thatisnocountry4oldmen (sailing2byzantium) by Glenn Barkley, 2022 [earthenware, slipcast, corks, gold lustre]

Sounds a bit harsh, don’t you think? That is exactly how the first headline describes Glenn Barkley when I googled his piece that had me in awe in the Cairns Art Gallery.

The article (https://cfileonline.org/glenn-barkley-worst-contemporary-ceramic-art-cfile/) – eesh, the link title is even worse – juggles with cringe-worthy insults such as ‘fraud’, ‘unoriginal’, ‘conflict of interest’ and ‘borderline amateur.’ Ouch!

But I’m confused… I like it! I think it’s exciting, energizing, and poses so many questions. Yes, it’s a little garish, but HELLO! The legend that is Grayson Perry?!?! Well I think he’s a legend anyway.

Now the primary focus of my interests lie with the fine arts, so I’m no expert in ceramics and pottery. However, Barkley’s pot titled thatisnocountry4oldmen (sailing2byzantium) made earlier this year really caught my eye. It’s appearance is actually baffling, and the surface of the off-white pot itself is immensely discomforting for anybody with trypophobia (fear of holes). The piece is littered with the most random ornaments, from shells and coins to pop culture badges and mini sculptures of baby angels. The only unifying element is that Barkley has stripped every knick-knack of its original colour and washed them with varying shades of the rainbow. I can’t imagine there was a particular system to choosing these colours either.

And if that wasn’t enough, the stand itself that the pot is propped upon is seemingly one of Barkley’s mood boards. Because the pot was just so boring on its own.

Wait. Why do I like this again?

Only kidding. I think its fantastically modern and refreshing, leaving the viewer wanting more. Which I definitely did! And it turns out that Barkley knows exactly what he’s doing when infuriating half of the ceramics industry. In one of his artist statements, he admits: ‘I collect objects that are near the point of disappearance, radically out of vogue, or obscured by history and taste. The cast off and hand-me-downs, the cobbled together, the repaired, the bad.’

The New South Wales curator, writer, gardener and artist also adds: ‘If history tell us anything it’s that in life and art there is only a razor thin difference between the op shop, the skip and the museum and I want my work to conceptually co-exist in those three places.’ Imagine comparing your art to the skip? Wow. At least he’s self-aware.

Despite his critics, Glenn Barkley is an incredibly successful industry figure, working as a senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for 6 years and curator of the University of Wollongong Art Collection for 11 years.

His wife, Lisa Havilah, is pretty great too, being the director of the largest and most significant contemporary multi-arts center in Australia, Carriageworks. The couple actually came 30 in the list of the country’s top 100 figures in art. Now, THAT is a power couple.

Barkley’s work is held in several collections across the world, so it really can’t be that bad. But what do you think? Do you like this piece as much as I do? Or do you agree with the critics that Glenn Barkley really is the worst studio potter in Australia?

I’ll leave some more photos of his other work down below so you can decide. But let me know what you think fellow art junkies!