Press Release: Artist David Barr at Book Beat April 25th

Artist David Barr Talk & Book-Signing at Book Beat April 25th

Join us at Book Beat on Sunday, April 25th at 2:00 PM for a very special talk and book-signing with Detroit area artist, sculptor and author David Barr. This will be  a rare chance to meet and discuss the life work of this engaging and creative spirit, an afternoon filled with art, adventure, mystery and memory. The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park.

“What is significant about art, is what we share as human beings.” –David Barr

David Barr is an internationally recognized artist from the Detroit area. His most recognized work locally is his magnificent “Star Gate” sculpture situated at the front of Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Titled Transcending, this unique sculpture was financed through the Labor Union movement and is connected to Labor and its spirit of defiance and sacrifice.

David has recently been completing work on several books that collect his artistic and personal history. His large format art book Crossing Lines was published last year. It carries the reader to some of the world’s most intriguing, mysterious and remote locations. Filled with 180 color and black and white illustrations, the book narrates the various projects David Barr has been involved with over the past thirty years. His recent book Amercordo: (I Remember) American Style is a collection of recollections and observations from the mid-century American Midwest to Tuscany, the mid-west of Italy.

His work on the Four Corners Project, begun in 1976, spanned a full decade with installations in Greenland, Africa, Irian Jaya and Easter Island. Other geo-structurist works include Arctic Arc in Wales, Alaska, and Naukan, Russia, and Sunsweep on the US/Canada border at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, in Northwest Angle, Minnesota, and Point Roberts, Washington. Here, in his home state, David’s works can be seen at such locations as Chrysler World Headquarters (Revolution), Flint’s Bishop Airport, (Soaring), Detroit Zoo (Source), State of Michigan Historical Museum (Polaris Ring) and Meadowbrook Festival Grounds (Sunset Cube).

In 1988 David Barr was awarded the Governor’s Michigan Artist Award. In his acceptance speech he told the audience of his desire to create a Michigan Art Park – a place where artists could tell the story of our state in and through the fundamental materials of nature. That dream has become a reality in 1995 with the Michigan Legacy Art Park , located within the boundaries of Crystal Mountain on M-115 between Cadillac and Benzonia near Thompsonville.

David Barr is a graduate of Wayne State University and recipient of the WSU Distinguished Alumni Award. He served on the faculty of Macomb Community College and has received awards, including citations from the Arts Foundation of Michigan and Citizens Concerned for the Arts in Michigan. His work can also be seen at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Arts, Fort Lauderdale Museum, Portland Art Museum, Tel Aviv Museum and the University of Michigan.