Today we’d like to introduce you to Barry Callahan.
Barry, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I think creating for me has always been lingering around. My mother graduated from art school in the 70’s.
So I was always around some form of design.
I grow up in a town in central Illinois where there really wasn’t much to offer aside from manual labor jobs. If a person wanted another option, they would have needed to venture out a bit.
30 miles west was and is the city of Champaign, Illinois. So many amazing memories have come from there. Out of the music scene in the mid to late 90s is where my passion for creating
was born.
I begin just painting the back of punk rock leather jackets and designing some logo ideas. I also played music back then, and so it helped to have that vehicle of art to correspond with the sound. I remember just being so blown away by album artwork. Even if I didn’t know the band yet. It would pull me right in with just the right tones of color or placement of character.
After high school and some junior college my band had broken up and I moved out east. There I discovered my love for fine arts and painting. I got a job an art outlet store and was constantly being fed creative fuel by the customers that would come in to buy supplies.
One day my coworker told me about a group showing they were having and asked me to join. So I did and I sold absolutely nothing… but I loved even just the process of the preparation.
I eventually moved back to Illinois. Though I left the east behind, I took the creative drive back with me. Night after night I would paint and design. Just as soon as I finished one, another one would come to mind. Oh it was better than anything on Earth.
Over the course of a few years from moving back, I had enough work to have a show. Now up to this point I would mainly show at festivals and smaller group events.
Then a friend of mine and I got together to put on a dual two story showing in downtown Champaign. We called ‘Fictional Characters’. At the time I mostly painted high contrast black and white realism pieces with very crisp backgrounds. The hole my friend we created very abstract pieces made of everything you could imagine.
The show had an amazing turnout and it was a blast. This was the catalyst that pushed me closer to wanting to do art full time. Each showing since, I’ve tried to keep it about the process and not just the result.
More recently I have been intrigued by mixed media work. I’ve kept the acrylic paint while adding in paper, ink, and graphite. My focal point lately has been on thought process.
I also have an ongoing series I do called “Skate-Grest”. Which is a collection of profile paintings of pro skateboarders.
All the while I am being guided by synesthesia [the process in which one hears color].
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Acrylic and mixed media paintings on canvas and wood panel. It is my is therapy. Each canvas is simply a holding unit for thought process to make more room in my mind for more creative thought.
Once an idea is set to almost complete in my mind, it is only a matter of a few hours before it is complete on the surface. I normally do not spend more than 5 hours on a painting before its complete.
I’m heavenly influenced by sound. Often when I listen to certain things I will hear color. I always thought this happened to everyone because it is a
Frequent occurrence for me. This is called synesthesia. Where one sense heavily effects and influences another.
I hope to convey a message of hope in my work. That we can heal from pain. Learn from mistakes. Forgive ourselves and others. And above all love.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I think the role of artists will always rise to the occasion of the world’s call around us. It’s hard to think of a time in history where the world or local events didn’t cause effect on those within the creative realm. In some ways it’s what drives the beauty to be pushed forward. In a sense, it is the whisper of hope out of tragedy.
It affects me personally when I think about what type of world I want to leave my children once I die. If not the entire world at least starts a spark of change and hope in your children’s heart.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have all of my work collectively shown Instagram:
@araisedbanner and @skategreatseries
To purchase paintings and prints, go to:
Etsy.com/shop/araisedbanner
Contact Info:
- Website: Araisedbanner.com
- Email: bcal80@gmail.com
- Instagram: @Araisedbanner
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Araisedbanner-156954431016448/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/araisedbanner
Image Credit:
Barry Callahan
Shot of Christian Hosoi: Dennis Martinez and Grant Brittain
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