Barry Burman
Encyclopedia
Barry Burman was an English figurative artist known for his dark and often disturbing subject matter. He was a successful as an artist and teacher. He took an overdose and died aged 57.
in 1943. He gained a first in fine art
at Coventry
College of Art
and continued his studies at the Royal College of Art
.
at Mid-Warwickshire College in Leamington between 1974 and 1994.
mixed with egg yolk
and vinegar
on thick paper to produce an extraordinary leathery surface.
Shortly before his death, Burman began to work in a new medium, creating a series of Papier-mâché figures / puppets - a return in three dimensions to earlier themes ('Leather Face', 'Uncle Tic Tac' and 'Tommy Rawhead').
television program
.
, Ed Gein
and Hannibal Lecter
. According to Malcolm Yorke, he visited the scenes of the Whitechapel
murders which "still exuded a scent of evil, or 'agony traces' as he called them".
In 1991, Burman won the Hunting Group / The Observer
award with his painting 'Manac Es', inspired by the Whitechapel murders as fictionalised in Iain Sinclair
's first novel 'White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings'.
's premiership and the Falklands War
('Patriots').
John Bunyan's
The Pilgrim's Progress
was based upon a work that is said to be placed in American hotel bedrooms because it is too dull for anyone to steal it.. Glyn Hughes has linked the idea to Burman's own childhood (he was baptised in the same font as Bunyan and regularly visited the church), his belief in Republicanism
shared with Bunyan, and a healing process for Burman himself.
Following his death, there have been three retrospectives:
's novel Antwerp (Serpent's Tail
, 2004) is dedicated to Barry Burman.
Early life
Burman was born in BedfordBedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
in 1943. He gained a first in fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
at Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
College of Art
Art school
Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...
and continued his studies at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
.
Employment
Despite his success as an artist, he continued to teach part-timePart time
A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week...
at Mid-Warwickshire College in Leamington between 1974 and 1994.
Artistic method
Burman painted with oil, acrylic, ink and wax crayonCrayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
mixed with egg yolk
Egg yolk
An egg yolk is a part of an egg which feeds the developing embryo. The egg yolk is suspended in the egg white by one or two spiral bands of tissue called the chalazae...
and vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
on thick paper to produce an extraordinary leathery surface.
Shortly before his death, Burman began to work in a new medium, creating a series of Papier-mâché figures / puppets - a return in three dimensions to earlier themes ('Leather Face', 'Uncle Tic Tac' and 'Tommy Rawhead').
Artistic themes
"If one had erroneously formed an impression of sadism or brutality, an encounter with the artist changed one's mind. His nature was as far as one could get from that of the monsters he portrayed. He was the most gentle, the most non-judgemental, the most modest man, affectionate to his friends, caring of them, supportive, and he was also among the most committed of artists."Sexuality and feminism
His early paintings are described by the critic Peter Webb as: "meticulous and controversial images which addressed his ideas on women's sexuality; provocative schoolgirls on black leather sofas; malevolent nudes clutching Victorian dolls; and threatening femme fatales grasping severed male heads". According to Webb, this led on one occasion to a physical attack from feminist critics on a BBC2BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
.
Murder
In the 1980s, he created a number of images inspired by both real-life and fictional serial-killers, including Jack the RipperJack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
, Ed Gein
Ed Gein
Edward Theodore "Ed" Gein - July 26, 1984) was an American murderer and body snatcher. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes...
and Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer...
. According to Malcolm Yorke, he visited the scenes of the Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
murders which "still exuded a scent of evil, or 'agony traces' as he called them".
In 1991, Burman won the Hunting Group / The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
award with his painting 'Manac Es', inspired by the Whitechapel murders as fictionalised in Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
's first novel 'White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings'.
Street scenes
Also in the 1980s, Burman painted a number of fine streetscenes (including 'Angel Alley') and doorways in Whitechapel: "The area's blistered paint and cancerous brickwork ... offered him visual stimuli - and nobody could suggest more menace in a wall or cracked window than Burman".Politics
In the 1980s, he tackled political themes, most notably the "chauvinism and bloody mindedness" of Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's premiership and the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
('Patriots').
Solo exhibitions
During his lifetime, Burman had nine solo exhibitions.- 1969: Coventry College of Art
- 1969: Leamington SpaLeamington SpaRoyal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
Art Gallery - 1971: University of Warwick
- 1974: Ikon GalleryIkon GalleryThe Ikon Gallery is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. The gallery's current director is Jonathan Watkins.Ikon was set up to...
, Birmingham - 1977: Warwick Gallery
- 1982: Herbert Art Gallery,Coventry
- 1992: Nicholas Treadwell GalleryNicholas TreadwellNicholas Treadwell owns the Nicholas Treadwell Gallery, which started in 1963 in touring vehicles, after which it was run in buildings in London, Bradford and finally Austria. Treadwell has promoted the Superhumanism art movement, which is defined as an art of urban living, conveyed in a vivid and...
, London - 1997: Loyal to the Nightmare, Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham
- 1999: The Pilgrim's Progress: Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham
John Bunyan's
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...
was based upon a work that is said to be placed in American hotel bedrooms because it is too dull for anyone to steal it.. Glyn Hughes has linked the idea to Burman's own childhood (he was baptised in the same font as Bunyan and regularly visited the church), his belief in Republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
shared with Bunyan, and a healing process for Burman himself.
Following his death, there have been three retrospectives:
- 2004: Barry Burman retrospective, The Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa
- 2007: The Unseen Burman, Gallery 12, London
- 2008: Burman - Barry Burman 1943 - 2001, Knifesmith Gallery, Bristol
Dedication
Nicholas RoyleNicholas Royle
Nicholas Royle is an English novelist.Born in Manchester, Royle has written five novels - Counterparts, Saxophone Dreams, The Matter of the Heart, The Director’s Cut and Antwerp. He also claims to have written more than 100 short stories, which have appeared in a variety of anthologies and...
's novel Antwerp (Serpent's Tail
Serpent's Tail
Serpent's Tail is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It is notable for its translated works, particularly European crime fiction, and is the British publisher of Elfriede Jelinek and Lionel Shriver...
, 2004) is dedicated to Barry Burman.