"After more than 35 years involvement in the art world, I am now rarely enthused by the bulk of the thousands of paintings I see each year. Perhaps I have just become staid. However, the 'wow' factor returned in April this year when I viewed Bob Barron's solo show at the Mall Galleries, London. He makes extraordinary use of discarded packaging material from local supermarkets to produce collages that are elegant and alluring. Although in concept relatively simple, they resonate pulchritude and the muted palette imparts an air of restfulness...
He obviously has a remarkable eye for what is aesthetically right, each completed work being a 'sophisticated', low-toned abstract, with many possessing something of a Japanese aura."
"I have known and marvelled at Bob Barron's work since 1991...I was struck by his obvious gifts as an imagemaker, a colourist, and as a technician willing to experiment with the materials of painting and extend his own powers of expression through innovation. But, more than this, I was struck by the integrity of the man himself: the seriousness of purpose, the unwillingness to compromise in his search for his own unique voice, all tempered with flashes of humour and, I suspect, a deep self-knowledge.
Over the past five years I have followed closely his progress through the remarkable semi-abstract collages with his extraordinary use of corrugated paper and have waited expectantly to see where this balancing act between imagemaking and shape-making, between the figurative and the abstract, would lead.
When I first heard of the 'Traces' series I was naturally very excited by the concept, by its humanity and by its historical associations. But I was, I confess, confused as to its place in his oeuvre as a whole. That is, until I saw them.
Nothing I had imagined prepared me for the startling impact of the pictures themselves. Each radically different, each still a part of a whole, each utterly beautiful.
The series as a whole, the one picture in a hundred parts, is in my view a major achievement, intellectually, aesthetically and morally. In it, humanity speaks to humanity in its oldest language."
"Bob Barron's most recent work succeeds in imprinting itself upon both the conscious and unconscious mind through intense, focussed confrontation. The aesthetic and emotional intensity of this experience convinces the present writer that Barron has achieved the most sustained and consistent expression of artistic imagination of his career so far. This painter is not a member of the so-called chattering classes; in other words it is his wish that his work alone will speak into the sensibility of those who behold it...
Nevertheless in an era of the cultural quick-fix and in anticipation of the instant gratification of feeling, some precautionary words may be of use. They may help the beholder to pause, wait and work on him or herself so that the encounter can take place. Those prepared to put the brakes upon themselves, and who can pause in their life-trajectories may know the reward of experiencing - and even perhaps living with this serious painting."
'Original, stimulating and thoughtful work. Very attractive and moving'
'Very, very exciting!'
'Love the simple sophistication'
'Wonderful colours - a great feeling of peace'
'Beautiful colour, textures, composition, themes - Thank you!'
'Deserves a longer look/ lovely levels'
'Thank you for an extraordinary experience - we were delighted'
