Join us at Book Beat on Sunday, March 6th at 2:00 PM for a special talk and book-signing with Detroit area artist, sculptor, educator and author David Barr. This will be a rare chance to meet and discuss art making, writing and the life work of this engaging and creative spirit. The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information.
“What is significant about art, is what we share as human beings.” –David Barr
David has recently published several new books and will be presenting; SIEVE, a new collection of essays about art and artists that include David Barr’s thoughts on teaching art, making art, the role of public art, and his reminiscence of many Detroit area artists including; Jim Pallas, Bob Caskey, Susan Hauptman, Diane Carr and others. David has also included reviews of some of his favorite inspiring artworks along with artist quotations and lessons learned along life’s road. SIEVE is a book that is sure to please anyone interested in the arts, and is a wonderful insight into one of our own highly original thinkers, educators and creators.
“The Sieve seemed to signal new life as well as isolate its raw components. Time is a sieve. It filters and blends memories. Like art.” -David Barr from SIEVE
David Barr has also published a collection of “literary fragments” titled TIME IS MY WINDOW. it is a collection of four Michigan writer/artists; (Robert Caskey, Veronica Sanitate, Rick Solomon, David Barr) and the Italian author/artist Christiano Mazzani. A DVD is included with the book with a short film by Paul Mangenello, an interpretation of one of the stories “Old Man By the Pond”.
At his last reading at Book Beat one year ago, David presented his book Amercordo: (I Remember) American Style , a collection of recollections and observations from the mid-century American Midwest to Tuscany, the mid-west of Italy.
David Barr is an internationally recognized artist from the Detroit area. His most recognized work locally is his magnificent “Star Gate” sculpture situated at the front of Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Titled Transcending, this unique sculpture was financed through the Labor Union movement and is connected to Labor and its spirit of defiance and sacrifice.
David has recently been completing work on several books that collect his artistic and personal history. His large format art book Crossing Lines was published in 2009. It carries the reader to some of the world’s most intriguing, mysterious and remote locations. Filled with 180 color and black and white illustrations, the book narrates the various projects David Barr has been involved with over the past thirty years. His work on the Four Corners Project, begun in 1976, spanned a full decade with installations in Greenland, Africa, Irian Jaya and Easter Island. Other geo-structurist works include Arctic Arc in Wales, Alaska, and Naukan, Russia, and Sunsweep on the US/Canada border at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, in Northwest Angle, Minnesota, and Point Roberts, Washington. Here, in his home state, David’s works can be seen at such locations as Chrysler World Headquarters (Revolution), Flint’s Bishop Airport, (Soaring), Detroit Zoo (Source), State of Michigan Historical Museum (Polaris Ring) and Meadowbrook Festival Grounds (Sunset Cube).
In 1988 David Barr was awarded the Governor’s Michigan Artist Award. In his acceptance speech he told the audience of his desire to create a Michigan Art Park – a place where artists could tell the story of our state in and through the fundamental materials of nature. That dream has become a reality in 1995 with the Michigan Legacy Art Park , located within the boundaries of Crystal Mountain on M-115 between Cadillac and Benzonia near Thompsonville.
David Barr is a graduate of Wayne State University and recipient of the WSU Distinguished Alumni Award. He served on the faculty of Macomb Community College and has received awards, including citations from the Arts Foundation of Michigan and Citizens Concerned for the Arts in Michigan. His work can also be seen at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Arts, Fort Lauderdale Museum, Portland Art Museum, Tel Aviv Museum and the University of Michigan.
Where can we get a copy of this book? I’m a fan of David Barr’s work and would love to get a copy of this. Please let me know. Thank you!
We carry all of David Barr’s books at the BookBeat. If you are in the Detroit area you can stop by the store at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park, or you can mailorder online )see catalogs on the bookshelf or search the links in the article above o call 248-968-1190 – we can fix you up, thank you.