Barbara Bloom

Works

Semblance of a House: Game Table (from the series Semblance of a House)2013/2015

installation view at Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, 2015

Table with floating chairs, etched glass layers with illumination, various game pieces (100 century BC - Present), 2 metal "pages"

overall 84,5 × 180 × 180 cm

Marian Anderson Concert - imagined (1939) 2024

Digitally printed curtain, framed digital photographs.

Framed image: 39 x 69 x 2 cm; Curtain: 130 x 178 cm

A Love Supreme (1964)2024

Two framed digital photographs, wall adhesive digital image, miniature staircase 3D printed.

variable dimensions

Treaty of Versailles (1919)2024

Shadow box frame, glass with digitally etched image, digital archival print.

110.5 × 54.5 × 10.2 cm framed

Eternal Treaty (1269 BC)2024

Pair of 20th century candlestick lamps with digitally printed shades.

Overall: 84 x 76 x 31 cm

The Tip of The Iceberg1991

Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018

Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination

dimensions variable

The Tip of The Iceberg1991 (detail)

Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018

Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination

dimensions variable

The Tip of The Iceberg1991 (detail)

Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018

Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination

dimensions variable

Envy II (From The Seven Deadly Sins)1987/2017

Installation view at Art Basel | Feature, Messe Basel, 2017

Mixed media construction: two Fauteuils, litograph, mirror, linen handkerchief

Two chairs 98 x 57 cm each, one oval framed mirror 40,64 x 50,8 cm, one oval framed image covered with plexiglass 40,64 x 50,8 cm, one embroidered linen handkerchief, one wooden pedestal 150 x 87 x 8 cm

Under a sky of flawless blue. (Gide)2015

Hand tufted woollen carpet with carved Braille text

274,3 × 182,88 cm

It had begun to snow again. (Joyce)2015

Hand tufted woollen carpet with carved Braille text

274,3 × 182,88 cm

The Gaze1985-1992

Installation view at Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY, 2000

His/Her Eyes2022

Two oil portraits, custom mat

72,1 × 59,4 × 5 cm framed each

The Weather

Installation view, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, 2015

The Weather

Installation view, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, 2015

The Gaze: Ingres Girl Viewers1987

Archival digital color print

63,5 × 93,98 cm framed

The Gaze: Carambole1985

Archival digital color print, drawings

60,96 × 91,44 cm; 63,5 × 93,98 cm framed

Lolita Carpet1998

Wool rug

243,8 × 152,4 cm

Ed of 15 + 2 AP

As it were ... So to speak

Installation view, Jewish Museum, NY, 2013

As it were ... So to speak

Installation view, Jewish Museum, NY, 2013

As it were ... So to speak

Installation view, Jewish Museum, NY, 2013

Broken (Pitcher)2001

Broken celadon object, box with computer-generated paper,Xray of object framed with back lighting

30,48 × 40,64 cm frame; overall dimensions variable

Broken (Scoop Bowl)2001

Broken celadon object, box with computer-generated paper, Xray of object framed with back lighting

30,48 × 40,64 cm frame; overall dimensions variable

Broken (Shape Vase)2001

Broken celadon object, Box with computer-generated paper, Xray of object framed with back lighting

30,48 × 40,64 cm frame; overall dimensions variable

Balance #2 (Blue Head Balance)2001

Iris print in colored matte with broken glass embedded in Plexiglass

104 × 79 × 5 cm framed

Balance #5 (Green Act)2001

Iris print in colored matte with broken glass embedded in Plexiglass

104 × 79 × 5 cm framed

Balance #6 (Orange Girl)2001

Iris print in colored matte with broken glass embedded in Plexiglass

104 × 79 × 5 cm framed

Scale Prints: I.M. Pei1995

Archival digital print

53,5 × 43,5 × 4 cm framed

Scale Prints: Dictators1995

Archival digital print

50,9 × 40,7 cm; 53,7 × 43,3 cm framed

Scale Prints: Collector1995

Archival digital print

60,96 × 50,8 cm framed

Preadolescent Girl Horse Art (Black Beauty) I1995

C-print and graphite on matte board, silk scarf

69,22 × 89,54 cm frame; 132,08 x 89,54 x 71,12 cm approximate overall dimensions

Corner: Confessional1986

C-print with two-tone matte

52,07 × 62,23 cm framed

Corner: Pergamon Museum Center1986

C-print in two-tone matte

58,42 × 73,66 cm framed

The Complete Works of Barbara Bloom1989

Plexi display case, wood table and 38 books

Table: 40,64 x 121,92 x 101,6 cm; Plexi vitrine: 106,68 x 30,48 x 101,6 cm

Décor: Barbara Bloom, Andrea Fraser, Louise Lawler

Installation view, MOCA, Los Angeles, 2018

Arno Light2007

Framed C-print, framed mirror and chandelier

94,3 × 64,8 × 2,5 cm 2 frames, each; chandelier: approx 57,15 in diameter

Safe1999

C-print, metal safe

48 × 58,5 cm (picture); 31 x 40 x 10 cm (safe)

Biography

Barbara Bloom was born in Los Angeles in 1951. She lives and works in New York.
She works with Galleria Raffaella Cortese since 1999.

Through photography, installation, film and books, Bloom explores notions of museology, design, collecting, taste and our investment in the objects we surround ourselves with. Her gaze does not focus on single items or images, but rather on the relationships between these objects, and the inherent meaning carried by their positioning and juxtaposition. Though enthusiastically visual, Bloom’s practice is rooted more in the traditional act of literary production rather than that of painting or sculpture making.

She has often compared herself—and the viewer of her work—to a detective, who is confronted with disparate clues and is asked to form a visual narrative. Her seductive use of shadows, traces, Braille, broken objects and watermarks, all demonstrate an unwavering interest in visualizing the fragile workings of memory, the ephemeral, and the absent—invisible presences activated by our gaze.

Bloom’s solo exhibitions include: Accord, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan (2025); …The Whole Grand Pattern of Human Endeavor, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (2023); Works on Paper, David Lewis, New York (2021); The Weather, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark (2020); The Rendering (H X W X D =), Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland (2018); Two Artists Books by Barbara Bloom with Susan Tallman, Fleming Museum of Art, University of Vermont, Burlington (2017); The Weather, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan (2016); Barbara Bloom: Framing Wall, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); As it were… so to speak, Jewish Museum, New York (2013); The Collections of Barbara Bloom, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2008); Absence-Presence, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena (2007); Never Odd or Even, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (1992); The Reign of Narcissism, Serpentine Gallery, London (1990); The Gaze, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1985).

Her work has been included in group exhibitions at: For Dear Life: Art, Medicine and Disability, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego (2024); The Verbund Collection, Albertina, Vienna (2024); Influence and Identity, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2023); ThisPlay, Arter, Istanbul (2022); Joan Didion: What She Means, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles(2022); Wagnis der Öffentlichkeit, Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg, Germany (2020); The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield (2019); The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. and MoCA Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles (2018); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2017); BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Bruxelles (2016); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2015); Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2015); Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (2014); Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice (2011); Palais the Tokyo, Paris (2010); De Appel, Amsterdam (2009); Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur (2008); Duolon Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2005); Kunsthaus Graz, Graz (2004); Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, New York (2004); Museum Fridericianum, Kassel (1999); Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (1998); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1996); SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe (1995); MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna (1994); Fundacion Caja de Pensiones, Madrid (1992); The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (1990); The New Museum, New York (1988); Secession, Vienna (1982); Westkunst, Museen der Stadt, Cologne (1981).

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Gallery Exhibitions

Public exhibitions

For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability
19 September 2024 – 2 February 2025
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Joan Didion: What She Means
11 October 2022 – 19 February 2023
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California
Wagnis der Öffentlichkeit
31 October 2020 – 14 February 2021
Halle für Kunst Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
Weather Report
6 October 2019 – 23 August 2020
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut
FRONT Triennial
14 July – 30 September 2018
FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH
The Tip of the Iceberg, 1991
14 June – 7 June 2018
Art Basel Unlimited, Basel
Décor: Barbara Bloom, Andrea Fraser, Louise Lawler
28 April – 15 July 2018
MOCA Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, California
As it were ... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue with Barbara Bloom
5 March – 4 August 2013
The Jewish Museum, New York

Press

Infinite Regress
Frieze
January–February 2021
The Theory
Frieze
January-February 2021
A Room of Once Owned: How Arts’ Collection Has Informed Its Curation
Frieze
June 28, 2018
In pictures: must-see works at Art Basel's Unlimited
The Art Newspaper
June 14, 2018
Barbara Bloom
Frieze
February 13, 2016
Artist Project: Barbara Bloom
Frieze
April 2011

Publications

Gold Custody
Barbara Bloom, Ben Lerner
Mack
2021
Gifts
Barbara Bloom
Ludion
Brussels
2015
As it were... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue with Barbara Bloom
The Jewish Museum
New York
2013
John Baldessari / Barbara Bloom
A.R.T. Press
New York
2011
The Collections Of Barbara Bloom
Susan Tallman and Dave Hickey
ICP/Steidl
Göttingen
2008
Ghost Writer – Und Wenn Sie Nicht Gestorben Sind
Barbara Bloom
Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD
Berlin
1988

Videos

Intervista a Barbara Bloom: il racconto della sua mostra Accord a Milano tra storia, arte e memoria
February, 2025
Dia Talks – Barbara Bloom in Conversation with Kelly Kivland
Tuesday, October 27, 2020