Sculptor Bill Barrett was born in Los Angeles, California and studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he received a B.S. and a M.S. in design, as well as an MFA. A longtime resident of New York City, Barrett now divides his time between Santa Fe and New York. His work has been widely shown in major museums and galleries coast to coast and in Switzerland and Japan. In addition, both corporate and private collectors own many of his works.
Barrett works in three stages: A small bronze maquette, which the author Michael Brenson has described as "typically quirky, experimental, and figurative." The next stage involves blowing up the work into welded and polished aluminum. At this stage the sculpture is, as Brenson writes, "lighter now and closer in form and structure to Cubism and David Smith." Finally, Barrett creates more airy, and the effect is increasingly architectural . . . with a lightness and directness" (Michael Brenson, "The New York Times", 1985).
Barrett's approach to art is basically humanistic. "Art helps people understand themselves better," he says. "I come from an expressionist attitude about what art is for. It's an involvement, that of the artist with his art and that of the art with the viewer. It becomes a very intimate conversation among the three, which is not new. It's always been this way. (Personal interview, Valentine Riddell, Santa Fe, 1992)
This biography is taken from the Archives of AskART.
Source: Mark Sublette, Medicine Man Gallery, Inc.
Museums:
Albuquerque Museum of Art
Allan Houser Foundation, Santa Fe
Cleveland Museum of Art
Harwood Museum of Art, Taos
Knoxville Museum of Art
Las Vegas Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe
Norfolk Museum of Art, Virginia
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
