Kale Barr’s Beautiful Mess
Kale Barr transports experiences from his past and his present onto canvas while using his unique color blending and layering technique. The artist wants the viewers to internalize their own moments of lightness and darkness, thus leaving behind “the beautiful mess”.
INTERVIEW WITH KALE BARR
KALE BARR
From artist’s archives
Kale Barr is a Canadian artist living and working in Calgary, Alberta. Barr’s dream-like abstract expressionist paintings are inspired by a combination of his real-life experiences and the transformative nature of his surroundings. Inspired by Jackson Pollock, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and George Condo, Barr uses a unique blend of color layering that utilizes acrylic and oil paint with wild yet calculated paint splashes. His painting technique creates works that simultaneously enthrall and still the viewer. His work invites the viewer into his raw yet animated world of swirling color and dark chaos. Within Barr’s work is a balance of harmony and destruction, letting go of perfection and symmetry, leaving behind a “beautiful mess.” Having lived across Canada, Nevada, and Washington, Barr’s life has been one of ever-changing dramatic surroundings, both naturally and personally. His work emotes a shared journey in all of us, through dark and through light. Created from within his world of vivid subject matters that he draws out from within, he leaves a piece of his story in each of them.
LES COULEURS: What is your dream project?
KALE BARR: Collaboration with Canadian composer,- Howard Shore, designing with a high fashion brand.
LC: What kind of music are you listening to currently? Name 5.
KB: Dr. Dre, Machine Gun Kelly, MHNUS, Rüfüs Du Sol, Frank Sinatra.
LC: What exhibitions are you working on or have you participated in?
KB: Here are some I participated in 2021: A Retrospective in Banff Alberta, Fuck You Exhibition in Calgary Alberta, Home Exhibition in Calgary Alberta.
Yudian Art Fair mainland China 2022, Art Me Limited Frankfurt Germany 2022, Dreamlike exhibition Calgary Alberta 2022.
KALE BARR
From artist’s archives
LC: What’s your earliest memory of a paintbrush?
KB: I watched my grandmother paint a cross with a portrait of Jesus crying as a young boy, I was maybe 8-10 years old. That is the first memory that comes to mind with a paint brush.
LC: What’s your background?
KB: Self taught, I had learning disabilities from some childhood trauma and neurological disorder called synesthesia. I was extremely mis-assessed as a child. It made me feel like something was wrong with me. It shut off my desire at an early age to be nurtured by those who have done before me. I knew early on that I had to understand the principles of education, but find my own purpose within the teachings on my own.
KALE BARR
From artist’s archives
LC: Professionally, what’s your goal?
KB: Sotheby’s or Christie’s Auction Houses would be a professional goal for sure.
LC: Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.
KB: I don’t want to be compared to these artists, I just want to do them justice by honoring their influence and attitude: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Nava, George Condo.
LC: Which artist of the past would you most like to meet?
KB: Jean-Michel Basquiat.
KALE BARR
From artist’s archives
LC: What is your greatest indulgence in life?
KB: Watches, eating pasta, that moment when the paint hits the canvas!
LC: Why do you make and receive studio visits?
KB: Studio visits make you vulnerable, but they also give you great perspective.
LC: How would you define beauty in 140 characters or less?
KB: “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it,”- said Confucius. This influence of perspective, beauty is having every reason to give up, and choosing not to.
LC: What role does the artist have in society?
KB: The artist’s roll… well for me this feels like an endless question. Art is everything, the creative collective, the painter, the dancer, the writer, the musician, the poet, without art we cannot defy the restraints of reality, we cannot evolve without art. Art is a healer, it’s a purpose and the very breath we need in order to live. I believe my roll at least as an artist is the share a story for the ones that are like me and who cannot articulate their own. To put people into a moment even if it’s only for just that, a moment to reflect and find something within themselves. I cannot say what we are supposed internalize, but I know I want to give each person a moment. Timeless.
