Uta Barth

Barth works in extended series over a number of years. These have generic titles which reveal the rationale behind her work. 'Ground', used since 1994, explores backgrounds without the figures normally associated with pictorial composition. 'Field', the title for many images of urban and natural environments since 1995, suggests an environment freed of its limits, and also recalls a term used in painting, such as 'colour field'. 'Nowhere Near', a title used since 1999, suggests the movement in and out of focus, conveying both distance and closeness, that characterizes Barth's work. It also suggests the 'in-between' place that is evoked by these extraordinary images that take us momentarily outside our habitual perception of the things around us.