Barbara Walker
Barbara Walker is a British artist who lives and works in Birmingham, England. The art historian Eddie Chambers calls her "one of the most talented, productive and committed artists of her generation". She is known for colossal figurative drawings and paintings, often drawn directly onto the walls of the gallery, that frequently explore themes of documentation and recording, and erasure.
Barbara Walker
- Name
- Barbara Walker
- Birthplace
- Birmingham, England
- Education
- * University of Central England (BA) (1993–96)
- Awards
- * Evelyn Williams Drawing Award (2017)
- Born
- 1964 · Birmingham.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- painter
- Honours
- Member of the Order of the British Empire · Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize
- Languages
- English
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Barbara Walker is a British artist who lives and works in Birmingham, England. The art historian Eddie Chambers calls her "one of the most talented, productive and committed artists of her generation". She is known for colossal figurative drawings and paintings, often drawn directly onto the walls of the gallery, that frequently explore themes of documentation and recording, and erasure.
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Barbara Walker (born 1964) is a British painter. The painter was born in Birmingham. Barbara Walker studied at Birmingham City University and University of Central England in Birmingham.
Languages used include English. Works by the painter are held at Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre and Usher Gallery. Barbara Walker received Member of the Order of the British Empire and Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Walker describes her work as social reflective practice intended to address misunderstandings and stereotypes about the African-Caribbean community in Britain. Walker grew up in Birmingham and graduated from the University of Central England, Birmingham, in 1996. Her work is part of private and public collections including the Arts Council Collection, Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Usher Gallery. She was selected to be included in the first Diaspora Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale 2017. In 2017, Walker was awarded the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award, part of the Jerwood Drawing Prize. Walker was awarded the 2020 Bridget Riley Fellowship at The British School at Rome. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to British Art. Walker was nominated for the 2023 Turner Prize for her work Burden of Proof.
Barbara Walker studied at Birmingham City University and University of Central England in Birmingham. The recorded working language is English. Work by Barbara Walker is recorded in the collections of Usher Gallery and Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Order of the British Empire and Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Barbara Walker • Birth Name — Barbara Walker • Birthplace — Birmingham, England • Education — * University of Central England (BA) (1993–96) • Wolverhampton University (PGCE (FE)) (2003–04) • Awards — * Evelyn Williams Drawing Award (2017)
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• Being Here, The Whitworth, 2024–2025 • Place, Space and Who, Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent, 2019–2020 • Shock and Awe, curated by Lynda Morris and Craig Ashley, mac, Birmingham, 2016 • Louder Than Words, Unit 2 Gallery, London Metropolitan University, 2006 • Testimony, Queen's Hall, Northumberland, 2005 • Private Face, EMACA, Nottingham, 2002
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s–Now, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2023–2024 • Protest and Remembrance, Alan Cristea Gallery, 2019 • UNTITLED: Art on the Conditions of Our Time, New Art Exchange, 2017 • The Meaning of Style: Black British Style, and the underlying political and social environment, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 2010 • Families, Oxford House, London, 2006 • Birmingham Artsfest 06, 2006 • True Stories, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2003 • Intervention Project, Birmingham, 2002
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Barbara Walker. Diaspora Artists.
- 2.Chambers, Eddie. Black Artists in British Art: A History since the 1950s. I.B.Tauris. 2014. 9780857736086.
- 3.Barbara Walker's large scale drawings remember Britain's Black servicemen and women Arts Council England. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
- 4.Young, Graham. Birmingham artist is challenging stereotypes. birminghampost. 21 March 2014.
- 5.Boundary I Arts Council Collection. www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk.
- 6.Barbara Walker. ICF International Curators Forum. 15 February 2017.
- 7.Barnfield, Stacey. UK's biggest loan collection of British art buys work by West Midlands artists. birminghampost. 6 May 2014.
- 8.Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017 - Jerwood Visual Arts. Jerwood Visual Arts.
- 9.Place, Space and Who. August 2025.
- 10.Rutherford, Nichola. Turner Prize 2023: Windrush and Covid pandemic inspires nominees. BBC News. 2023-04-27.
- 11.Marshall, Alex. Artist of Black Portraiture Leads Turner Prize Shortlist. The New York Times. 2023-04-27.
- 12.Gentleman, Amelia. 'I'm pointing a finger': Barbara Walker on her paintings about the Windrush scandal and her son's victimisation. The Guardian. 2024-09-30. 0261-3077.
- 13.C.V – Barbara Walker.
- 14.Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now. Art Gallery of Ontario.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Walker, Barbara. Barbara Walker. Margate, England: Turner Contemporary, 2021. .
References
Citations
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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