Maria Barnas

Maria Barnas (1973, Hoorn, The Netherlands) is a Dutch artist, poet and writer, working at the intersection of image and language. In the context of the power dynamics underlaying both, she researches the different modi operandi of translation - be it between different languages or between language and image - and its implications. Other topics of interest include the appropriation of language and the pursuit of new languages. Hereby, she keeps in mind the human body and the physical experience of language and mental processes. Working in the space of ambiguity, between what is and is not, she creates objects and performances that put the human body at its centre in an attempt to grasp and contain the bewildering experience of reality.

Barnas studied at the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam and was resident at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam and had several other residencies in Rome, Brasil and Paris. In 2015 Barnas won the Elisabeth van Thuringen Project prize, in 2008 she was awarded the Cees Buddingh’ Prize for her first collection of poetry 'Twee Zonnen' (2003) and 'Jaja de oerknal' (2013) was awarded with the Anna Bijn prize in 2014.
 
Her solo exhibitions include shows at the Kröller-Möller Museum, Otterloo (NL) (2018), the Nationaal Glasmuseum Leerdam (2017-18), Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2018 & 2016), De Hallen Haarlem (2017), MAMAM, Recife (2011). She also had several group exhibitions such as: Cobra Museum (2017), De Appel Arts Centre (2016), Van Gogh Museum (2015), Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (2014), Meinblau, Berlin (2014), Castrum Peregrini, Amsterdam (2013), Witte de With, Rotterdam (2013), Nederlands Uitvaartmuseum, Amsterdam (2012).