Barb Hunt is a multidisciplinary
textile art
Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.
Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials us ...
ist from
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
. Her art has contrasted
knitting
Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine.
Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...
as a warming, protective art, against the violence of
war.
Through her tactile work, Hunt explores
domesticity
The Culture of Domesticity (often shortened to Cult of Domesticity) or Cult of True Womanhood is a term used by historians to describe what they consider to have been a prevailing value system among the upper and middle classes during the 19th cen ...
,
mourning rituals, the natural world, and the colour
pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
.
A
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and
craftivist, Hunt uses materials, processes, and colours traditionally associated with femininity to bring new context and care to objects of war and adds legitimacy to tasks associated with
women's work
Women's work is often assumed to be solely the realm of women, and it is associated with specific stereotypical jobs that have been associated with the feminine sex throughout history. It is most commonly used in reference to the unpaid labor that ...
.
Career
A core focus of Hunt's practice has been the devastation of war
and creating works from
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
army uniforms.
Hunt's 1998-2010 ''antipersonnel'' series documented the proliferation of
landmines
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
through hand knitting replicas in various shades of pink yarn. The work draws on the history of knitting as caring for the body and the use of knitting to create bandages for soldiers. In this context knitting becomes a metaphor for recuperation, protection, and healing, creating a contrast between the materials and the destructive subject matter. The work was included in the group exhibition, ''Museopathy'', at the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario, and later in a solo show named antipersonnel at the
Art Gallery of Ontario. Her work included in the exhibition ''Unpacking the Living Room (''pieces from two separate series titled ''antipersonnel'' and ''Aprons)'' serves as a material protest against the use of antipersonnel landmines. As Hunt describes "I use these associations to contradict the abuse of power and the use of violence by transforming a destructive object into one that can do no harm."
In ''Toll'', her 2011 solo show at The Rooms in
St. John's, Newfoundland
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.
The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
, she created large installations using camouflage fabric as a central theme and material.
Hunt's ''Mourning'' series was a textile-based exploration of the relationships between death, mourning, gender and recuperation. In her ''Steel Dresses'' series, Hunt made metal dresses from cold-rolled steel sheets to create forms resembling textile patterns as well as nature, and forms traditionally associated with women.
Hunt has had solo exhibitions at the
Art Gallery of Ontario, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery
and at Exeter and Bath galleries in the UK.
Her work has been included in group exhibitions and biennials both national and international. She has also completed residencies throughout Canada, as well as Paris and Ireland.
Hunt has received several awards including the VANL-CARFAC Endurance Award, The President's Award for Outstanding Research from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the Canada Council York Wilson Purchase Award.
Permanent collections
Hunt's art is in many major public collections, including:
* Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Canada Council York Wilson Purchase Award, Kingston, ON Canada
* Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON
* Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland
* Fondazione Benetton, Italy
* Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, St. John's, NL
* Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON
* Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Selected Bibliography
Since 2001, international journals/books that have discussed Hunt's work include:
*Susan Cahill, "The Elsewhere War: Art, Embodiment, and the Spaces of Military Engagement," Journal of Canadian Studies, Spring 2018.
*Black, Anthea and Nicole Burisch. "Craft Hard, Die Free: Radical Curatorial Strategies for Craft in Unruly Spaces." Maria Elena Buszek, ed. Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art. Durham,London: Duke University Press, 2011; and in Glenn Adamson, ed. The Craft Reader. New York: Berg, 2010.
*McElroy, Gil. Built with a String: Barb Hunt and Knitting in Newfoundland and Labrador. Craft Year, 2007. Accessed February 2, 2020.
*Perron, Mirielle. "The Art of Camouflage, A Female Touch: Exploring tactility in the work of Janice Wright Cheney, Barb Hunt and Sarah Maloney." Paula Gustafson, ed. Craft Perception and Practice 3. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2008.
*Kirsty Robertson, "Capturing the Movement: Affect, Anti-War Art and Activism." Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Vol. 34, No. 6, Fall 2006, 27–30.
*Magliaro, Joseph and Shu Hung, eds. By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.
*Wignall, Alice. "This Mortal Toil." ''The Guardian''. October 4, 2005.
References
External links
Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Barb
Canadian textile artists
Artists from Newfoundland and Labrador
People from Corner Brook
Living people
Interdisciplinary artists
Concordia University alumni
University of Manitoba alumni
Women textile artists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Date of birth missing (living people)