ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ivan Barnett was five when he decided to become an artist and has dedicated his life to that goal. His remembers a childhood imbued with art. His father, Isa Barnett, was a prominent illustrator and painter and their home was often a gathering place for other artists and writers.

Barnett received his formal art training from the Philadelphia College of Art. Following graduation and service in the US Army, he dedicated himself full time to his artwork, developing his own vision. During this period, he discovered the beauty and texture of oxidized steel, a material he continues to work with it to this day. It is his canvas, as well as a medium for sculpture.

Barnett’s signature works blend the folk tradition of his native Pennsylvania with strong, contemporary design. He is recognized as one of the first modern American craft artists to revive and interpret traditional American folk forms and is one of the few living artists represented in the permanent collection of Santa Fe’s Museum of International Folk Art.

In the course of his career, Barnett has worked in many capacities, including artist, advisor, writer and most recently, gallery director. Patina Gallery, an increasingly important venue for the exhibition of fine art craft, is his most recent collaboration. Working closely with his wife, Allison Buchsbaum-Barnett, the two have established Patina as a destination for an international clientele of collectors.

ABOUT THE WORK

Barnett’s most recent work features wall pieces, mobiles and garden stakes composed of stylized symbols, human and animal forms cut from fine gauged, oxidized steel. By first cutting shapes from the sheets and arranging them in layers, Barnett builds up assemblages, or collages, rich with metaphor and life. Pigments are mixed, then applied, unifying the whole with line and color.

EXHIBITIONS

2006, “In the Garden,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2003, “Outside the Vision,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2000, “Here and There- Jewelry and Works in Metal,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1998, “Testament to Diversity: New Mexican Jewelry,” Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM

PUBLICATIONS

1998, Southwest Art, “The Best of Fine Art Craft”
1998, Metalsmith , “Exhibition in Print”
1990, Quail Song, illustrations

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Embassy of The United States of America, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Museum of International Folk Art, Alexander Girard Collection, Santa Fe, NM
Esherick Museum, Paoli, PA