Clowning Painting

Barrable studied art at Cambridge. After leaving education he pursued a career in photorealistic portraiture using oil paint. Selling through local galleries and taking commissions this also lead to work in prop design for television and Stage. Later Barrable became tired of the realistic approach and took his work in a new expressive and personal direction. Still focusing on portrait and figures to express the many facets of the human condition. Using a mixture of media such as oil acrylic, watercolour, ink and charcoal sometimes burning and scratching canvases creating a visceral and urgent effect. His work flourished as a result. Cambridge collector Oliver Curtis said of his work “it’s like eating nails, Basqiat meets Bacon for the 21st century” Barrable is also a poet often incorporating this into his paintings.