George Barber, born 1958 in Guyana, is a video artist based in London. He is represented by Waterside Contemporary.

Career

George Barber received his BA from the St Martins School of Art in 1980 and his MA from The Slade in 1984. Barber first gained acclaim through his low-tech video pieces composed of found footage which he deconstructed in an effort to display them as contradicting their intended purposes. These works were "influential in defining an emergent 'slacker' aesthetic" as well as establishing the Scratch-video

Scratch Video

Scratch video was a British video art movement that emerged in the early-mid 1980s. It was characterised by the use of found footage, fast-cutting and multi-layered rhythms...

 movement. Many of Barber's works ('Absence of Satan' and ' Yes Frank No Smoke' in particular) are seminal pieces in the history of British video art

Video art

Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...

.

Barber's works became more varied in the later stages of his career as he shifted towards a more narrative style in his monologue works such as 'Refusing Potatoes' or 'I Was Once Involved In A Shit Show'. These simple performances were formally quite different to the scratch videos however conceptually in line with Barber's larger body of work as he layered his own stories with existing film and videos. As such, Barber's central concern remains as the manipulation of found footage into new artistic experiences. Barber has been part of numerous programmes at Tate Modern

Tate Modern

Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...

 and had retrospectives at the ICA

Institute of Contemporary Arts

The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...

, New York Film & Video Festival

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival is a film screening event in various American cities. It was founded in 1993, and its website claims it has been recognized by the film and entertainment industry as one of the leading film events on the independent festival circuit...

and recently at La Rochelle Festival, France.

Solo Exhibitions

2010
The Long Commute, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee
2009
Beyond Language, Marc De Puchredon Gallery, Basel

Light Industry, X-initiative’s NO SOUL FOR SALE, New York
2008
Automotive Action Painting, Chapter Arts, Cardiff

The Long Commute, Jack the Pelican Presents Gallery, New York
2007
Retrospective, Festival International du Film de La Rochelle, La Rochelle

Kirkcudbright International Art Festival, Scotland
2006
Automotive Action Painting, Tate Britain, London

Retrospective, Split Film & Video Festival, Croatia
2005
New Work One man show, London Gallery West, London
2004
Shouting Match, World Wide Video Festival, Amsterdam / Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
2002
Upside Down Minutiae and Yes Frank No Smoke, Gallery Contemporain Centre Regional D’Art, SETE

Group Exhibitions, Screenings and Festival

2011
TILT, Chisenhale Gallery, London
India Shouting Match, Kassel, 28th Documentary and Video Festival, Kassel

Gibberish, Whitechapel Gallery, London

Automotive Action Painting, Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart / South London Gallery, London

Shouting Match, Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago
2010
Mediations Biennial, as part of Erased Walls, Posnan, Berlin

Empty Sets, Waterside Contemporary, London

There is no solution because there is no problem, The Moor, Sheffield

Misty Boundaries Fades and Dissolves, FormContent Gallery, London

Mob Remedies, Gallery Primo Alonso, London
2009
Split International Festival of Film & Video, Croatia

Paint Can, Travelling Gallery, Edinburgh
2008
Following Your Heart, Arouca Film Festival, Portugal

Withdrawal, Videoex, Zurich

Automotive Action Painting, BFI SouthBank, London / Seventeen Gallery, London

Shouting Match and Automotive Action Painting, KurzFilmAgentur, Hamburg

What’s That Sound, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow

River Sky, Cambridge Film Festival, Cambridge

Antartica Starts Here, BFI Southbank, London

Scratch, Sadler's Wells, London
2007
Shouting Match, Site Gallery, Sheffield

1001 Colours Andy Never Thought of, Riga international Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga

Walking Off Court, Visonic, Belfast

I Was Once in a Shit Show, BKK Festival, Bangkok

Automotive Action Painting, VTape, Toronto

Withdrawal, Kassel Documentary Film Festival, Kassel
2006
Automotive Action Painting, Branson, Anticipating The Past, Tate Modern, London
2005
Shouting Match, Rotterdam Film Festival, Rotterdam
2004
Shouting Match, Wintherthur Short Film Festival, Switzerland / World Wide Video Festival, Switzerland

Beyond Language and Withdrawal, National Portrait Gallery, London

Walking Off Court, Melbourne International Film Festival / ‘Scratch Vol.2’ Prenelle Gallery, London
2003
Walking Off Court, Viper Festival Switzerland / Media Art Festival Friesland, Holland / SPLIT Film & Video Festival, Croatia / New York Video Festival
2002
Walking Off Court and I Was Once Involved In A Shit Show, Viper Festival Switzerland / Media Art Festival Friesland, Holland / SPLIT Film & Video Festival, Croatia / New York Video Festival / World Wide Video Festival, Holland / LUX Open Show, Royal College of art / Gate, Dartmoor / Tate Britain, London / Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London

Absence of Satan, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London

Passing Ship Landesgalerie, Austria
2001
River Sky, ICA and National Film Theatre, London / Toronto International Video Art Biennial / Viper Festival, Switzerland / Instituto De La Juventud, Madrid

Upside Down Minutiae, European Media Art Festival, Osnabruck
Slipstream ICA, London

Upside Down Minutiae, European Media Art Festival, Osnabruck
Slipstream ICA, London
2000
Discrepancy, The Citadel Arts Centre, St. Helens
1999
Withdrawal, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona / Impakt Festival, Utrecth / Videofest, Berlin
1998
Withdrawal, New York Film & Video Festival / Video Positive, Liverpool / Viper Festival, Switzerland

Effervescence, ICA, London
1997
Withdrawal, ICA, London

Effervescence, ICA, London

RIPE, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool

Ansaphone, Whitechapel Open, London

Arizona, World Wide Video Festival, W.R.O, Poland, Berlin / The Kitchen, New York / Dallas Video Festival / Centre for Arts Hobart / San Francisco International Film Festival / London Film Festival
1996
Retrospective,ICA, London

Passing Ship,Vigo Festival, Galicia / Australian Film & Video Festival / World Wide Video Festival / Locarno Video Festival / Pompidou Centre, Paris /

Awards

2008
Automotive Action Painting, First Prize, 24th Hamburg International Short Film Festival
2004
Walking Off Court, Grand Prix, Split Film & Video Festival
1998
2CB CURTAIN TRIP, Gold Award, ARS ELECTRONICA, AUSTRIA
1990
Gold Award, ARS ELECTRONICA, AUSTRIA
1996
Award, Exploding Cinema Group