Judith Barry: Projections, Mise En Abyme

For the past twenty years, Judith Barry has brought a critical perspective to contemporary art through her provocative work in video, performance, installation and sculpture as well as through her writing. Barry's long-standing concern with the impact of mediated environments on human identity is grounded in a deep historical understanding of architecture and spectacle--but she also has a fix on what's going inside our bodies and minds. Judith Barry, Projections, Mise en abymeelaborates on the issues central to Barry's oeuvre, and presents the scope of thought that she brings to her work via visual sources ranging from historical materials to contemporary film stills. Barry's cosmos is one of sliding signifiers collapsing notions of time, space, and identity, a universe where a 1970s science fiction film might exist on the same plane as the buildings of 18th century France. Truly epiphanic, the works presented here stare into the abyss of history and dare it to stare back.Mark Wigley is the author of 'Judith Barry: Projections, Mise En Abyme', published 2001 under ISBN 9780920293386 and ISBN 0920293387.