Robert Barry (American, b.1936) is an artist who has made contributions to Conceptual Art since 1967. Barry was born in New York, NY, and studied Fine Art as an undergraduate at Hunter's College of the City University of New York, graduating in 1963. He earned his MA from the same school.
In 1974, Barry moved to Teaneck, NJ. He gave up painting, and began making art using invisible media, including electromagnetic energy, ultrasonic radiation, and inert gases. He describes his art as affecting other things as much as it is affected by those things. He also began incorporating text into his artworks, aiming to make the viewer a part of his pieces.
Barry has proven himself to be a prolific artist. He has shown his work in numerous art exhibitions since his first solo exhibition at the Westerly Gallery in New York, NY, in 1964. In 2011 alone, he was part of 15 group exhibitions and four solo exhibitions, most of which were in Europe. However, his works have also been shown in the United States, at The Museum of Modern Art, the Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, and
Yvon Lambert, all in New York, NY. Barry’s major work includes the
Carrier Wave, the
Radiation Piece, and the
Inert Gas piece. These last two works involved Barry opening bottles of inert gases in different settings before a group of spectators.