Military vet Barry John to host Brunswick Art Gallery show
A new exhibition will open this weekend at the Brunswick Art Gallery showcasing the work of military veteran Barry John MBE, who takes elements of the places he visited during his service and combines them to form vivid, graffiti-style artworks.
John, who served in the military for 24 years, told Morning Wire he wanted to capture his experiences in a way that made sense to him as a painter.
Many of his pieces combine military themes with pop culture icons including Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse, creating a rich and fascinating tapestry.
“I had many adventures around the world and visited some amazing places,” said John. “These were an inspiration to me as a young man and I wanted to document what I was seeing and feeling, so I started to paint.”
He says the exhibition, which is made up entirely of new works made in 2020, aims to showcase the four distinct graffiti styles he uses in his work, which he says are Art Nuevo, Victorian Graffiti, Blue and Gold, and 27 Club music icons.
“I paint listening to the Doors, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix and lots of Jazz, so my work is very phonetic,” he says. “It also draws on my time in service, using neon colours to represent my time in Hong Kong, Seoul, Pristina, Miami and London. South Korea, with its street graffiti and lights really kicked off my love of colour.”
The works are multi-layered creations, offering something new to viewers each time they approach the canvas, something John describes as a “layer system” used to convey “messages, poetry and depth of colour”.
John founded Pembrokeshire arts charity The VC Gallery in 2014, an organisation that uses arts as a way of engaging veterans in the community, focusing on social integration as a way of beating isolation.
He says the charity’s work is especially important now with the added isolation caused by the Covid pandemic: “We have been busy with welfare checks and getting our teams to keep our members connected creatively and emotionally.”
• The exhibition runs at the Brunswick Art Gallery from Sunday 6 December to 6 January. For more information go to brunswickartgallery.co.uk, call 0208 150 7225 or visit Unit 68, Marchmont St, Brunswick Centre, WC1N 1AY