The Whitworth presents over 70 works spanning Walker’s career, from intimate portraits to monumental drawings, exploring themes of visibility, erasure, and belonging.
Barbara Walker, The Sitter, 2002. © Barbara Walker. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2024. Photo: Gary Kirkham
The Whitworth will open ‘Barbara Walker: Being Here’ this autumn, the first major survey exhibition by the acclaimed British artist. Featuring over 70 works spanning Walker’s career from the 1990s to the present, the exhibition includes her Turner Prize-nominated portrait series Burden of Proof (2022–23), rarely exhibited drawings, and a significant new wallpaper commission. This landmark exhibition traces the evolution of Walker’s compelling figurative practice and her profound exploration of Black presence, power, and belonging in Britain.
Walker is celebrated for her exquisitely rendered drawings, which are rooted in extensive research. From delicate pencil drawings on archival documents to monumental charcoal wall drawings, her traditional techniques bring a powerful immediacy to contemporary social issues and the historical contexts underpinning them. Employing methods of visibility and erasure—such as enlargement, cutting, obscuring, and blanking out—Walker challenges conventional representation, asking urgent questions about who is seen and how histories are remembered. Her empathetic, finely observed works engage themes of body politics, power, and citizenship.
The exhibition brings together Walker’s seven major series for the first time, beginning with early, vibrantly colored paintings from Private Face (1998–2002), which depict intimate moments of family life and community in Birmingham. Louder than Words (2006–09) features tender mixed-media drawings on police dockets and newspaper clippings, reflecting her son’s experiences with repeated police stop-and-search encounters. Shock and Awe (2015–20), inspired by Walker’s research-driven practice, confronts the overlooked contributions of Black servicemen and women to war efforts, employing erasure techniques such as blind embossing to disrupt archival narratives.
Vanishing Point (2018–present) and Marking the Moment (2021–present) reimagine European Old Master paintings by centring marginalised Black figures, offering transformative new perspectives for contemporary audiences. The monumental Burden of Proof (2022–23), commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation with the support of the Whitworth, honours the humanity and dignity of Caribbean-born individuals affected by the Windrush scandal.
The exhibition also premieres Soft Power (2024), a new wallpaper installation inspired by the Whitworth’s renowned textile and wallpaper collections and the French Toile de Jouy tradition. In this immersive work, Walker blends landscape and decorative motifs with scenes of Windrush communities in Manchester, further expanding her exploration of material and scale.
An illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition, offering fresh insights into Walker’s celebrated body of work.
Barbara Walker says:
“Since the 1990s, I have used painting and drawing to reflect on acts of erasure within shared histories and our present moment. I’m always seeking ways to push these ideas further, to keep experimenting, intervening, and disrupting dominant image-making. Bringing together 25 years of work is a significant moment as I rethink my practice. I am incredibly excited for this exhibition at the Whitworth and look forward to seeing new relationships emerge across my work.”
Darren Pih, Head of Exhibitions & Collections at the Whitworth, adds:
“We are thrilled to present Barbara Walker’s first major survey. Her work, grounded in social justice and belonging, transforms and elevates Black presence both historically and in contemporary society. Walker’s deeply humane portraiture pushes the boundaries of representation, and we look forward to welcoming new audiences this autumn and winter.”
The exhibition will be on view from October 4, 2024, to January 26, 2025. For more information, please visit Whitworth.
