Del Kathryn Barton: sing blood-wings sing
Past exhibition
Installation Views
Del Kathryn Barton: sing blood-wings sing, installation view. albertz benda, New York. February 28 - April 13, 2019.
Press release
NEW YORK, NY | albertz benda is thrilled to present sing blood-wings sing by trailblazing artist Del Kathryn Barton, whose recent institutional exhibitions have positioned her as one of the leading artists in Australia. The exhibition will be on view from February 28 to April 13, 2019.
The artist will debut her largest bronze sculpture to-date, alongside monumental work on canvas and her iconic portraits, immersing viewers in her intricate portrayals of motherhood, femininity, and desire.
In the sculpture ‘here she HEAR,’ Barton translates stylized forms of her highly sought-after paintings into bronze. The elongated limbs and ears sprouting from throughout the body elevate the figure to the status of a goddess-like character.
Comprised of five panels and over 30 feet in length, sing blood-wings sing (2017) was the centerpiece of Barton’s 2017 retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Inspired by the 1963 Peter, Paul and Mary song, Puff the Magic Dragon, the work is a testament to fantastical creativity untempered by age and a celebration of the simultaneous vulnerability and fierceness of youth. Each panel depicts humanoid characters with an abundance of eyes, limbs, and breasts fused with plant life, fauna, and abstract forms.
ABOUT DEL KATHRYN BARTON
Born in 1972 in Sydney, Australia, Del Kathryn Barton is one of Australia’s most acclaimed artists working today. Barton received her BFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney in 1993. She is the only woman to have twice won the prestigious Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2008, 2013) and in 2017 she had her first major retrospective, ‘The Highway is a Disco’ at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Recent solo exhibitions include r u a bunny? albertz benda, New York (2017); Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne, Australia (2016); and the highway is a disco, ARNDT Gallery, Singapore (2015). She has participated in many group exhibitions, among them Like-ness, albertz benda, New York, USA, (2016); Dark Heart, Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art, Adelaide, Australia, (2014); Theatre of the World, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Australia, (2012), Lightness and Gravity, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, (2012); Freehand: Recent Australian Drawing, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia, (2010/11); 2009 Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, (2009) Half a World Away: Drawings from Glasgow, Sao Paulo and Sydney, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Centre, Buffalo, New York, USA (2002).
Her work is found in the collections of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; and the Tiroche deLeon Collection, Tel Aviv, Israel, among others.
