Artist-to-Artist: Mark Barker Proposed by Wolfgang Tillmans

'Mark’s practice is sensitive, unnerving and peculiar in the best sense of the word. At its heart is a profound humanism: it’s work for our times.' – Wolfgang Tillmans

Presented by Shahin Zarinbal at Frieze London

Mark Barker's presentation speaks of bodies, how they move, and how things move in and out of them. In his ongoing photographic examinations, Barker documents the ventilation screens of different models of portable toilets. Positioned just above head height these vents grant privacy while providing an economical escape route for any unwanted odours. Barker’s drawings and sculptures are developed through observation and research, with sources ranging from sanitary design to rabbit anatomy. Adopting a multifaceted approach to making, in these works Barker articulates experiences of living alone in a body, its mechanics and its limits.

Tillmans writes: 'I feel passionate about Mark Barker’s work, which I have followed since 2007 when he was a student at The Slade. He has worked continuously since then, making and showing at a carefully considered pace. His practice is sensitive, at times unnerving, and peculiar in the best sense of the word. At the heart of it I always sense a profound humanism. It’s work for our times.'

Mark Barker

b. 1983, British; lives and works in Berlin

Mark Barker’s work is concerned with the permeability of the body. He uses a variety of materials to describe how a body moves, breathes, consumes and excretes, and how these processes intertwine with architecture. His practice is characterised by careful and considered material investigations.

Wolfgang Tillmans

b. 1968, German; lives and works in Berlin and London

Wolfgang Tillmans is an artist working primarily in photography whose practice encompasses three-dimensional installations, sound and video, book making, journalism and writing as well as photographs generated both with and without a camera. Seamlessly integrating genres, techniques, and exhibition strategies, he has expanded conventional ways of approaching the medium and his work has epitomised a new kind of subjectivity in photography, pairing intimacy and playfulness with social critique. Since the early 1990s, Tillmans’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at international institutions, and his work is held in museum collections worldwide. In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer and non-British artist to receive the Turner Prize. Tillmans has operated the nonprofit exhibition space Between Bridges since 2006. In 2023, he was named as one of the one hundred most influential people by TIME.

Further Information

Frieze London takes place concurrently with Frieze Masters from 11–15 October in The Regent’s Park, London.

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_{Main Image: Mark Barker, Untitled, 2021, stoneware, gesso, beeswax 62 × 29 × 39 cm. Photo by Thomas Lambertz}