BETH BARLOW

(b. 1974 Manchester, UK)

Beth Barlow is a conceptual artist whose work has manifested in many forms, of late it is paint with its ability to raise and narrate mundane scenes. She uses the esteemed medium of oils, often reserved for the most precious and persistent subjects to capture some of the more mundane and overlooked aspects of the urban landscape.

The paintings included in the exhibition were created when she was working on socially engaged projects in Salford in Greater Manchester. Here she was interested in how the rubbish left in spaces colonised it and was rearranged. Salford has a large amount of empty land where nature thrives, young people roam, and discarded objects are left and re-appropriated. Some of her works has been inspired by a photo from Pripyat, a town which sits largely abandoned near Chernobyl.

Beth was able to work in Salford for a number of years with the support of a grant though as funding became harder to secure she moved to France where the cost of living was cheaper. Here she created paintings documenting the places where new lives were considered though the uncertainty of Brexit prompted her to return to the UK where she continues to find inspiration in the urban environment.

www.bethbarlow.com
@bethbarlow13