Pennina Barnett
Curriculum Vitae
Education and Qualifications
Art Foundation, Brighton Polytechnic
B.A. (Hons) Fine Art, University of Leeds, UK
M.A. Visual Culture, with Distinction, Middlesex University, UK
Present Post
Senior Lecturer, Visual Arts Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London. (Critical Studies Course Leader for BA Textiles; also contributing to MA and Ph.D. Programmes in Visual Arts.)
Previous Posts
Research Project: artists' training needs. For Yorkshire Arts Association, Bradford.
Researcher, Yorkshire TV, Leeds. News and arts programmes.
P/T Lecturer, Department of Adult & Continuing Education, University of Leeds.
Crafts Officer, Visual Arts Department, North West Arts Association, Manchester (regional arts funding).
Crafts Assistant, Visual Arts Department, Yorkshire Arts Association, Bradford, (regional arts funding).
Independent Curator
Lead Curator, Textures of Memory: the poetics of cloth, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, 1998-2000. Working collaboratively Pamela Johnson & Angel Row Gallery. Self-initiated project, 7 artists: Polly Binns, Maxine Bristow, Caroline Broadhead, Alicia Felberbaum, Marianne Ryan, Verdi Yahooda, Anne Wilson.
4 UK venues, September 1999 - November 2000: Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (initiating gallery); Pitshanger Manor & Gallery, London; Piece Hall, Halifax; Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham. (Catalogue essay listed under Publications)
Invited Exhibition Advisor, Under Construction: Exploring Process in Contemporary Textiles, Crafts Council Gallery, London, 1996. (Collaborative work with Pamela Johnson). 7 artists: Rushton Aust, Tadek Beutlich, Polly Binns, Michael Brennand-Wood, Caroline Broadhead, Sally Freshwater, Clio Padovani.
Crafts Council touring exhibition. 4 venues: shown at Crafts Council Gallery, London, and tour to City Art Gallery, Leicester; James Hockey Gallery, Surrey Institute of Art and Design; University of Brighton Gallery.(1996-7)
Independent (solo) curator, The Subversive Stitch, Cornerhouse, Manchester 1987-1989. Major touring exhibition - 23 artists, including Sam Ainsley, Caroline Broadhead, Jo Stockham, Sharon Kivland, Anne Lydiat. Self-initiated project, working with Cornerhouse.
6 venues: Cornerhouse, Manchester; Shipley Art Gallery, Tyne and Wear Museums Service, Gateshead; Watermans Art Centre, Brentford; Cooper Art Gallery, Barnsley; City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth; Wolverhampton Art Gallery. (catalogue essay listed under Publications)
Featured on Kaleidoscope and Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4; reviews include Crafts, Womens Art magazine (several issues); Independent on Sunday (Germaine Greer).
Invited (co-) curator, Craft Matters: three attitudes to contemporary craft: John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, 1985 Major touring exhibition - 9 venues: including: John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton; Cooper Art Gallery, Barnsley; Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead; Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth Arts Centre, Rochdale Art Gallery; Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston; James Hockey Gallery, West Surrey college of Art and Design.
3 curators: each with a brief to select work reflecting current debates about contemporary craft. My section explored issues of gender in relation to textiles.
Exhibition selector
Invited Co-selector: New Art in Yorkshire exhibition at St Paul's Gallery, Leeds, University & Leeds Polytechnic galleries, and Leeds City Art Galleries. Large open submission exhibition of Yorkshire artists, 1987.
Invited Co-selector Sheffield Open Art Exhibition, Mappin Art Gallery. Large open submission exhibition of work from artists in Sheffield, 1986.
Conference Papers (selected)
2000
'Enfolded Identities' paper for Visual Culture in a Changing Society: Britain 1940-2000, University of Northumbria, July 2000.
1998
'Making, Materiality and Memory', paper given at Ideas in the Making: practice in theory, University of East Anglia.
'Dangerous Fragility - decoration, repetition and obsession in the work of Cathy de Monchaux,' paper given at To Practice makes Perfect, symposium on skill in contemporary visual arts, Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham/ Angel Row Gallery.
'"The always dark of new beginnings,"The Products of Chohreh Feyzdjou - (A kind of elegy).' Paper presented at Death and its Concepts Conference, Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Leeds.
1996
'A Passage to the Possible: Reflections on Loss and Exile in the Product of Chohreh Feyzdjou,' paper presented at Portrait of the Artist as a Jewish Woman: Gender, Difference and Identities in the work of Jewish Women Artists conference, Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Leeds.
'Concealed Light: The Products of Chohreh Feyzdjou', paper presented at Rubies and Rebels Symposium, Barbican Centre, London.
1995
'The Oriental Carpet as Sign and Text: Liberty, Habitat, Ikea and the Marketing of the Oriental rug', paper presented at Ars Textrina International Textiles Conference, University of Leeds.
1993
'Mapping Identities - Visual Artists and the Representation of Cultural Identities and Difference in the UK,' Hungarian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Miskolc, Hungary.(Visit made with aid of British Council grant).
1992
'Feminist Criticism in the Curriculum,' at Feminist Art Criticism in the 1990's, Morley College, London. Conference organised by Women Artists' Slide Library.
1986
'An appropriate activity for Women', Women Working in Design, Conference, Central School of Art and Design, London, with Design History Society.
1983
Contemporary British Artists Working in Textiles: a feminist analysis, paper based on BA thesis, presented at Women Working in Textiles conference, Battersea Arts Centre.
Invited Speaker: Gallery Symposia, Lectures & Events
2000
Memory and Materiality, panel discussion, Pitshanger Manor and Gallery, London, Textures of Memory exhibition.
1999
Gallery talk, Alighiero e Boetti, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.
1998
Gallery talk, Loose Threads exhibition, Serpentine Gallery, London.
1997
Textile Matters, symposium on contemporary textile art, The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester.
'La Boutique,' Camden Arts Centre, talk given about Chohreh Feyzdjou's work in Parisien(ne)s exhibition at Camden Arts Centre, London.
1996
Colloque in memory of Chohreh Feyzdjou, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris.
Women's Own - Gender and Identity in Contemporary Tapestry, panel discussion, Barbican Centre. Organised to coincide with Woven Image, Contemporary British Tapestry, Concourse Gallery, Barbican Centre Touring exhibition.
1995
Presentation,Considering Craft Criticism seminar, Camden Art Centre, London.
1988
Lectures and symposia for The Subversive Stitch exhibition, Cornerhouse, Manchester, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead.
'Women & Textiles,' lecture at Worcester City Art Gallery. Panel discussion, The New Spirit of Craft and Design, Wolverhampton City Art Gallery
1987
'In conversation with artist Sam Ainsley', public event organised during exhibition Why I see Red - Sam Ainsley, Leeds City Art Gallery.
1986
Craft Matters lecture, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston.
Textiles Study Day, associated with Craft Matters exhibition, West Surrey College of Art and Design.
Textiles Study Day, City Museum and Art Gallery, Peterborough.
Public Service
1996
Advisor,
London Arts Board,
Visual Arts, Crafts and Photography Exhibitions and Events Funding programmes.
Research Grants
2002
The Leverhulme Trust
1996
Goldsmiths College
1993
British Council