“Nothing seems to me the most potent thing in the world.” 

Robert Barry (1936) is a New York born multi-media artist. He grew up in The Bronx, and later studied Fine Art at Hunger College, taught by William Baziotes and Robert Mothwell – both abstract expressionism painters. Barry currently lives in New Jersey at 83 years old. 

Robert Barry uses installation, non-material, text and invisible media in his art practice, sometimes combining them. As a conceptual artist, he is particularly interested in space and how a viewer reacts to art instead of the subject matter itself. 

After moving to New Jersey in 1974, Barry started working with invisible media sometimes combined with text. These science related methods include electromagnetic energy, ultrasonic radiation, and inert gases – approaches which rely on how things impact and affect other things. He uses these processes in his exhibitions, and is said to have opened bottles of inert gas as part of one of his shows.  

I am particularly interested in his language work. Barry’s conceptual text work, as seen below, often consists of questioning the concept of time and how the human brain thinks about things. I am inspired by his honest words which look as though he has just written down what he was thinking. It intrigues me that he has noted the date in a few of his pieces, as if he is keeping a written track of his thoughts throughout time – much like a diary. It almost seems as though he is referring to objects or thoughts which may or may not exist but are not physically shown. I am also interested in the plainness of these works, through lack of colour and very angular, simplified writing style – like a dumbed down visual representation of inexplainable and difficult thought processes which relate to describing an item or thought.