Pierrot Barra

Pierrot Barra (1942–1999) was a Haitian Vodou artist and priest, who was president of a Bizango society. He was well-known for his use of diverse materials to create "Vodou Things", which functioned as charms or altars for the Vodou religion.

With his wife Marie Cassaise, Barra worked from the Iron Market of Port-au-Prince, where he made "Vodou repositories from toys, fabric, glass, sequins, goats' horns, rosaries, costume jewelry, compact mirrors, Christmas ornaments, crucifixes, and other discarded materials." His Afro-Cuban dolls sold well, bought by locals to protect themselves. He often used discarded American toys and dolls as the basis of his works, embellishing them with "charms, glitter, sequins, beads, and crosses that were originally intended for altars." The most notable aspect of his works is rubber baby dolls.

His works have been featured in shows in Port-au-Prince, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, and Madrid, and he is the only Haitian artist to which an entire book is dedicated (Vodou Things: The Art of Pierrot Barra and Marie Cassaise by Donald J. Cosentino).

Biography Some biographers believe Pierrot Barra was born in 1937, while others contend it was 1942; despite the disagreement around the specific date of his birth, it is known for certain that he was born in a district of Port-au-Prince called Bel Air. Barra assisted his mother in her work and business for thirty years, and it was from her that he gained the necessary skills to begin making his own art. While the Bizango society is a feared and controversial force among the Haitian people, Barra claimed he was a member for protection. Barra also had between eight and ten other wives as well, with whom he had between twenty and thirty children. Barra died on July 31, 1999, due to heart failure. His funeral was attended by many, including art historians, customers, and foreigners who admired his work. Like other Haitian Vodou art, Barra’s work is filled with shiny cloth, sequins, symbols associated with the different Haitian spirits or lwa, and imagery from Catholicism. This is because West African slaves brought to Haiti incorporated Catholicism into their belief system in order to gain understanding and power over their French white masters, creating what is now known as Haitian Vodou. Sequins and shimmery elements are used because they attract the Vodou lwa, in some cases for preparation for a Vodou ritual or possession (known as "riding").

The main guiding lwa of Barra’s life and art, his met tet, are St. Jacques Majeur, Ezili Danto, Ogou Badagri, and Agwe. In his dreams, sometimes these lwa commanded him to make work and other times he used the dreams for inspiration for pieces. In these dreams, Barra would also see the customer who would buy the piece; he claimed each piece was for a specific person.

Barra’s works rely heavily on accumulation, a technique heavily used in Haitian and Vodou art and brought over from Africa. The changing nature of the lwa are why they love so many different kinds of materials and why so many different materials are used for sculptures, altars, and other reverent pieces. These dolls are not like the "voodoo" dolls of New Orleans, nor are they stuck with pins; rather they function as messengers to the spirits, represent humans or lwa, or serve in place of humans for punishment or channeling magic. This is the genre of sculpture for which Barra is most well-known.

Barra’s work has been described as having an Antillean Aesthetic, but also being postmodern. His art is not considered traditional (although it contains traditional Vodou elements, such as sequins), but it is easily recognizable by Vodou practitioners. Even within the ever-changing culture of Vodou and Vodou art, Barra’s work has been called "revolutionary". Present in Barra’s work are symbols of the Bizango spirits, a sect of the Vodou lwa pantheon.

Public collections Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, California Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, Iowa Nottingham Contemporary Art Centre, Nottingham, England

Principle exhibitions 1996 - Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 2012 - In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st-Century Haitian Art, Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, California 2012 - Kafou: Haiti, Art & Vodou, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, England 2014 - Haiti: Two Centuries of Art and Creativity, Grand Palais, Paris, France