Barbara Bloom (born 1951) lives and works in New York City.[1] She is a conceptual artist best known for her multi-media installation works. Bloom is loosely affiliated with a group of artists referred to as The Pictures Generation.[2]
For nearly twenty years she lived in Europe, first in Amsterdam then Berlin.[3] Since 1992, she has lived in New York City with her husband, the writer-composer Chris Mann, and their daughter.
Bloom is a visual artist whose conceptual practice relies mainly on photography and installation. Beginning in the 1970s, Bloom has created work in a variety of different mediums including photography, installation, film, and books.[7]
In conversation with Susan Tallman, Barbara Bloom has referred to herself as a “novelist who somehow ended up in a ‘visual artist’ queue”.[8]
Bloom has often compared herself, and the viewer of her work, to a 'detective'[9] who is confronted with disparate clues and is asked to form some kind of visual narrative. Her work is often about the nature of looking. She engages her viewer, seducing him/her into a beautifully constructed visual world, one that is underlaid by subversive wrenches thrown in.
Bloom has an ongoing interest in the value and meaning we collectively and individually bestow upon objects and images. She has not been concerned with showing single objects or images, rather with highlighting the relationships between them, and the meanings implicit in their placement and combination. The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other.[3] Additionally, Bloom states in an artist's statement that her
"fascination is with the relationships between objects or images—and the meanings implicit in their placement and combination."[3]
Bloom's use of shadows, traces, Braille, broken objects, partially-obstructed images,[10]watermarks, and micro-images all demonstrate an ongoing interest in visualizing the fragile workings of memory, the invisible, the ephemeral, and the absent.[9] These “aesthetic underdogs, sheltered under Bloom’s wing [...] provide yet another lens for looking at how we seek value in objects and why.”[8]
“During the last year, I produced and exhibited a work titled The Weather... In this work, hovering in varying heights above the floor are carpets, each a subtle shade of gray-green-blue. The carpets have raised-dot patterns forming texts in Braille... The production of the carpets was a complex one, and it was not easy to find a manufacturer able to accurately produce the intricate patterns of raised dots. Working with Classic Rug Collections in New York, a factory in Thailand was found that could produce the work perfectly. ”[11] (Bloom on her artistic process of creating The Weather)
She is represented by David Lewis Gallery, New York;[31] Capitain Petzel, Berlin;[32] Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano;[33] and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne.[34]
The St. Petersburg Paradox, Swiss Institute, New York and Karma, New York, 2014[39]
As it were... so to speak: a museum collection in dialogue with Barbara Bloom, The Jewish Museum, New York, 2013[40]
Between Artists: John Baldessari and Barbara Bloom, A.R.T. Press, New York, 2011[41]
The Collections of Barbara Bloom, Bloom, Dave Hickey, Susan Tallman, Steidl, and International Center of Photography, NY, 2008[42]
Flash Cards, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, 2003[43]
Broken, Bloom and Miller, J. Abbott, Pentagram Papers, New York, 2001[44]
Dinge in der Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts, Haus der Kunst, München, 2000[45]
Revised Evidence: Nabokov’s Inscriptions, Annotations. Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, New York, 1999[46]
The Museum As Muse: Artists Reflect, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1999[47]
Pictures From The Floating World, Sala de Exposiciones Rekalde, D.L, Bilbao, 1998[48]
Contemplation: Five Installations: Barbara Bloom, Ann Hamilton With Kathryn Clark, Nam June Paik, Robert Ryman, James Turrell, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1996[49]
Consider The Alternatives: 20 Years Of Contemporary Art At Hallwalls, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, New York, 1996[50]
Longing And Belonging: From The Faraway Nearby: Site Santa Fe, July 14 To October 8, 1995, Santa Fe, New Mexico, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1995[51]
The Passions Of Natasha, Nokiko, Nicole, Nanette And Norma, Cantz Verlag, Stuttgart, 1993[52]
Never Odd Or Even. Verlag Silke Schreiber, Munich & The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, 1992[53]
De wooden en de beelden: tekst en beeld in de kunst van de twintigste eeuw, Utrecht Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 1991[54]
The Readymade boomerang : certain relations in 20th-century art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 11 April-3 June 1990, the eighth Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New S. Wales, Sydney, 1990[59]
Assembled, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, 1990
Die Endlichkeit Der Freiheit Berlin 1990: Ein Ausstellungsprojekt In Ost Und West, Edition Hentrich, Berlin, 1990[60]
^ abBloom, Barbara; Bos, Saskia; Gemeentemuseum Arnhem (1987). Lost and found (in Dutch). Arnhem: Gemeentemuseum Arnhem. OCLC80149387.
^Marta, Karen; Castets, Simon; Swiss Institute (New York, N.Y.) (2015). The St. Petersburg Paradox. ISBN9781942607151. OCLC936626657.
^Bloom, Barbara; Jewish Museum. (2015). As it were ... so to speak: a museum collection in dialogue with Barbara Bloom; [... Jewish Museum, New York, March 5 - August 4, 2013. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN9780300215731. OCLC936799230.
^Bloom, Barbara; Hickey, Dave; Tallman, Susan; International center of photography (N.Y.) (2007). The collections of Barbara Bloom [exposition, New York, International Center of Photography, january 18-may 4, 2008. Göttingen; New York: Steidl; International Center of Photography. ISBN9783865216212. OCLC494927206.
^Bloom, Barbara (2003). Flash cards. Chicago: The Renaissance Society. OCLC837081704.
^Bloom, Barbara; Gorney Bravin & Lee Gallery (2001). Broken. New York: Gorney Bravin & Lee Gallery. OCLC85024609.
^Rosenthal, Stephanie (2000). Dinge in der Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts: [Haus der Kunst München, 2. 9. - 19. 11. 2000 (in German). OCLC635329562.
^Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Bloom, Barbara; Glenn Horowitz Bookseller (Firm) (1999). Revised evidence: Vladimir Nabokov's collection of inscriptions, annotations, corrections, and butterfly descriptions; a collection of commemorative stamps printed on the occasion of an exhibition of Vladimir Nabokov's library. New York: Glenn Horowitz Bookseller. OCLC41988222.
^McShine, Kynaston; Museum of Modern Art (N.Y.) (1999). The museum as muse: artists reflect : [exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 14-June 1, 1999. New York: Museum of Modern Art : Abrams. ISBN978-0870700910. OCLC924814770.
^Tallman, Susan; Villa, Miren; Diago, Larraitz; Bloom, Barbara; Sala Rekalde (1998). BARBARA Bloom: Pictures from the floating world : [catálago de la exposición celebrada en la Sala de Exposiciones] Rekalde : 1998ko urtarrilaren 27-martxoaren 1 = 27 de enero-1 de marzo de 1998 (in Spanish). Bilbao: Sala de Exposiciones Rekalde. ISBN978-8488559210. OCLC919752912.
^Bloom, Barbara; Hamilton, Ann; Paik, Nam June; Ryman, Robert; Turrell, James; Des Moines Art Center (1996). Contemplation: five installations : Barbara Bloom, Ann Hamilton with Kathryn Clark, Nam June Paik, Robert Ryman, James Turrell. Des Moines, Iowa: Des Moines Art Center. ISBN978-1879003163. OCLC37135803.
^Ehmke, Ronald; Licata, Elizabeth (1996). Consider the alternatives: 20 years of contemporary art at Hallwalls. Buffalo [NY: Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. ISBN978-0936739205. OCLC921058708.
^Ferguson, Bruce W; Site Santa Fe (Gallery); Museum of Fine Arts (Museum of New Mexico) (1996). Longing and belonging: from the faraway nearby : SITE Santa Fe, July 14 to October 8, 1995, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe; New York, N.Y.: SITE Santa Fe; Available through Distributed Art Publishers. ISBN978-0965058315. OCLC187451822.
^Bloom, Barbara; Hirsch, Shelley; Schweeger, Elisabeth (1993). The passions of Natasha, Nokiko, Nicola, Nanette and Norma (in German). Stuttgart: Cantz. ISBN978-3893225880. OCLC886401848.
^Brand, Jan; Gast, Nicolette; Muller, Robert-Jan (1991). De woorden en de beelden: tekst en beeld in de kunst van de twintigste eeuw (in Dutch). Utrecht: Centraal Museum. ISBN978-9073285132. OCLC901662053.
^Salvaje, El Jardin (1991). El Jardin Salvaje: exposicion, 22 de enero-10 de marzo de 1991 (in Spanish). Madrid: La Fundacion. ISBN978-8476643013. OCLC282884823.
^Landau, Suzanne; Zur, Nirit; Israel Museum (Jerusalém) (1990). Life size: a sense of the real in recent art. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum. ISBN978-9652781055. OCLC959119163.
^Bloom, Barbara; Württembergischer Kunstverein (Stuttgart); Kunsthalle Zürich (1990). The reign of narcissism: guide book = Führer. Stuttgart; Zürich: Württembergischer Kunstverein : Kunsthalle. OCLC881694047.
^Biennale of Sydney; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney, N.S.W.), eds. (1990). The Readymade boomerang: certain relations in 20th century art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 11 April-3 June 1990, the eighth Biennale of Sydney. Sydney: The Biennale of Sydney : Museum of Contemporary Art. ISBN978-0959661965. OCLC502451072.
^Horn, Rebecca; Kounellis, Jannis; Müller, Heiner; Glasmeier, Michael (1990). Die Endlichkeit der Freiheit: Berlin 1990 : ein Ausstellungsprojekt in Ost und West : Giovanni Anselmo ... [et al. Berlin: Hentrich. ISBN978-3926175861. OCLC123312765.
^Bloom, Barbara; Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst; Berliner Künstlerprogramm (1994). Ghost writer. Wien: Passagen Verlag. ISBN978-3851650938. OCLC222088394.
^Gallagher, Steve (1987). Picture this: films chosen by artists. Buffalo: Hallwalls : Contemporary Arts Center. ISBN978-0936739052. OCLC17109367.