Exhibition Stephen Appleby-Barr: Correspondence to Open at Grinnell Museum of Art

On Friday, September 15, the Grinnell College Museum of Art (GCMoA) will open the exhibition Stephen Appleby-Barr: Correspondence, continuing through Sunday, December 10. A public conversation between artist Stephen Appleby-Barr and GCMoA Associate Director and Curator Daniel Strong will be held at 4 p.m., followed by the opening reception.  

Correspondence: Stephen Appleby-Barr is the first museum exhibition in the United States of the work of London-based Canadian artist Stephen Appleby-Barr, whose drawing, painting, and printmaking bring together influences from the history of art and literature, his European travels, and the community of friends who gather around his London studio. This provides context for the portrait, Nimco, the Dissertation, which was acquired for the Grinnell College Museum of Art collection in 2022. In addition to the GCMoA’s portrait, Correspondence features 27 oil paintings, and 7 works on paper including etchings, drypoint, and ink drawing. 

Stephen Appleby-Barr’s use of the traditional medium of oil paint has been influenced by his admiration of the Old Masters, including the 17th century artists Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt. However, he creates a more contemporary, dreamlike quality in his work by combining fantastical and everyday objects in the compositions. He often constructs miniature sculptures and maquettes in preparation for his paintings, perfecting the scale of his set pieces before recreating them on canvas. 

In many of his portraits, Appleby-Barr’s subjects are situated in dark spaces, illuminated by a strong light which reflects off the surfaces of glasses and bottles, and the pearls which he has scattered across tables, pedestals, and wooden blocks. Cloves of garlic, golden bells, pearls, shells, teacups, books, and a variety of other objects hint at symbolic meaning that is open to the viewer’s interpretation. The work demands close observation to appreciate the exquisite details. As Appleby-Barr has said, “The more you look, the more you must look; the more you look, the more you see…”  

Other works are populated by fantasy figures — human-animal hybrids and puppet-like figures in fantastical landscapes — drawn entirely from Appleby-Barr's imagination. "The word 'fantasy' calls to mind the Narnia of C.S. Lewis or the Middle-Earth of J.R.R. Tolkien," says exhibition curator Daniel Strong. "Yet the artist doesn't consider his works to be an escape from reality. Rather they are a portal into a reality very much rooted in our own." 

Born in 1981 in Toronto, Stephen Appleby-Barr is currently based in London, England. A related exhibition will open at Canada House, the Canadian High Commission to the United Kingdom, in London on October 5. 

The exhibition catalogue includes a conversation between exhibition curator Daniel Strong and Stephen Appleby-Barr, as well as an essay by Nimco Kulmiye Hussein, a London-based curator and critic who is the subject of the portrait acquired for the Museum's collection. The catalogue, available at the Museum desk, is free to those with a Grinnell College ID and $20 for visitors who are not Grinnell College faculty, staff, or students. 

Related Events and Programs 

Conversation and Opening Reception 

Friday, September 15, 4 p.m. 

Associate Director and Curator Daniel Strong and artist Stephen Appleby-Barr will engage in conversation about the exhibitions in Grinnell and London, and the development of Appleby-Barr’s work over time. Reception to follow. Refreshments will be served. 

20 Minutes@11 with Daniel Strong 

Tuesday, November 7, 11 a.m. 

Associate Director and Curator Daniel Strong will speak about Stephen Appleby-Barr’s GCMoA exhibition, Correspondence, and how it relates to Stephen’s concurrent exhibition, Échelle, on view at Canada House, the Canadian High Commission to the United Kingdom, in London. 

Information for visitors  

Grinnell College Museum of Art, Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 1108 Park St., Grinnell. Information about the exhibition and programming available at: grinnell.edu/museum or call 641-269-4660.  

The museum is open to the public and always free. Museum hours are Tuesday – Friday: 11 am to 6 pm, Thursday: 11 am to 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday: 1 to 5 pm. Visitors may use the west (Park Street facing) or north (campus facing) doors to the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. Masks are optional. Minors under age 18 need to be accompanied by an adult.   

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Information about parking and accessibility is available. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations at 641-269-3235 or calendar@grinnell.edu.