A Life in Objects

A Life in Objects exhibits almost fifty years of work by the American potter Rob Barnard. These objects, from his early studies in Japan in the mid '70s to the present all propose that pottery, regardless of its size or function, can eloquently express humankind's deepest desire to comprehend its own existence. A Life in Objects is a companion to Barnard's earlier book, A Search for Relevance, which documents his intellectual investigations into how pottery is manifestly capable of confronting the intricate and unpredictable nature of human existence throughout history. During these many years of writing, publishing and exhibiting Barnard was simultaneously absorbed in forming expressive objects full of emotional content like the ones presented here. They all are focused on this eternally familiar mystery. A Life in Objects enables us to observe the fifty years of Barnard's personal search for relevance through objects which both question and celebrate the mysteries of Life.   Rob Barn