Emerging from architecture, literary and film theory, and dance, Judith Barry has translated these disciplines directly into specific physical relations that place the viewer in a dialogue with the content of her research. She constructs a variety of ‘subject positions’ for the viewer to inhabit which function like point-of-view perspectives and allow the viewer to both cohere the meaning of the work by inhabiting the space of the installation, and simultaneously to ascribe a multiplicity of meanings to the experience.
She has exhibited internationally at such venues as the Berlin Biennale, Carnegie International, Documenta, Nagoya Biennale, Sao Paolo Biennale, Sydney Biennale, Sharjah Biennial, Venice Biennale(s) of Art/Architecture, and the Whitney Biennale, among others. Her awards include the Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts (2000), “Best Pavilion” at the Cairo Biennale (2001), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2011). Public Fantasy, a collection of Barry’s essays, was published by the ICA in London (1991). Other publications includeProjections: mise en abyme (1997), The Study for the Mirror and Garden(2003) and Judith Barry: body without limits (2009).