Barbara Walker
Barbara Walker MBE, RA is a British artist based in Birmingham. Her work is informed by the social, political and cultural realities that affect her life and the lives of those around her. Growing up in Birmingham, her experiences have directly shaped a practice concerned with issues of class and power, gender, race, representation and belonging. Her figurative drawings and paintings tell contemporary stories hinged on historical circumstances, making them universally understood and reflecting a human perspective on the state of affairs in her native Britain and elsewhere.
Walker’s solo exhibitions include her first survey exhibition at The Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (2025), which originated at The Whitworth, Manchester, UK (2024); Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, UK (2022), Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2019), Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, UK (2018), Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK (2016), James Hockey Gallery at University for the Creative Arts, Surrey, UK (2015) and New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK (2013).
Her work is held in public collections in the UK and internationally, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Tate, Whitworth Art Gallery, Government Art Collection and Pallant House Gallery.
