“By identifying and isolating incidents in our past, we can go a long way to explain the thoughts, feelings and actions of the present.” - Barrie West, Confessional Artist and Concept Artist
About Barrie West
Oft described as a Confessional Artist and a Concept Artist - or in his words, “I just make stuff”.
"We are our History":
“My art explores, and attempts to understand, the meaning of ‘being what you are’. By identifying and isolating incidents in our past, we can go a long way to explain the thoughts, feelings and actions of the present,” says West. Sculpture, installation, graphics, painting, performance, writing are all intended to seduce the viewer to take a closer look. Once he has your attention then the multi-layers of interpretation reveal themselves.
The Sunderland INDIE
Alongside his own artistic practice, Barrie West is the Coordinator of Sunderland INDIE, a collective of artists living or working in Sunderland, who band together to exhibit, and share advice & best practice.
In September 2019, Barrie West joined two other Sunderland INDIE members, Anna Glover and Kath Price, at the ArtyParti Celebration event to discuss Sunderland INDIE’s connection to the city, and specifically to the Mackie’s Corner building, which had been used as a city-centre venue to showcase the work of artists.
“I think a commercial gallery is concerned with making money out of art. And a situation like [Mackie’s Corner] is good, because you can experiment, you can put it up on the wall and get a reaction from other people apart from yourself. If your art works, you'll be told. If it fails, you'll also be told. You don't need to put yourself out there and worry about whether the work is successful or not, because you're going to lose a sale. And this is one of the key things about using a place like Mackie's Corner - you don't have to play the capitalist game of doing what the market says, or doing what the consumer wants. You can choose to do what you want, you can take risks, do anything you want really. Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks. If it sticks, the public will tell you. If it falls off, then you've learned.”
“The Grand Illusion” - Barrie West, 2014, mixed media
Barrie's Most Recent Events:
2024 - Washington60, “Fact, Fiction & Folklore” - Washington Old Hall
2022 - “Earth Requiem” - Arts Centre Washington
2021 - “A Place Unknown” - Arts Centre Washington
2020 - “The Next Step” - Arts Centre Washington
2019 - “Defining the Instant” - The Bridges, Sunderland
2018 - “20/20 Vision” - Mackie’s Corner, Sunderland
2018 - “Slabs” / “Tomb of Detritus” - Middlesbrough
2018 - “Slabs” - The Bridges, Sunderland
2017 - "All We Are Saying II (Say it with Flowers)" - Sunderland Minster
“Dark Mirror” - Barrie West, 2016, white pen on black / mixed media
All We Are Saying (Artists for Peace)
Barrie coordinates the regular “All We Are Saying (Artists for Peace)” events. These include Mapping Armageddon in 2016/2017, for which Barrie West and Stephanie Smith, plus the help of 19 poets, collaborated in a “monumental exploration of man’s inhumanity towards man, and the lessons which must be learned”.
“What we want is the independence of being able to create without the marketplace determining what we have to create, and that gives us the liberty to create anything basically. Also places like [Mackie’s Corner] give us the freedom to express ourselves.”
West shared his thoughts on the movement’s impact at our ArtyParti Celebration, held in Mackie’s Corner, where West’s work has been showcased multiple times: “The world was in a terrible state when All We Are Saying started, seven or eight years ago, and we've been showing biannually since then, and it's still in a terrible state. So I'm not saying that we're making much headway against all the arms dealers and the armament industry, but we've got our say. Sometimes it's a silent voice, but it's a powerful one. ”
Listen to Barrie West on the ArtyParti podcast:
Say farewell to an old sweet shop, reimagined as a revolving temporary exhibition venue for artists.
This episode of ArtyParti was recorded in front of a live audience at Mackie’s Corner, a Sunderland city centre venue reimagined as an arts space. Meet the group of artists from “The Sunderland INDIE”, and hear how their practice was influenced by the building.