MICHAEL BARNES
Place of Residence: Sycamore, IL 60178
My recent body of work is The New Breed. While to a great extent my work evolves from self-investigation and a reflection of my subconscious, this body of work focuses more directly on human nature, especially the corruptive human desire to control and to possess. The strange hybrid and mutated creatures are the by-product. They are domesticated beyond recognition and beyond any level of self-identity or function.
Solitary figures existing within vacuous environments are often bound while being tempted or agitated by surrounding elements. However, they have little awareness and even less control. There are many other ambiguous, unrevealed elements operating simultaneously. While clues are provided, I intentionally limit the amount of information given to allow the viewer room for his or her own interpretation.
Biography
Michael Barnes received his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1996
and his
B.F.A. from Alma College, Michigan in 1991. He is currently an associate
professor of art at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
Barnes' work has been exhibited in over 100 competitive group exhibitions since 1996 including exhibitions in Poland, Taiwan, Estonia, Japan, Romania, Finland, and the Republic of Macedonia. His recent solo shows include the venues of: Street Level Gallery, Highwood, IL; Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; the OIA -Gallery 402, New York, NY; and Anchor Graphics, Chicago, IL.
Recent
group exhibitions include Drawing VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery,
West Hollywood, CA; Outlaw Printmakers, a traveling exhibition
which visited Big Cat Gallery, New York, NY; Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas
City, KS; Kelly Rae Theiss Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; The New Hybrid,
Long Island University, Brooklyn campus; and Repo(session), Gallery
312, Chicago, IL.
Barnes has received numerous awards, including an Illinois Arts
Council Grant and two residencies at the Fran Masereel Centrum in Belgium.
His work is represented in many collections such as the Museum of Fine
Art, Boston, MA; The Royal Museum of Art, Antwerp, Belgium; the City of
Vaasa, Finland; The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota; as well as
many university and private collections.