About Christopher Barnes
Christopher Barnes has been a Fine Art and Commercial Photographer for over 35 years and his work has been widely published and exhibited. He has been the recipient of many awards and grants including a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts awarded in 1988 for his portfolio of Ellis Island's South Side. His work is in the permanent collections of The Ellis Island National Museum, The Museum of Fine Art, Boston, The Fogg Museum, Harvard University, The DeCordova Museum, Lincoln MA. and the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover MA.
Artist's Statement about Ellis Island:
I first became aware of, and intrigued by Ellis Island through the timeless portraits created there by photographer Lewis Hine in the early 1900's. Every visage he captured reflects a story of human aspiration and social evolution.
In 1985 I was hired to document the restoration of the Great Hall into what was to become a National Museum and Park. I was thrilled to be following in the footsteps of many great photographers who had been drawn to Ellis Island. Upon visiting the Island for the first time, I was immediately drawn to the forgotten and abandoned South Side. The Hospital, contagious disease and tuberculosis wards, staff quarters and other buildings had been virtually untouched for close to thirty years and were imbued with the resonance of lives and times past. Amazingly free of vandalism, the buildings were in what seemed to me a perfect state of decay, evocative and quite beautiful. As a photographer I consider myself very lucky to have explored and captured these spaces while they still emanated the spirit of the individuals who had long ago lived, worked, passed through or possibly died there. I was afforded a brief window of time before the myriad of visitors, workmen and other photographers that followed over the next five years would alter these spaces and drive the evanescent spirit from them forever.
Resume:
Christopher G. Barnes
(617) 884-2745
(207) 529-5342
Exhibitions:
12-8-07/2-1-08 "Made in Chelsea" Spencer Gallery
Chelsea, MA.
11-23-07/1-15-08 "Selections" Gallery 170 Damariscotta ME.
10-29-07/12-17-07 University of New Hampshire One person show.
12-8-06/1-16-07 Gathering Together, A Group Show Gallery 170 Damariscotta ME.
12-1-06/12-30-06 Made in Chelsea Group Show Spencer Gallery Chelsea MA.
11-06/3-07 Exhibition at Ellis Island Museum and National Park, New York, NY
02-05/04-05 4 Person Show Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA
09-04 Juried exhibition Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA
07-98 Decordova Museum , Lincoln, MA
Grand re-opening; Selections from the permanent collection
05-92 Selected Images from New England Biennial 1991
Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de Cultura, Santiago, Chile
10-91/12-91 New England Biennial 1991
Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
02-91/03-91 Before the Fall
& 06-91 Northeastern University Art Gallery and Art Space Gallery at
Massachusetts Artists Foundation, Boston, MA
10-90/01-91 Boston 1990: Sixth Triennial
Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
01-90/08-90 Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Display of photographs from the permanent collection
10-89/12-89 Capturing an Image: Collecting 150 Years of Photography
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
10-89/current Ellis Island Museum
Permanent display, Ellis Island, NY
09-89 Ellis Island
09-90 Traveling exhibit
03-89/04-89 Photography: A Contemporary View
Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
03-86/05-86 Contemporary Art of the Commonwealth Photography
& 07-86 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC
and Twentieth Century Gallery, Boston, MA
02-86/04-86 1985 Finalists and Recipients of the Massachusetts Artists Foundation Photography Fellowship, Clarence Kennedy Gallery, Cambridge, MA
04-85 WGBH 10 OClock News
Television feature of work
03-85/04-85 Big Color Photos
Gallery Naga, Boston, MA
09-84/10-84 Massachusetts Photography: 1984
Federal Reserve Bank Building Gallery, Boston, MA
01-83/12-84 Christopher Barnes: Subway Photography
Displayed at nine colleges and universities; sponsored by New England Foundation for the Arts Visual Arts Touring Program
01-83 Community Focus Warner Cable TV
Profile of artist and work
04-82/06-82 Bay State Photography
Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA
04-82/05-82 Five Years of Creative Photography Gallery
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
03-82/05-82 Selected Images
Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, Boston, MA
01-82/02-82 Photography 1982
Northeastern University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
10-81/11-81 What’s Going on in Harvard Square?
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA
09-81/10-81 Subway
Cambridge City Hall and Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University
02-81 Cambridge USA Channel 56-TV
Interview featuring photographs
10-80/11-80 City Spectrum
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Creative Photography Gallery, Cambridge, MA
12-79/01-80 WGBH 10 OClock News
Interview featuring photographs
Grants
2000 Commission to produce book Maine Lakes
08-88 National Endowment for the Arts
Awarded for Ellis Island portfolio
11-87 Chelsea Arts Lottery Grant
Awarded by the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Commission to fund photographic essay on Chelsea, MA
07-85 Massachusetts Artists Foundation Photography Fellowship
Finalist
02-83 Project Completion Grant
Awarded by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation
08-82 New England Visual Arts Touring Program
Awarded by the New England Foundation for the Arts to sponsor touring exhibit of subway construction photographs during 1983-84
06-80 Massachusetts Artists Foundation Photography Fellowship
Fellow
09-79/01-83 Arts-On-The-Line Project
Received grants from Cambridge Arts Council to photograph construction of Red Line subway extension and to produce four exhibitions
02-79/06-79 Artists-In-Residence
Awarded by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation; carried out in the Medfield Public Schools
02-78/05-78 Artist-In-Residence
Awarded by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation; carried out in the
Watertown High School
08-77 Massachusetts Artist Foundation Photography Fellowship
Finalist
Permanent Collections
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy
The Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Ellis Island National Park and Museum
The Fogg Museum, Harvard University
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massport
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
State of Massachusetts
State of New York
Cambridge Savings Bank
Charles River Associates
First National Bank of Boston
Haley and Aldrich
Morrison-Knudsen Corporation
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill
Private Collections
Publications
Maine Lakes Book
Outdoor Photographer
Architectural Review
Better Homes and Gardens
Boston Globe Magazine
Boston Magazine Feature Article
Bostons Womens Magazine
Building Design and Construction
Construction Specifier
Ellis Island: Echoes from the Nations Past
Engineering News Record 2 covers with inside photos
Historic Preservation "Ellis Island"cover and feature
House and Garden
Orion: Nature Quarterly
Polaroid Magazine
Professional Builder Magazine
Royalty Yacht
Smithsonian – feature
Tunneling
Contact Information:
Christopher G. Barnes
116 Winnisimmet St.
Chelsea, MA 02150
617-884-2745
106 Waldoboro Rd.
Bremen, ME 04551
207-529-5342