Alvaro Barrington: Come Home In Art Basel Parcours 2024

Coinciding with his Tate Britain commission in London, for Art Basel Parcours Alvaro Barrington presents a recent work returning to his early life growing up in the Caribbean. For his installation entitled 'Come Home', Barrington has hand-built an architectural structure inside Tropical Zone, 'the No. 1 Super Markets for the Afro and Latin American population of Switzerland', which draws on aspects of family life and his experiences living in the region, celebrating its diverse culture and landscape. 

 

Both in scale and subject, the project represents an ambitious expansion of themes that have endured since the beginning of Barrington’s career, of interwoven personal and cultural narratives and at their intersection: family, community, love, music and its vibrant materiality, as well as wider inspirations drawn from art history. Barrington's use of traditional and non-traditional materials, such as timber and burlap, speak to the ubiquitous materials used for housing structures in the Caribbean region; mirroring his enduring concern for how different medias can function as a visual tool and exist as a richly layered signifier of cultural and political histories. The physical structure and accompanying artworks collectively create a total environment described by the artist as a ‘universe’.

 

Born in Venezuela to Grenadian and Haitian migrant workers, Alvaro Barrington was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York by a network of relatives. An unwavering commitment to community informs his wide-ranging practice. While Barrington considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion, philanthropy and contributions to the Notting Hill Carnival in London. His approach to painting is similarly inclusive – embracing non-traditional materials and techniques such as burlap, concrete, cardboard and sewing – and infused with references to his personal and cultural history.