay|access-date=2018-05-24}}
- 'Abstract Possible', Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, 2011{{Cite book|title=Funktion - Dysfunktion - Function - Dysfunction : Kunstzentrum Glasgow : contemporary art from Glasgow : Claire Barclay, Martin Boyce, Nick Evans, Nicolas Party, Ciara Phillips, Mary Redmond|date=2013|publisher=Verlag für Moderne Kunst|others=Todd, Jacqueline., Rehkopf, Kurt., Zirden, Sylvia., Neues Museum (Nuremberg, Germany)|isbn=9783869844817|location=Nürnberg|pages=47|oclc=873822785}}
- 'Bright Bodies', Kelvinhall, Glasgow, 2016{{Cite web|url=https://glasgowinternational.org/events/claire-barclay-2016/|title=CLAIRE BARCLAY|website=Glasgow International|access-date=2019-09-03}}
- 'Yield Point', Tramway Gallery, Glasgow, 2017
- 'Deep Spoils', Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018{{Cite web|title=Claire Barclay, Deep Spoils|url=https://www.missiongallery.co.uk/exhibitions/deep-spoils/|access-date=2020-11-07|website=www.missiongallery.co.uk}}
- 'Skiffing', Edinburgh College of Art, 2019{{Cite web|title=Skiffing {{!}} Edinburgh College of Art|url=https://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/event/skiffing|access-date=2020-11-07|website=www.eca.ed.ac.uk}}
Public collections
- Arts Council Collection{{Cite web|title=Barclay, Claire {{!}} Arts Council Collection|url=http://www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk/explore/artist/barclay-claire|access-date=2020-11-07|website=www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk}}
- British Council{{Cite web|title=Claire Barclay {{!}} Artists {{!}} Collection {{!}} British Council − Visual Arts|url=http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection/artists/barclay-claire-1968|access-date=2020-11-07|website=visualarts.britishcouncil.org}}
- Moderna Museet{{Cite web|title=Moderna Museet - Collection|url=https://sis.modernamuseet.se/view/objects/asitem/artist$00408850/0?t:state:flow=dd0ee40c-4851-4d3e-981f-2244d8da2a19|access-date=2020-11-07|website=sis.modernamuseet.se}}
- National Galleries Scotland{{Cite web|title=Claire Barclay|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/claire-barclay|access-date=2020-11-07|website=www.nationalgalleries.org|language=en}}
- Mudam, Luxembourg{{Cite web|title=Claire Barclay|url=https://www.mudam.com/collection/claire-barclay|access-date=2020-11-07|website=Mudam|language=en}}
Awards
- Artist in Residence, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 1997
- Three Year AHRB Fellowship, Glasgow School of Art, 2000
- Paul Hamlyn Foundation Artist's Award, 2007
- The Hospital Club Creative Award for Art, 2008
- Residency, Statens Vaerksteder for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2011
- Residency, The Banff Centre, Banff, 2013
- Residency, Edinburgh College of Art, 2019
Publications
- 'Claire Barclay: Ideal Pursuits', exhibition catalogue, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, 2003
- 'Claire Barclay: Fault on the Right Size', exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2007
- 'Claire Barclay: openwide', exhibition catalogue, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2009
- 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans', Whitechapel Gallery, 2010
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.stephenfriedman.com/artists/claire-barclay/ Claire Barclay at Stephen Friedman Gallery]
- [http://www.clairebarclay.net Claire Barclay website]
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Category:Scottish contemporary artists
Category:Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art
Category:Scottish women artists