ABOUT BARRY COGSWELL
Barry was a painter, sculptor, and ceramicist. He lived and worked in Vancouver from 1969-2017.
Emigrating to Canada from London, England where he studied art and had a studio. In his later years he painted works which dealt with the ongoing loss of species due to the appalling and catastrophic destruction of the world’s rain forests.
Barry Cogswell has been deeply involved in the making of art since the early Nineteen sixties. During the Seventies and early Eighties he had some success as a sculptor, and in 1983 was invited to exhibit in Stuttgart Germany in an exhibition showcasing contemporary trends in Canadian installation art. For personal reasons he then quit exhibiting and began developing work which, for him, more accurately reflected the realities of the world at the end of the 20th century. He found a way of combining his horror at the insanity of the human destruction of the natural environment with his desire to return to the discipline of painting.
He chose to paint details of the canopy of the tropical rainforest with renderings of assumed museum specimens of highly threatened butterfly species from the area of New Guinea.
As he says “Suddenly there seemed a very valid reason to paint; to paint a subject that I care deeply about. To paint for myself . . . not for exhibitions . . . not for recognition . . . for myself alone.”
As you will see, these paintings make little reference to the current trends in contemporary western art. Instead “…they have been dealing, on a very personal level, with my deeply heartfelt frustration at the worldwide habitat destruction and resultant loss of animal and plant species.”
For a number of years he developed this work with no intention to exhibit. However he has recently realized that he can use these paintings to benefit the environment by contributing part of the proceeds of any sales to, or by having benefits for, such groups as the David Suzuki Foundation and other wildlife organizations.
VIEW CV
1939 Born – London, England
1969 Emigrated to Canada
1979 Became Canadian Citizen
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
Vancouver General Hospital
Canada Council Art Bank
Federal Government of Canada
City of Vancouver
City of West Vancouver
City of North Vancouver
City of Edmonton
Banff Center for the Arts
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2006
Inheritance/remnants
Ferry building gallery, West Vancouver.
2004
A Delicate Balance
The Mildred Erb Gallery, Nelson Museum, Nelson, B.C.
2001
Delicate Balance
Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver
1999
Recent Paintings
The Capilano College Art Gallery North Vancouver
1981
Brittany Landscape,
The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver.
Concurrent with Ethiopian Landscape
The Charles H.Scott Gallery, Vancouver
1976
Steel sculptures,
The Pender Street Gallery, Vancouver
1974
Alternate Space Exhibition,
The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2006
Artists Within Our CityScape
CityScape Art Gallery, North Vancouver
2004
Birdwing Butterflies and other threatened Wildlife
With students from five North Vancouver schools.
CityScape Gallery, North Vancouver
1984 – 1996
Occasional Group Exhibitions
Capilano College Art Gallery, North Vancouver
1983
Raume und Installationen, Kunstler aus Kanada
Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, West Germany
1980
The Winnipeg Perspective 1980 – sites,
The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
1978
Sculpture Today/Canada,
The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
1978
Three man show,
Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver
1977
‘From this point of view’,
The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
1977
Group Show,
Capilano College Gallery, North Vancouver
1977
Sculpture Society of B.C.,
Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby
1974
‘Scan’, Slide survey of B.C. art.
The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
SYMPOSIA:
1978
‘Commonwealth Sculpture Symposium’,
Edmonton, Alberta
1977
‘Wood Sculpture of the Americas’,
West Vancouver, B.C.
COMMISSIONS:
1980
‘Structured Dolmen 5’,
Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Alberta
1979
‘Structured Dolmen 2’,
Federal Taxation Data Center,
Surrey, B.C.
1975
‘Integrated Plane’,
North Vancouver Civic Center,
North Vancouver
1969
Mural,
Surrey Technical College,
Guildford, Surrey, England
AWARDS:
1981
Canada Council Project Cost Grant
1978
Elected Member, Royal Canadian Academy for the Arts
1975 – 1976
Canada Council Arts Grant B, for sculpture
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
2004
Retired from teaching
1975 – 2004
Instructor/ Drawing, sculpture, ceramics
Studio Art Department, Capilano College,
North Vancouver, B.C.
2000 – 2001
A one year sabbatical to produce Paintings for ‘Delicate Balance’ exhibition
1982 – 2000
Coordinator, Studio Art Department,
Capilano College,
1992 – 2001
Member representing Institutes and Colleges,
Fine Arts Overview team,
Curriculum Branch, Ministry of Education, Government of British Columbia
1998
A 6 month leave to teach and study at the Malaysian Institute of Art.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1992 – 1994
Divisional Chair, Visual & Performing Arts Division, Capilano College
1980
Instructor/ sculpture
Banff Summer School of the Arts, Banff, Alberta.
1970 – 1975
Sessional evening instructor/ pottery, sculpture
Vancouver School Board;
Vancouver School of Art; Burnaby Parks & Recreation; Vancouver City College, Langara;
1970 – 1975
Instructor/ drawing, sculpture,
Art Department,
Douglas College
Surrey, B.C.
1971
Instructor/ pottery Vancouver School of Art, Summer School
1965 – 1969
Instructor/pottery
Ceramic Department,
Farnham School of Art, (now: West Surrey college of Art and Design)
Farnham, England
A SUMMARY of RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:
2005
4 month research studying plant structures in Central America
1992 – present
Painter
1998
6-month sabbatical to study plant structures in Malaysia
1965 – 2004
Post secondary art teacher and administrator
1972 – 1985
Sculptor
1969 – 1975
Furniture Designer
1970 – 1974
Designer & producer – ceramic products
Just Fine Design, Sole Proprietor,
North Vancouver, B.C.
1965 – 1969
Designer & producer – ceramic products,
Cogswell Carruthers Design Associates, Partner
London, England
1964 – 1965
Traveled -North Africa and the Mediterranean.
1964
National Diploma of Design in Pottery;
1962
Intermediate Diploma in Fine Art;
Hammersmith School of Art, London, England