Barbara Walker

Barbara Walker is a British artist who lives and works in Birmingham, England. The art historian Eddie Chambers calls her "one of the most talented, productive and committed artists of her generation". She is known for colossal figurative drawings and paintings, often drawn directly onto the walls of the gallery, that frequently explore themes of documentation and recording, and erasure. Walker describes her work as social reflective practice intended to address misunderstandings and stereotypes about the African-Caribbean community in Britain.

Walker grew up in Birmingham and graduated from the University of Central England, Birmingham, in 1996. Her work is part of private and public collections including the Arts Council Collection, Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Usher Gallery. She was selected to be included in the first Diaspora Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale 2017. Walker was awarded the 2020 Bridget Riley Fellowship at The British School at Rome. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to British Art.

Walker was nominated for the 2023 Turner Prize for her work Burden of Proof.

Selected exhibitions Solo exhibitions Being Here, The Whitworth, 2024–2025 Place, Space and Who, Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent, 2019–2020 Shock and Awe, curated by Lynda Morris and Craig Ashley, mac, Birmingham, 2016 Protest and Remembrance, Alan Cristea Gallery, 2019 UNTITLED: Art on the Conditions of Our Time, New Art Exchange, 2017 The Meaning of Style: Black British Style, and the underlying political and social environment, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 2010 Families, Oxford House, London, 2006 Birmingham Artsfest 06, 2006 True Stories, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2003 Intervention Project, Birmingham, 2002