ALVARO BARRINGTON

Early Years

Alvaro Barrington was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1983 to a Grenadian mother and a Haitian father. He spent the first eight years of his life living with his grandmother in Grenada, before moving to Brooklyn, New York City. He has said that he knew he wanted to be an artist, although he didn’t make the connection that the way he customised clothes for other kids in his neighbourhood was actually making art. He studied at Hunter College in Manhattan, self-funding his education, and then moved to London in 2017 to study at the Slade. His graduate show immediately attracted attention and not long afterwards he was offered his first solo show at MoMA PS1 in New York City.

Alvaro Barrington: Artworks

Alvaro Barrington’s thoughtful visual language has its roots in the varied and interconnected cultures in which he has lived. Grenadian influences shine through via yarn (referencing his aunts’ sewing), burlap fabric that would have carried cacao and hibiscus flowers. Other works reference his teenage life in Brooklyn and love of hip hop and jazz.

Spanning painting, sculpture and textiles, Barrington’s work takes inspiration from a diverse range of sources, from Carnival to Abstract Expressionism. His textural paintings are often embellished with yarn , and his pieces are framed in hand-built surrounds made from old crates, corrugated iron and other non-traditional materials.

• In 2024, Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries were home to Barrington’s installation Grace, which explored ideas of identity and belonging and honoured his sister, mother and grandmother. Combining memories of the rain hammering the tin roof of his gran’s Caribbean home to the spirit of Carnival, Grace was bright and loud. “Grace is the constant reimagining of Black culture and aspirational attitude under foreign conditions,” Barrington said at the time.
• Barrington’s 2026 London exhibition 92–01 “In Livin Color” considered the impact of the 1980s and 1990s crack cocaine epidemic in the US on Black culture (including music and fashion). Alongside yarn paintings, he also showed installations of BMX bikes and handbags containing bricks of white powder.
• Barrington brought an entire lorry to the 2026 Venice Biennale: Labor Day Parade ’91 was a huge pink truck, wrapped in tapestries and hiding a sculptural installation inside. “i thought paintings needed to expand past a white wall....painting need to return to its tradition of being an experience you felt with your body,” he said [sic] on Instagram at the time.

Alvaro Barrington: Select Exhibitions

Select Solo Exhibitions

• Alvaro Barrington, Limbo Museum, Accra (2026)
• 92–01 “In Livin Color”, Emalin, London (2026)
• Soul to Seoul, Thaddaeus Ropac, Seoul (2025)
• Uncle A/Eat the Cake, San Bastiaun Chapel, Zuoz (2025)
• Back Home / I am... I said, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2025)
• Grace, Tate Britain, London (2024)
• Island Life, Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York City (2024)
• Grandma’s Land, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2023)
• Human Nature, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2023)
• Oh, Sandy? Sandy, Sandy, Karma, New York City (2023)
• La vie en rose, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (2022)
• Garvey 2: THE REUP, Corvi-Mora, London (2022)
• Spider the Pig Pig the Spider, South London Gallery, London, UK
• Garvey 1: Birth—The Quiet Storm, Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York City (2021)
• Wave your Flags, Sadie Coles and the Tabernacle, London (2021)
• You don’t do it for the man, men never notice. You just do it for yourself, you’re the fucking coldest, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (2021)
• Garvey 2—they eyes were watching God, Corvi-Mora, London (2020)
• Garvey: Sex Love Nurturing Famalay, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2019)
• A Taste of Chocolate, Thaddaeus Ropac, London (2018)
• Alvaro Barrington, MoMA PS1, New York City (2017)

Select Group Exhibitions

• Analog, Anton Kern Gallery, New York City (2026)
• Venice Biennale 2026
• Football City, Art United, North Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Manchester (2025)
• What are you looking for?, Societe Berlin (2025)
• Alvaro Barrington and Chico da Silva, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2024)
• One for sorrow, two for joy, Emalin, London (2024)
• The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Baltimore Museum of Art (2023) (and touring)
• Repeater, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2022)
• 30 Years in Paris, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (2021)
• 100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Centre, New York City (2020)
• Artists I Steal From, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London (2019)
• Go To Heaven, 130 E Flagler Street, Miami (2019)
• Natura Naturans, Mendes Wood DM, New York City (2018)

Further Reading

• Alvaro Barrington’s Instagram
• BBC interview from 2024
• Interview in the Guardian from 2024

Alvaro Barrington FAQs

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