BIOGRAPHY

Tommy Barr is a Northern Ireland based painter, born in Dromore and with his studio in Banbridge. He has spent most of his working life in these small towns on the outskirts of the capital city, Belfast.

Tommy’s works rely on symbolism, reflecting the world around him via a distinctive and very personal form of abstraction. In discussing his work, Clodagh Doyle, Curator at the National Museum of Ireland, observes that “the land determines the people’s existence and shapes an identity linking them to the landscape. Tommy’s works further define our connection to our land, to our beliefs and to our identity”.

He is an internationally recognised artist who has exhibited extensively across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Tommy considers this travel an essential part of his practice finding inspiration in the lives of those he meets and the places they inhabit.

Works by Tommy are held in major public collections, including the national galleries of Jordan and Bulgaria, the French National Archive and the national museums of Ireland, Romania and Malta. He has presented illustrated talks on Irish art from the prehistoric to the contemporary. Tommy is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK) and an executive member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (NYC).