Kelly Barrie's work, a material hybrid of drawing and photography, recreates forgotten historical sites by literally walking them out of his head through a performative floor drawing. Using his feet and old darkroom utensils, Barrie moves white photo-luminescent pigment powder across black seamless paper. The light sensitive powder drawing is then documented in small sections using a 35mm camera, digitally collaged back together and outputted to scale as a photographic print.

Barrie’s solo exhibition at Gallery Wendi Norris will include three new works which will recreate an archetypal free play apparatus from the last remaining adventure playground in the US which is located in Berkeley, CA. The scale and way in which these photographs are executed play directly on the content of the work. "Double shelter" uses two framed photographs of a shelter to form a second, three dimensional shelter. "Rope Ladder" will hang as a diptych from the top of the wall, allowing the two naked prints to be unrolled like rope ladders until they touch the ground, curling upwards. An image of sewer pipes will hang close to the floor, grounding their upright positions in relation to the viewer.

The human scale of Barrie's photographic works allow them to operate as performative drawing, document and sculpture simultaneously. This is done to create an immersive environment inviting the viewer to trace the surface details of the photograph while negotiating their physical proximity to the work. The idea is that the installation operates in a similar fashion to a junkyard playground where people have to physically maneuver around the objects much like a child at play.

Wendi Norris Gallery
161 Jessie Street
San Francisco (CA) 94105 United States
Tel. +1 (415) 3467812
info@gallerywendinorris.com
www.gallerywendinorris.com

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday
From 11am to 6pm