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Filling up space is much more exacting than carving into mass. A sculptor may begin by working with mass, but the finished work organizes and sculpts the space around itself. Whether a sculptor forms brackets that holds an intense emptiness, or sends out delicate probes that explore the outer reaches of thin air, or resolutely pushes against its surroundings in order to occupy its own space solidly, it establishes and holds onto its rightful presence. The sculpture of Bill Barrett does all of these things and more. His largest pieces, towering over thirty-two feet or more and weighing thousands of pounds, rest as lightly on the ground as acrobats. His more intimately scaled pieces move indoors and assume command of their surroundings while remaining approachable and empathetic. Every sculpture invites the mind in for a tour of ideas and a high-level discussion of truth and beauty. One of the most significant aspects of Barrett’s bronze sculptures is his use of fabrication along with casting. He casts his models for his larger pieces, but he fabricates his monumental pieces in bronze. “I’ve been making bronze models since the beginning of my sculpture career.” says Barrett. “Fabrication is the most important part of what I do now. The welding permits me to be an additive sculptor.” Remarkably, Barrett is able to create the most calligraphic, balletic forms in this demanding medium. These fluid shapes dance together and reach forth toward the viewer. They speak of life, of freedom, and of the contortions a body has to go through just to maintain physical and interpersonal balance. “I’m really about inter-relationships with people,” says the artist. “If that is what the work communicates satisfactorily to other people then I am accomplishing the goal I’ve set for myself.” Barrett has kept up a staggering schedule of one-person and invitational group shows for over forty years, beginning with the San Francisco Museum of Art in California and the Whitney Annual in New York, and crisscrossing the nation and the world in the decades since. After more than twenty years as a prominent New York artist, he established a second residence in New Mexico in 1988. He now divides his time between the two, maintaining his prodigious output from studios in both locations. His reputation has expanded also, and today his work hangs in the permanent collections and fine arts museums all over the Unites States, Asia and Europe. Bill Barrett occupies his own space solidly, pushing out the parameters of his life, sculpting his environment, and asserting his presence as an international artist.

!One of the most significant aspects of Bill Barrett’s bronze sculptures is his use of fabrication along with casting. He casts his models for his larger pieces, but he fabricates his monumental pieces in bronze. “I’ve been making bronze models since the beginning of my sculpture career.” says Barrett. “Fabrication is the most important part of what I do now. The welding permits me to be an additive sculptor.” The large bronze sculpture, BRAVURA , started out as a small cast bronze model which stood only 16 inches in height. The sculptor and his fabricators had the task of enlarging BRAVURA from welded sheets of bronze. The finished size would be over ten feet in height, twelve feet in width and six feet in depth. BRAVURA , commissioned by the Dell Foundation in Austin, Texas, is sited in the outdoor sculpture garden in Texas, along with several other large outdoor bronzes created by sculptor Bill Barrett. Barrett’s fluid shapes dance together and reach forth toward the viewer. They speak of life, of freedom, and of the contortions a body has to go through just to maintain physical and interpersonal balance. Barrett has kept up a staggering schedule of one-person and invitational group shows for over forty years, beginning with the San Francisco Museum of Art in California and the Whitney Annual in New York, and crisscrossing the nation and the world in the decades since. After more than twenty years as a prominent New York artist, he established a second residence in New Mexico in 1988. He now divides his time between the two, maintaining his prodigious output from studios in both locations. His reputation has expanded also, and today his work hangs in the permanent collections and fine arts museums in the United States, Asia and Europe. Bill Barrett occupies his own space solidly, pushing out the parameters of his life, sculpting his environment, and asserting his presence as an international artist. !