DAVID BARKER, "Now and Then," September 21 – October 31, 2008, Omega Gallery, Vancouver

Omega Gallery, Vancouver

September 21 – October 31, 2008

By Beverly Cramp

An inveterate traveler, David Barker paints landscapes from graphite and pastel studies he makes on his trips around the world. His paintings are ostensibly of a boat, an abandoned farmhouse or an old Venice building covered with graffiti. But the actual subject isn’t what particularly interests Barker. “I’m looking for a situation, a place, a space or an object that is very much from the past but which says something contemporary,” he says. “I’m intrigued when superimposed on the ‘then’ is the ‘present’.” Barker has been at work in his studio on DeCourcy Island in the Georgia Strait, preparing for his first show in Vancouver, a selection of paintings he’s created at different stops around the world. He was born in England, grew up in New Zealand, completed his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Hawaii and now divides his time between his studios in Canada, New Zealand and Venice. Getting ready for his show, Barker is writing a few words about each painting. The words come easily, as his paintings have a large narrative component. “In some cases the story is less obvious,” he says, “and at other times, it’s very obvious.”

Represented by: Omega Gallery, Vancouver