Claire Barclay

Claire Barclay (born 1968) is a Scottish artist. Her artistic practice uses a number of traditional media that include installation, sculpture and printmaking, but it also expands to encapsulate a diverse array of craft techniques. Central to her practice is a sustained exploration of materials and space.

"While there is always a concept behind the work its actual form comes out of the 'play' with materials and my response to them"

Early life and education

Claire Barclay received a Master of Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art, where she focused on environmental art. She graduated in 1993 with an MA. In 2009 she had a solo exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery, which documented significant works created by Barclay over the previous 12 years, alongside newly-commissioned installations. and the work made here amongst others were reworked and adapted at Mission Gallery, Swansea, in 2018. She was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 2024.

Themes Situated within realms of the domestic, Barclay's work juxtaposes the reified space of the gallery with that of the everyday.

Style Barclay creates large-scale installations, often made in situ and in response to the spaces in which they are shown. These dualities further position her artistic process between the handcrafted and industrially produced, as well as the natural and man-made.

Selected exhibitions

'Nettverk Glasgow', Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo, 1998 Zenomap'. 50. Venice Biennale, 2003 'Art now: Claire Barclay. Half-light', Tate Britain, 2004 'Claire Barclay: silver gilt', Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, 2005 'Claire Barclay: shifting ground', Camden Arts Centre, London, 2008 'Claire Barclay: openwide', The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2009 'Claire Barclay: Pale Heights', MUDAM, Luxenburg, 2009 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans', Whitechapel Gallery, 2010 'Overlap - Claire Barclay', Glasgow Print Studio, 2010 'Abstract Possible', Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, 2011 'Bright Bodies', Kelvinhall, Glasgow, 2016 'Yield Point', Tramway Gallery, Glasgow, 2017 'Deep Spoils', Mission Gallery, Swansea, 2018 'Skiffing', Edinburgh College of Art, 2019

Public collections

Arts Council Collection British Council Moderna Museet National Galleries Scotland Mudam, Luxembourg

Awards

Artist in Residence, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 1997 Three Year AHRB Fellowship, Glasgow School of Art, 2000 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Artist's Award, 2007 The Hospital Club Creative Award for Art, 2008 Residency, Statens Vaerksteder for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2011 Residency, The Banff Centre, Banff, 2013 Residency, Edinburgh College of Art, 2019

Publications

'Claire Barclay: Ideal Pursuits', exhibition catalogue, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, 2003 'Claire Barclay: Fault on the Right Size', exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2007 'Claire Barclay: openwide', exhibition catalogue, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2009 'Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans', Whitechapel Gallery, 2010