Fred Barnfield: Self taught multistylist. (1935 to 2013)

This is one of hundreds of paintings produced by Fred Barnfield over a period of over 40 years.

Fred was very enthusiastic about his barcode art concept. He could talk at length about how IBM's concept of putting information into simple black & white bands was only the surface of a greater universal concept of Ying & Yang, Black & White. He also loved to paint blobs. This eventually combined & the blobs were incorporated into a barcode sort of work. The painting offered here is an early example of the barcode obsession that Fred had, in fact it is certainly one of the 5 originals that he mentions below. The connection to blobs is not obvious from this but the progression that evolved throughout the middle to the latter part of his career is best described in his blobography (available to read via his website) he wrote: 

"Barcodes 1998, (in the summer of this year, while designing a letterhead for West Bromwich library User Group of which he is a member the idea of a Barcode struck Barnfield one thing led to another and after some research he couldn't believe his luck that the barcode motif had never really been used in art since IBM created it in the mid 70's, furthermore it tied in with his universal development and fused western culture with eastern mysticism. The meditative paradox of yin and yang barcoded, preserving their secrets and mystery even when scanned. Black on white or white on black? An abstract three dimensional thin on thick and thick on thin black and white illusions. Barnfield used yet another new technique, insulation tape on estate agents boards. To get these unique Barcodes exhibited quickly before the same idea surfaced elsewhere in the art world, he approached the owners of Bray's fish and chip restaurant in Wednesbury where he was able to spring a surprise World Premier Exhibition of 5 Barcodes for their historic debut.

Further Barcodes in the series included white on white, and even more mysterious black and black using matt and gloss insulation tapes."

Wow. If you're still with us, hang on because this was only the start of some real strange thinking that came along later:

Octets 2009. It would seem that these Blobcodes, entitled Octets by Fred Barnfield would be a natural fusion of his Blobs and Barcodes in his development. But such is not the case; it was Dan Earthquake, who created the first in digital video form. He morphed one of Barnfield’s landscape ‘Barcodes’ into his ‘B flat’ Blobs.

Also, it was some time before Barnfield got round to working on these Blobcodes, which have resulted in a further two series being created. Each one being a development of the former. Titles have since been found for each of these 3 Blobcodes series. They are Octets, Déjà vu and Alibis, and all deal in paradoxical visual suggestions of present day insights into relativity, quantum theory and time with Barnfield’s own ordinary experiences.

The Octets, being the first are simply black blobs in the black bars on a white background, done by Barnfield in his technique of squeezing paint from a plastic bottle in a meaningless way.

There are 5 Octets in this first series and all are quite small on board or canvas and were presented to the Dan Earthquake Collection by Barnfield in appreciation of patronage and encouragement.

Déjà vu 2010. This second in the series of three Blobcodes are entitled Déjà vu and were done in a short space of time in 2010.

Sandwiched between his Octets and Alibis, these Déjà vu’s are more ‘remembrance of things past’. They are the centre of gravity of this Blobcode series. In these Déjà vu’s, Barnfield looks back to his visit to London in 1993 and the influence of Robert Ryman’s White paintings at the Tate Gallery and brings to bear white blobs in the white bars between the black in the black bars. 

Coincidently, Gavin Jones who featured Barnfield in a newspaper article a decade ago and reignited his creative energy, has involved him in his latest video interview for the Black Country Bugle with reminiscences about his childhood on the ‘Lost City’ council estate in Tipton.

There are 8 works in this Déjà vu series, all water paint on canvas done with Barnfield’s technique of paint being squeezed from a plastic bottle in a subconscious manner.

Alibis 2010. This third series of Blobcodes, are called Alibis by Fred Barnfield and are all about visual suggestions of being in two places at the same time as dictated by quantum theory. They are the latest development in this recent Blobcode series, all of which are a natural fusing of his Blobs and Barcodes.

The first in this series of Blobcodes were called Octets and were probing and simply black blobs in the bars on a white background. The second series, called Déjà vu delved deeper with the black blobs on white canvas accompanied by white blobs in the white bars.

Now for these Alibis, Barnfield applies white blobs in the white bars and black blobs in black bars on a black canvas.

As in all Barnfield’s Barcodes works, these three series aim for the same enigmatic and asymmetrical balance, paradoxically black on white or white on black. A fleeting duality.

This third series consists of 8 works on canvas applied with Barnfield’s well known blobbing technique of squeezing water paint out of a bottle.

The tale of Alibis comes from a humorous article by Peter Rhodes in the ‘Express and Star’ commenting on an experiment carried out by physicists Andrew Cleland and John Martinis of the University of California at Santa Barbara proving Einstein was right and it is possible to be in two places at the same time and as weird as seeing yourself in the mirror."

Barnfield was the ultimate recycler before such a thing was fashionable - many of his canvases were rescued from larger materials that had been discarded & frames were constructed from heavy timber that had been thrown away. Some canvases started their lives as tarpaulins covering loads on flat bed lorries, whilst many paintings were made on estate agents sold signs that had been abandoned or forgotten. 

Fred enjoyed representing a variety of subjects from the ordinary & mundane to fantastical monsters of the imagination. He experimented continually & developed his own style that he called Blobology. Fred created a website which endures - blobology dot co dot uk - with links to his free to read biography & updates for the annual JULY9 digital exhibition that he started before his death which continues every year on the anniversary of his birthday. 

Fred was largely unknown outside of his own locality & was proud to call himself as one of arts true outsiders. In some ways he modelled himself on Modigliani who achieved fame posthumously. There was a resemblance between the two at similar ages, a fact Fred noted & published in his own writings. He was used to being misunderstood & unappreciated - Fred did something everyday towards his art & passion & it was not for public acceptance or accolades. Early on he decided the path to walk & didn't stray from it. He told me before he died that he wanted his pictures to be appreciated & I got the job of trying to disperse them after his death. It's been 11 years since Fred Barnfield died & a third of the collection has been sold on for small amounts - most being bought by private collectors. A few have been resold in high end galleries & the word is spreading of his talent. Fred had some unique ideas & concepts that have not yet reached the wider art community. I see a time when his works will be sought after & traded for large amounts. That's a while off & all the time it's going on the cost of storage increases too. Buying one of Fred's paintings gets you something unique to put on your wall. Buying the collection could be a great investment for a person with patience & connections. Currently the items listed come to a total of £8785. There are hundreds of sketches & small paper works that have not been scanned or described - this is a planned activity for the autumn. I'm looking for a buyer who will buy it all for £8000.00. Personal delivery included to anywhere in the UK + a copy of the catalogue notes that Fred made & all sorts of extra information he left behind. See the listing on EBAY to buy & arrange delivery. Note that delivery will not be available until October.