| Surrounded
by some of Norfolk’s vast arable fields, just outside
the coastal village of Walcott lies the Barrington Farm
complex, a unique day services centre for adults with
learning difficulties. The facilities include a working
farm with rare breeds, a gym, café, holiday cottages
and at its core is the excellent arts centre known as
The Art Barn. Previously a potato barn, it is now a well
equipped studio catering for most activities associated
with visual art such as painting, drawing, printmaking,
woodwork, ceramics and textiles.
Creativity is very much seen as part of daily life
and the art centre is exploited to maximum effect. It
is staffed and managed by practising artists who assist
and nurture each individual’s specific talents.
It is not a place where art is taught in the academic
sense. Guidance with materials and technique is offered
but the creative decisions are left to the artist. The
Barrington Farm Artists are spontaneous, instinctive
and fearless in their approach to art. All the artists
are self taught and the work itself reveals a highly
personal world without art historical references. The
work selected here represents the diverse range of art
produced at Barrington, and showcases highly individual
styles that challenge and defy categories. |
