Barry (1939, New York) is an architect, painter and poet, mainly a self-taught artist and Tai Chi Chuan practitioner inspired by the Taoist philosophy. In 1993, after meditating on Richard Wilhelm's translation of I Ching, he started to draw the 8 basic trigrams or Fu Hsi's kuas, which provide a form for painting his ideograms. In 2005, he finally arrived to a series of paintings that might be considered as a visual system. In 2009, the series included 80 square-shaped artworks, in 42" x 42" acrylic on canvas.
Each painting displays two forms. The main one is the quantity of lines of the ideogram (1, 2, 3 or 6), which is indicated by the number of alternating colored segments across two vertical lines, on the right and left borders of the paintings.
The second form is the internal one (between the lines), to which the artist added his own poetic elements and a very singular characteristic: all of them especially refer to yin energy (discontinous lines), which is physical openness and space.
In the trigrams, the discontinous lines are indicated by specific elements and forms. In the hexagrams, they're always where the background color can be seen: through circles, semi-circles, extended forms (like bars, gates, distorted drops), sharp vertex, rectangular lines, concav and convex extremes, several types of triangles, picks in slopes, or just irregular holes.
Kuas
Chien: formed by 3 yang lines: there's no element associated to a specific line.
Kun: formed by 3 yin lines: a labyrinth, a star and a circle.
Sun: formed by just 1 yin line at the base: the lower extreme of the central white figure is concav.
Tui: formed by just 1 yin line at the top: the three-color circular figure.
Chen: formed by just 1 yang line at the base: the exclamation sign takes up the central and upper thirds (yin).
Ken: formed by two yin lines (base and central ones): a vertical line takes up two thirds of the staggered structure, from the base.
Li: formed by just 1 yin nuclear line: a central circle.
K'an: formed by just 1 yang central line: there's two circular figures taking up lower and upper thirds (yin).
Colors
Each trigram is associated to a spatial orientation in the image. You can see the color Barry assigned to each one of them. In trigrams paintings, the color of the 1st segment in the vertical lines is that of the very trigram, and the 2nd segment is colored as the opposite trigram. Opposites are: N - S, E - W, NW - NE and SW - SE. In hexagrams, the color of the 1st segment is that of the inferior trigram, and the 2nd segment is colored as the opposite trigram.
Some hexagrams
Left: Chien (top) and Sun (bottom). Right: Kou Coupling (44).
"It must be checked by a brake of bronze.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune.
Even a lean pig
has it in him to rage around."
Kou's description
The lower semi-circle indicates the sign has one yin line, and it's the only one. The strange red figure seems to stand on two supports at the height of that line (the bases of the situation, organization or structure). If the line changes, acquiring correspondence may imply losing authority, to something or someone. Barry has drawn in Sun's background three zig-zag parallel lines representing the challenge that type of move means to the ruling order, especially if it involves someone or something just arriving or met in a superficial way.
Left: Sun (top) and Chien (bottom). Right: Hsiao Ch'u Taming Power of the Small (9).
"Return to the way.
How could there be blame in this!
Good fortune!"
Hsiao Ch'u's description
An openness above the line on the blue background horizon, seeming an inverted drop, indicates a discontinous line in the 4th position of the sign, and it's the only one of its kind. Other two similar figures at both sides seem to penetrate as waves at the base, turning into them: Sun is wind and its influence is doubled by the 1st line's change: it's much easier to get fused, go somewhere, towards someone, and object or situation.
Left: Chen (top) and Li (bottom). Right: Feng Fullness (55).
"Lines are coming, blessing and fame
draw near. Good fortune!"
Feng's description
The red central figure holds within a circle with a top border like a sharp arrow (or the figure has been extracted), which allows seeing the background purple color: lines 2nd, 5th and 6th are yin. Electric background strokes at the height of the 5th line indicate the effects of the move. Expect for changes of all kind, very hard to reject or avoid, unpleasant to the inner state, forms and relationships (although they'll bring other ways to move, distribute, express and function).
Left: Li (top) and Chen (bottom). Right: Shih Ho. Biting-through (21).
"Bites on dried gristly meat.
Receives metal arrows.
It furthers one to be mindful of difficulties
and to be persevering.
Good fortune!"
Shih Ho's description
The light blue central figure has two convex-shaped holes of straight angles that allow seeing the background colors: lines 2nd, 3rd and 5th are yin. At Li's base, small sharped figures point from both sides towards the representation of the continous (yang). They, along with thunders arriving from the four corners, symbolise forces impulsing the change of the 4th yang line. The move clears out and leads to get more... previous issues are removed and remain in the past, although something has been opened: we have to give time and be willing to host whatever emerges out from it...
Left: Kun (top) and Tui (bottom). Right: Lin Approach (19).
"Greathearted aproach.
Good fortune. No blame."
Lin's description
An internal circle-shaped area has been extracted from the central circle, sticked to the upper part. The empty space allows seeing the background colors: lines 3rd to 6th are yin. Part of a big yellow sphere at the top represents the final move in the sign: a developmental cycle begins, one of progressive earning, richness and increment, all of which will be kept inside of a mountain and retained for the own usage.
Left: Tui (top) and Sun (bottom). Right: Ts'ui Gahering Together (45).
"Gathering together amid sighs. Nothing that would go further.
Going is without blame. Slight humiliation."
Ts'ui's description
The sharped vertex of the central figure create triangular areas that allow seeing the background color: lines 4th and 5th are the only yang strokes. A yellow line from one extreme to the other one at the height of the 3rd line seems a mould containing the lake, which indicates the stroke's type of move. We find limitations, it's hard to access situations or people such as we were used to before, and it would be even convenient to remember that the resources are not endless: we're going to find a path of restrictions.
Left: Ken (top) and K'an (bottom). Right: Meng Youthful Folly (4).
"Childlike folly brings good fortune."
Meng's description
The clear central figure has an internal hole of ogival and rounded borders, and the base is ogival the same although concav, which allows seeing the background colors: only lines 2nd and 6th are yang. There's two small ligth blue ovals at the height of the 5th line, like two areas opened on Ken's background, the restraining mountain. When the nucleus inside of it changes, things start getting better and the restrictions decrease, finding more fluent relations also providing energy: we can now go through persisting problems although counting on a better inner mood.
Left: K'an (top) and Kun (bottom). Right: Chien The Impediment (39).
"Going leads to obstructions,
coming leads to union."
Chien's description
The dark central figure holds within a vertical rectangular form at the base, a central opening and a concav ending at the top (with a spheric visual effect), all elements that allow seeing the background color: the sign has only 2 yang lines in the 3rd and 5th positions. All of the figures included at both sides, on each line, represent inadvisable moves. At the height of the 4th line, a small brown rectangle is upon and covers two extensions, like two extended arms. The move is not just not removing the obstacles but also reduces our extent, reach and achievements.
Even counting on a wide meditative experience and Tai Chi Chuan practice, Barry thinks on his artworks as structured pieces, composed like a puzzle, which may be related to his architectural working activities in the past. About it, he has said:
"Going back to the 'Tao that can be explained is not the Tao' I don't wish my work to be explained. I wish it to be experienced"
Barry Fishman
The Heavens
I Ching series begins with two paintings inspired by the Ta Chuan: Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven. They distribute colors inside of a square-shaped design, the ones we'll see in all of the other paintings of the series. They're also the base for another later series (Heaven).
Left: Earlier Heaven. Right: Later Heaven.
After the first ones, the series introduces other four paintings which provide the frames and border patterns. Yin adds a gray frame, whereas Yang provides a golden one. Both paintings also include a single segment on the borders at both sides, whereas Greater Yin and Greater Yang are bigrams, so they display 2 segments on each border line, setting the alternating pattern according to the number of strokes. Visit the artist's website to see other hexagrams of the same series.
Contact & Sales
Barry's artworks are in private collections but you can see other series by following any of the titles below, or just by sending him a message:
Bagua. 8 trigrams. Acrylic on masonite (90" x 30"). 1993.
Bagua Dragon. 8 annual hexagrams. Acrylic on canvas (52" x 30"). 2014.
Dragon. 6 abstract Dragon's landscapes. Acrylic on lynen / canvas (min. 50" x 50"). 1992.
Heaven. 12 variations of 3 paintings eac. They represent motion from the staticts towards movement, through a transitional painting where the third painting absorbs the first one in the nucleus. It's based on Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven of I Ching series. Acrylic on masonite (18" x 18").