Alastair Barnes is an accomplished American & South African artist and sculptor excelling in a variety of forms, genres and expressions in the field of visual art. Barnes' vast body of creation, a labor of many decades, ranges from more normative landscape painting and figurative works, to those with a humorous and mildly ironic quality to them, right through to works we would tend to describe as outright bizarre and quirky. This rather diverse variation in subject matter and in forms of expression aptly illustrates the outlook and personality of an artist mature enough to be able to embrace life in all its wonderful diversity. Growing up in East London on the southeastern coast, Barnes had the opportunity to enjoy a rather easy and freewheeling childhood. This was thanks partly to the fact that his formal guardian was his deaf and ancient grandfather who showed little interest in how the child grew up. Barnes, therefore, had all the freedom to wander freely all around the striking and sunny landscapes of East London full of picturesque grassy meadows, little hills, forests, streams and rivers. He now has studios in New York, Miami, and Texas as well as studios across the pond.
This free-flowing childhood spent right in the lap of nature proved to be a major impact in shaping the mindset and worldview of the then budding artist. For Barnes, as he himself confesses, revels in the liberating spirit that nature represents to him. Even at this mature age, the artist affirms, he can hardly wait for the sun to rise each morning and to revel in the morning glory of nature in the quiet country village of Greyton that Barnes calls his home these days. Alastair Barnes Artist and Sculptor Painting When it comes to painting, Barnes' favorite medium is oil and acrylic on canvas. Although he likes experimenting with different styles and forms, Barnes, as a painter, really comes into his own in his expressionist landscape works that make heavy uses of the impasto technique.
Looking at these paintings, one clearly realizes what Barnes is trying to say when he remarks that he uses colors more as symbols of light and sound and form. As such, his paintings have little naturalistic about them and it is apparent that Barnes is little interested in mere depictions of a landscape. Rather, it's more as if he is trying to capture some hidden mood or quality inherent in the landscape. One is almost inclined to say that it is the music of the landscape that he is after. And this actually becomes more apparent in his latest works where bolder and large patches of colors predominate whereas the objects (and details) themselves seem to play more the part of the second fiddle. You can catch a glimpse of Barnes' latest paintings here: https://alastairbarnes.com/view-art/paintings/african-landscapes/ and here: https://alastairbarnes.com/view-art/paintings/latest-works/ Sculpture Prolific and accomplished painter that he is, Barnes' real passion as a visual artist lies in sculpting.
His frequent subjects include a variety of bird species, animals and human busts, a large majority of which uses bronze cast as the base method. And it is in his sculptural works that Barnes' proclivity to embrace, without prejudice or partiality, all the various moods and expressions inherent to life itself come to the fore. So, for example, many of his bird sculptures have a naturalistic and minimalist quality to them whereas his animals are strongly reminiscent of those found in ancient and pre-historic cave paintings. On the other hand, his 'Frogs' series, in its anthropomorphic touch, brings out the light and playful side of the artist's character. And then, on the other extreme, we get the artist at his most contemplative in his human bust portraits and in the large portraits of big birds like hawks, eagles and owls. In fact, the artist believes the portrait sculpture to be his real forte and is open to accept individual commissions for this type of work.
Anybody interested in Alastair Barnes' works are encouraged to visit his official website https://alastairbarnes.com/ in order to achieve a fuller understanding of the artist and his methods. One can reach him personally at alastairbarnes@telkomsa.net.
