ceramic art by barnaby barford

barnaby barford

barnaby barford started making one-off art pieces made from mass manufactured or antique porcelain figurines at the same time or even before the more acclaimed designers konstantin grcic, hella jongerius and ingo maurer have done it. like him, all these designers re-assemble pieces of a historic and modern ‘kitsch’ production and put them as artwork into a new context. those pieces often possess a dark sense of humour.in barnaby’s work the titles are an important part of it, making an inroad to the piece and sometimes giving a totally unexpected viewpoint. the ceramic or porcellain pieces by barnaby barford are made by either painting on or cutting up the found figurines and re-assembling them together providing a clever way of getting people to look again at something they would on principle have dismissed. the way they are put together forces you to look at the figures and the scene in a slightly disrupted way. a new conglomerate is the result, a reworking of tradition that leaves it recognizable but witty, … edited.

‘oh, I thought it would be bigger’© barnaby barford, 2006porcelain, enamel paint, zinc discs, glass tubes, painted wooden base

‘oh please can we keep it mummy?!’© barnaby barford, 2006porcelain, enamel paint, painted wooden base