Barry White 1937 - 2020
On retiring from teaching in 1988, Barry worked in his Woodend Mill studio five and a half days a week. Demonstrating his belief that being an artist demanded dedication, just like any other profession. He referred to his paintings as ‘life-size’; relative to himself. All who knew him would recognise his stature in his largest works. Almost all his works are untitled. He never sought to tell the viewer what to see and was no fan of the word ‘inspired’ when discussing what informed his work. Barry believed the more a viewer could bring to their experience by way of a knowledge of art, the more they would get from the work. His use of graphite and charcoal means much of the work is dark, though, Barry said, there was no satanic intent, rather the work is dark because the material is dark. He used colour where he felt it required, never for ‘decoration’. This is evident when colour punctuates his work. The scale of his canvases makes them, as he said, work in large spaces and corporate settings. The scale of the work is magnificent; it works because the skill, craftsmanship and dedication wrought on each piece deemed fit for consumption is so accomplished. The more you look into even the darkest of his works, the more a light shines out, exposing new depth, layers and mark-making with every visit. Where there is colour, it is essential, elemental and all the more captivating for its considered inclusion. Anyone who knew Barry knew a gentleman of great stature, a dedicated and skilled artist, a fun intellect who could talk for hours about art, jazz and Audrey Hepburn.
Making a painting is a process of discovery, an uncharted creative journey in which I have no preconceived idea of the final image.
As words/verbal-thinking do not come in to the process of my painting, why attempt to explain or justify it through the use of words?
Barry White 2001
BIOGRAPHY
1937 - Born in Bolton, Lancashire.
1954-58 - Studied at Wigan College of Art.
1958-59 - Painting Scholarship.
1959-60 - Studied at Goldsmiths College, London.
1958-61 - Periodically lived and worked in Cornwall.
1959 - Solo Exhibition, Aveguard Gallery, Manchester.
1960 - Young Contemporaries Exhibition, London
1961-62 - Part-time teaching at Bolton College of Art.
Lectured for Extra-Mural Department, University of Manchester.
1961 - Animated Filmmaking. Received commissions from Granada Television and the Manchester Institute of Contemporary Art.
1961-64 - Lived and worked in London and Essex.
1963 - Four Northern Painters Exhibition, Manchester City Art Gallery.
1964-66 - Lecturer at Salford College of Art
1965 - Solo Exhibition, Moyan Gallery, Manchester.
Commissioned to produce a Kinetic Feature by British Cotton Board.
Group Exhibition, Didsbury College, Manchester.
1966-88 - Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Art and Design, Manchester Polytechnic.
1966 - Media 4, Salford Art Gallery.
1969 - "Here and Now" Group Exhibition, Manchester College of Art Gallery.
1971 - Solo Exhibition, Didsbury College Gallery, Manchester.
1976 - Solo Exhibition, Peterloo Gallery, Manchester.
1978 - Solo Exhibition, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh.
1964-79 - Occasional lecturing for the Extra-Mural Department, University of Manchester.
Visiting Lecturer at Wolverhampton and Cardiff Colleges of Art.
MMU (since 1988).
1980 - Arts Council Exhibition, The Holden Gallery, Manchester.
1982 - Solo Exhibition, Alsager Gallery.
1984-85 - Visiting Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
1987 - Solo Exhibition, Hanover Gallery, Liverpool.
1987 - Major New Works, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago.
1988 - Solo Exhibition, The Holden Gallery, Manchester.
1988 - Left Teaching to paint full time.
1989 - Solo Exhibition, Dean Clough Gallery, Halifax.
1990 - Solo Exhibition, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh.
1995 - Solo Exhibition, Hanover Gallery, Liverpool.
2000 - Ove Arup Better World Space Gallery, Manchester.
2002 - Solo Exhibition, Stockport Art Gallery.
2004 - Solo Exhibition, Bolton Art Gallery.
2005 - Solo Exhibition, NEWI Gallery, Wrexham.
2005 - Solo Exhibition, Crossley Gallery, Dean Clough, Halifax.
2005 - Solo Exhibition, ArtDiana Gallery, Helsinki.
2006 - Curator's Choice, Dean Clough, Halifax.
2007 - Solo Exhibition, Artsmill Gallery, Hebden Bridge.
2010 - Solo Exhibition, Dukes Oak Gallery, Brereton.
2011 - Solo Exhibition, Waterside Arts Centre, Sale.
2015 - Solo Exhibition, Stockport Art Gallery
2016 - Began to experience severe memory loss and stopped visiting his studio.
2020 - Died in Manchester.
Barry White | Untitled | 2003 | 179cm x 213cm
Barry White | Untitled | 2004 | 179cm x 213cm
Barry White | Untitled | 2004 | 179cm x 213cm
Barry White | Untitled | 1978 | 242cm x 183cm