Alvaro Barrington

b. 1983, Venezuela

Alvaro Barrington lives and works in London and New York City. He received an MFA from the Slade School of Art in London and a BFA from Hunter College in New York.

Primarily rooted in painting, Barrington’s practice comprises performance, fashion and collaboration. His approach to material is vast and inclusive, regularly embracing burlap, concrete, cardboard and sewing, and other non-traditional techniques. Barrington considers influence and exchange to be crucial and draws upon a constellation of cultural and art historical references in his work, including Robert Rauschenberg’s groundbreaking Combines, which he pays homage to by incorporating objects including carpets and steel drums into the picture plan. Barrington’s practice is deeply informed by an unwavering commitment to community.

Solo exhibitions and projects include GRACE, Tate Britain Commission, London (2024); COME HOME, Sadie Coles, London (2024); Island Life, Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York (2023); They Got Time: YOU BELONG TO THE CITY, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin, Paris (2023) and Alvaro Barrington, MoMA PS1, New York (2017). Group exhibitions include Keeping Time, curated by Ekow Eshun, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana (2024); The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Traveled to Saint Louis Art Museum, MI (2023); The Drawing Centre Show, Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2022) and The Earth, That Is Sufficient, Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York (2021). Barrington’s work is held in the collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, The Hepworth Wakefield, K11 Art Foundation, The Loewe Foundation, Fundación NMAC, Rennie Museum, Start Museum, X Museum, Beijing and the Tate Britain.