barbara bloom
biography
Barbara Bloom (1951, Los Angeles) is a visual artist whose conceptual practice relies mainly on photography and installation. Bloom has lived in Europe for nearly twenty years—first in Holland, then in Germany. Since 1992, she has been living and working in New York.
Through photography, installation, film and books, Barbara Bloom explores notions of collecting, museology, design, taste and our investment in the objects we surround ourselves with. In her works, her aim is not to focus on single items or images, but rather to bring to the fore the relationships between these objects, and the inherent meaning carried by their positioning and juxtaposition. Though enthusiastically visual, Bloom feels that her 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 some kind of visual narrative. Her seductive use of shadows, traces, Braille, broken objects, watermarks, micro-images, all demonstrate an unwavering interest in visualizing the fragile workings of memory, the ephemeral, and the absent—invisible presences activated by our gaze.
Barbara Bloom (1951, Los Angeles) is a visual artist whose conceptual practice relies mainly on photography and installation. Bloom has lived in Europe for nearly twenty years—first in Holland, then in Germany. Since 1992, she has been living and working in New York.
Through photography, installation, film and books, Barbara Bloom explores notions of collecting, museology, design, taste and our investment in the objects we surround ourselves with. In her works, her aim is not to focus on single items or images, but rather to bring to the fore the relationships between these objects, and the inherent meaning carried by their positioning and juxtaposition. Though enthusiastically visual, Bloom feels that her 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 some kind of visual narrative. Her seductive use of shadows, traces, Braille, broken objects, watermarks, micro-images, 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 select solo exhibitions include: The Rendering (H X W X D =), Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art (2018); Two Artists Books by Barbara Bloom with Susan Tallman, Fleming Museum of Art, University of Vermont (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 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, Brussels (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 (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 (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).
gallery exhibitions
images
Art Basel | Unlimited 2018: The Tip of the Iceberg
The Tip of The Iceberg, 1991
Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018
Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination
dimensions variable
Photo: Simon Vogel
The Tip of The Iceberg, 1991 (detail)
Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018
Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination
dimensions variable
Photo: Simon Vogel
The Tip of The Iceberg, 1991 (detail)
Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited, Messe Basel, 2018
Glass, mirror, steel table, porcelain, plaster medallion, circular floor and ceiling illumination
dimensions variable
Photo: Simon Vogel
The Weather
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
Weather Statistics at Birth (Bloom), 2015
Hand tufted woollen carpet with carved Braille text
274,3 × 182,88 cm
The Weather, installation view at Galleria Raffaella Cortese, via Stradella 7, Milan, 2016
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri
The Weather, installation view at Galleria Raffaella Cortese, via Stradella 7, Milan, 2016
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri
Works for the Blind
Works for the Blind: Consider that things…, 1988
Offset/digital litography and Braille on paper, mounted beneath cut Plexiglass
81,28 × 60,96 cm framed
Works for the Blind: Couldn’t a member…, 1988
Offset/digital litography and Braille on paper, mounted beneath cut Plexiglass
81,28 × 60,96 cm framed
Works for the Blind: Nothing and Nobody..., 1988
Offset/digital litography and Braille on paper, mounted beneath cut Plexiglass
81,28 × 60,96 cm framed
Works for the Blind, installation view at Galleria Raffaella Cortese, via Stradella 1, Milan, 2015
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri
Art Basel | Feature 2017: Reflection Refraction
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
Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
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
Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
The Gaze: Carambole, 1985
Archival digital color print, drawings
60,96 × 91,44 cm; 63,5 × 93,98 cm framed
The Gaze
The Gaze, 1985-1992
Installation view at Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY, 2000
The Gaze, 1985-1992
Installation view at Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY, 2000
The Gaze: Ingres Girl Viewers, 1987
Archival digital color print
63,5 × 93,98 cm framed
The Gaze: Veiled Curtain, 1990
Archival digital black and white print
68,58 × 68,58 cm framed
The Gaze: Kröller Muller, 1985
Archival digital color print
45,72 × 60,96 cm; 48,26 × 64,77 cm framed
Carpets
Lolita Carpet, 1998
Wool rug
243,8 × 152,4 cm
Girls’ Footprints, 2007
C-print and wool rug
Frame: 48 x 63,5 cm; rug: 155 x 246 cm
Steinway Piano Carpet, 2010
Wool carpet
229 × 184 × 1,3 cm
The Bedroom (III), 1997
Framed print of watercolor landscape, Carpet framed digital reproduction of watercolor study
45,72 × 60,96 cm 2 framed images, each; carpet: 243,8 x 182,8 cm
Broken
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
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
Safe, 1999
C-print, metal safe
48 × 58,5 cm (picture); 31 x 40 x 10 cm (safe)
Preadolescent Girl Horse Art (Black Beauty) I, 1995
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
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri
Arno Light, 2007
Framed C-print, framed mirror and chandelier
94,3 × 64,8 × 2,5 cm 2 frames, each; chandelier: approx 57,15 in diameter
Arno Light, 2007
Framed C-print, framed mirror and chandelier
94,3 × 64,8 × 2,5 cm 2 frames, each; chandelier: approx 57,15 in diameter
The Complete Works of Barbara Bloom, 1989
Installation view of Décor: Barbara Bloom, Andrea Fraser, Louise Lawler, April 28–July 15, 2018 at MOCA Pacific Design Center, courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Zak Kelley
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
The Complete Works of Barbara Bloom, 1989
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
Scale Prints: Marilyn, 1995
Archival digital print
60,96 × 50,8 cm framed
Scale Prints: Dictators, 1995
Archival digital print
50,9 × 40,7 cm; 53,7 × 43,3 cm framed
Scale Prints: Collector, 1995
Archival digital print
60,96 × 50,8 cm framed
Ghost Writer (Still Life), 1994
Cibachrome photograph, matte
28 × 35,5 cm; 34 × 41,5 cm framed
Corner: Confessional, 1986
C-print with two-tone matte
52,07 × 62,23 cm framed
Corner: Pergamon Museum Center, 1986
C-print in two-tone matte
58,42 × 73,66 cm framed
public exhibitions
FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art
Allen Memorial Art Museum
Oberlin, OH
FRONT Triennial
14.7 – 30.9.2018
Art Basel Unlimited
Basel
The Tip of the Iceberg, 1991
14.6 – 7.6.2018
Photo Simon Vogel
Art Basel Unlimited
Basel
The Tip of the Iceberg, 1991
14.6 – 7.6.2018
Photo Simon Vogel
Art Basel Unlimited
Basel
The Tip of the Iceberg, 1991
14.6 – 7.6.2018
Photo Simon Vogel
The Jewish Museum
New York
As it were ... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue with Barbara Bloom
5.3 – 4.8.2013
Photo: David Heald
The Jewish Museum
New York
As it were ... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue with Barbara Bloom
5.3 – 4.8.2013
Photo: David Heald
press
A Room of Once Owned: How Arts’ Collection Has Informed Its Curation
Frieze
June 28, 2018
publications
Gifts
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
ICP/Steidl
Göttingen
2008
Ghost Writer – Und Wenn Sie Nicht Gestorben Sind
Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD
Berlin
1988