Cristina Barr

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Cuban mother and Argentinean father, Cristina Barr left Argentina and her career as an English Literature teacher to come to Paris, which has been her home since 2001. She is known for her bold and intense paintings that intertwine the private and the public – the intimate and the political, combining autobiographical elements with stories from literature, and observations on the contemporary world. She uses colour and heavy brushstrokes to create unsettling tableaux which, at times, challenge the social and sexual codes still present mainly in Latin American societies. Charged with a unique psychic and emotional drama, her works, always inhabited by a strong female presence, express what it is to be a woman, particularly one living under the oppressive hierarchies and controlling conventions of patriarchal society.

​I’m interested in the human condition, the psychological depth of the characters I paint, exposing their power but also their vulnerability. I would like the viewer’s psyche to be “disturbed” by the presence, the existence of my characters, this is why I choose big, life-size formats. I aim at the confrontation of selves.

1986

Instituto Nacional del Profesorado en Lenguas Vivas. Diploma: Teacher of English as a Foreign Language.

2003/2004
University of Bath, England. Master in Management of Educational Organizations.

2007/2008
Workshop in Visual Arts. Asociación Amigos del Bellas Artes. Buenos Aires. Argentina

2013/2018
Student under Greek painter Anna Maria Tsakali. Paris-France.

2015/2017
Workshops in Sculpture in clay and bronze under French sculptor Juliette Lanos.

2017
UAL Central St Martin’s. London, UK. Expressive Painting Workshop under Polish painter Ewa Gargulinska.

2018
* Musée d’Arts Décoratifs. Paris, France. Workshop in Oil Painting under Uruguayan painter Miguel Nuñez.

* Workshops in Life Drawing and Painting under Argentinean Painter Edgar Saillen. Paris – France

2021
IDENTITY / The Holy Art Gallery - London, United Kingdom
2021
XIII Florence Biennale / Florence Biennale - Firenze, Italy
2020
What is Art? / Boomer Gallery - London, United Kingdom
2020
The Other Art Fair / The Old Truman Brewery - London, United Kingdom
2020
Art Beginning / Galería Juana de Arte - Buenos Aires, Argentina
2020
Lisbonna Contemporanea / Lisbon - Lisbon, Portugal
2019
New York Art Center / Tribeca Art Gallery - New York, United States
2019
Qatar International Art Festival / Katara Cultural Village - Doha, Qatar
2019
5 o'clock Tea with Agatha Ruiz de la Prada / Nordelta Art Gallery - Buenos Aires, Argentina
2018
40ème Salon des Arts / Montesson - Ile de France, France
2018
Arts au Jardin / Wood Cottage - Le Vésinet, France
Publications
2020
Creatures Magazine- The Creatures that Inhabit Cold Mirrors
2020
Radio France International- Solo Show - Cristina Barr
2020
Denise Boomkens - And.Bloom- Cristina Barr
2020
Libero 24 x 7- L'ironia e l'analisi sociologica nell'espressionismo di Cristina Barr
2020
L'Opinionista- L'ironia e l'analisi sociologica nell'espressionismo di Cristina Barr
2019
Artmosphere magazine - Special Edition Qatar
2018
Le Vésinet Magazine- Les Arts au Jardin
Re...