Claire Barclay (born 1968) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

artist. Her artistic practice uses a number of traditional media that include installation, sculpture and printmaking, but it also expands to encapsulate a diverse array of craft techniques. Central to her practice is a sustained exploration of materials and space. "While there is always a concept behind the work its actual form comes out of the 'play' with materials and my response to them"

Early life and education

Claire Barclay received a Master of Fine Arts from the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

, where she focused on environmental art. She graduated in 1993 with an MA.

Career

Barclay's first solo exhibition was at

Transmission Gallery Transmission Gallery is an artist-run space in Glasgow. It was established in 1983 by graduates of Glasgow School of Art. It primarily shows the work of young early career artists and is run by a changing voluntary committee of six people. Among ...

, Glasgow in 1994. In 2003, Barclay represented Scotland in the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. Her work was the focus of a solo exhibition at the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

in 2004. In 2009 she had a solo exhibition at the

Fruitmarket Gallery The Fruitmarket Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since its opening in 1974, the gallery has become part of the Scottish contemporary art scene. After a period of closure to undergo a significant renovation, the g ...

, which documented significant works created by Barclay over the previous 12 years, alongside newly-commissioned installations. She has had several solo exhibitions at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. In 2017 she showed new large scale sculptural work at Tramway Gallery in Glasgow, and the work made here amongst others were reworked and adapted at Mission Gallery,

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, in 2018. She was elected to the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

in 2024.

Themes

Situated within realms of the domestic, Barclay's work juxtaposes the reified space of the gallery with that of the everyday. The objects present within her installations allude to dichotomies between function and dysfunction; subsequently, this imbues them with qualities of both the familiar and strange, simultaneously imparting them with an elusory nature.

Style

Barclay creates large-scale installations, often made ''in situ'' and in response to the spaces in which they are shown. Her practice is also deeply rooted in process and

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workma ...

; accordingly, her installations include an array of materials that oscillate between those associated with mechanization and those associated with the domestic: steel, cast-concrete, machined aluminium, rubber, brass mesh, ceramic, leather, canvas and printed fabric. These dualities further position her artistic process between the handcrafted and industrially produced, as well as the natural and man-made.

Selected exhibitions

* 'Nettverk Glasgow', Museet for Samtidskunst,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, 1998 * Zenomap'. 50.

, 2003 * 'Art now: Claire Barclay. Half-light',

, 2004 * 'Claire Barclay: silver gilt', Stephen Friedman Gallery,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 2005 * 'Claire Barclay: shifting ground',

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

, London, 2008 * 'Claire Barclay: openwide', The Fruitmarket Gallery,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, 2009 * 'Claire Barclay: Pale Heights', MUDAM, Luxenburg, 2009 * 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans',

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

, 2010 * 'Overlap - Claire Barclay',

Glasgow Print Studio Glasgow Print Studio is an arts organisation situated in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1972, Glasgow Print Studio is an organisation with charitable status that exists to encourage and promote the art of printmaking; it is supported by Creative ...

, 2010 * 'Abstract Possible', Museo Tamayo,

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, 2011 *'Bright Bodies',

Kelvinhall Kelvinhall ('' Partick Cross'' until 1977) is an underground station on the Glasgow Subway, renamed after the nearby Kelvin Hall. It is located in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, near to many of the city's best known tourist destinations i ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, 2016 *'Yield Point', Tramway Gallery, Glasgow, 2017 *'Deep Spoils', Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018 *'Skiffing',

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

, 2019

Public collections

* Arts Council Collection * British Council * Moderna Museet * National Galleries Scotland * Mudam, Luxembourg

Awards

* Artist in Residence, 200 Gertrude Street,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, 1997 * Three Year AHRB Fellowship, Glasgow School of Art, 2000 *

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Paul Hamlyn Foundation is a registered charity, and a company limited by guarantee, which has been established in its current form since 2004, succeeding an earlier incarnation that was founded in 1987, which itself formalised established philan ...

Artist's Award, 2007 *

The Hospital Club The Hospital Club, later renamed the H Club, was a members' club for people in the creative industries in London, England. It housed a television studio (h Studio), recording studio, screening room, live performance space, restaurant, lounges a ...

Creative Award for Art, 2008 * Residency, Statens Vaerksteder for Kunst,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, 2011 * Residency,

The Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the performing and fine arts, as well as leadership training. It was established in 1933 ...

, Banff, 2013 *Residency,

, 2019

Publications

* 'Claire Barclay: Ideal Pursuits', exhibition catalogue,

Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, 2003 * 'Claire Barclay: Fault on the Right Size', exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2007 * 'Claire Barclay: openwide', exhibition catalogue, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2009 * 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans', Whitechapel Gallery, 2010

References

External links

Claire Barclay at Stephen Friedman Gallery

Claire Barclay website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Claire 1968 births Living people Scottish contemporary artists British printmakers Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Scottish women artists People from Paisley, Renfrewshire Royal Scottish Academicians