Jo Barker
Jo Barker divides her time between weaving richly coloured tapestries from her studio base in Edinburgh and teaching part time at Glasgow School of Art.
“A love of working with my hands, of making things, and a very long-term interest in colour are essentially at the heart of what I do.
My compositions employ a range of marks shapes and patterns which have evolved over a number of years, with recurring themes of ellipses, circles, halos; borders, edges and layers creating a sense of movement and depth of field enhanced by reactions of particular colour combinations.
The finished images are consciously abstract and ambiguous. I want to create a sense of something as opposed to an identifiable object or picture.”
Current work is part of an ongoing series of tapestries exploring themes initially inspired by qualities and patterns of light. Colours are arranged in blocks, pools and smudges in overlapping layers combining what appear to be drawn or incised lines in spinning orbits.
Trained in the Tapestry Department at Edinburgh College of Art she exhibits her work widely nationally and internationally. Her work is held in several collections including the V&A Museum, London. Numerous works have been commissioned by, amongst others, the House of Lords, London, the Scottish Executive, Edinburgh and the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle
Born 1963 Cumbria, UK
Education
1985-86 Edinburgh College of Art: Post Graduate Diploma - Commended
1982-85 Edinburgh College of Art: BA (Hons) Design in Tapestry with Printmaking – 1st Class
1981-82 Cumbria College of Art & Design: Foundation Course
Awards
2008 & 06 The Theo Moorman Trust for Weavers
2008 Inches Carr Trust
2006 Scottish Arts Council - Creative Development
2005 Scottish Arts Council - Professional Development
1994 Scottish Arts Council - Individual Development
Exhibitions
2010 Stroud International Textile Festival: Vision into Colour
2009 Brown Grotta Gallery, Connecticut, USA: 10th Wave III
Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales: Follow A Thread (tour UK)
Saatchi Gallery, London: Collect
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh: Jo Barker –Tapestry (solo show)
2007 V&A, Museum, London: Collect
2006 Flinn Gallery, Connecticut, USA: Beyond Weaving -International Art Textiles
2005 Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark: Artapestry (tour - Germany, France)
2001-9 Browngrotta at SOFA New York and Chicago
2003 Westport Art Center, Connecticut, USA: The Common Thread
2002 City Art Centre, Edinburgh: Weaving Stories (tour - UK)
Brown Grotta Gallery, Connecticut, USA: 15th Anniversary Exhibition
Commissions
The House of Lords, Westminster, London
Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle
Scottish Executive, Edinburgh
City University, London
Bank of China, London
Guinness Plc (United Distillers), Edinburgh
City Art Centre & Edinburgh District Council
BUPA, London
Collections
V & A Museum, London,
The House of Lords, London
National Museum of Scotland
City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Aberdeen City Art Gallery & Museums
Grampian Hospitals Art Trust
Publications
2009 Selvedge Magazine - Sept/Oct: Timorous Beasties & Scotland
Hali Modern Rugs & Textiles - Spring: Exhibition Review - Jo Barker Tapestries
Embroidery Magazine - Mar/Apr: Exhibition Review -Jo Barker Tapestries
2007 Craftscotland Website: Featured Maker
2005 Scottish Arts Council Website: Visual Arts Featured Artist
1999 BBC Radio 4 - February: A Stitch In Time
1996 Art Textiles of the World - Great Britain Vol I: TELOS
Crafts Magazine - March/ April: Review of commissions for The Scottish Office
The Daily Telegraph - 27.1.96: Scots Pick up Tapestry’s Thread