Barbara Cleveland is an artist led collective directed by Frances Barrett, Kate Blackmore, Kelly Doley and Diana Baker Smith. Working together for ten years under the title of Brown Council, the collective transitioned to Barbara Cleveland in 2016, taking their name from the mythic feminist performance artist (Barbara Cleveland) – who they recovered from the margins of Australian art history – and has been a key feature in their work since 2010.
Barbara Cleveland’s projects are informed by queer and feminist methodologies that draw on the historical lineages of both the visual and performing arts. Their recent video and performance works are deliberations on history and memory as embodied action, as fiction, as mode of collaboration.
Selected solo exhibitions: Group Work, MOP, Sydney, 2011. Big Show, Locksmith Project Space, Sydney, 2010. Runaway, Chalk Horse, Sydney, 2009. Milkshake, Kings ARI, Melbourne, 2008.
Selected group exhibitions and screenings: Nothing Like Performance, Artspace, Sydney, Primavera 2011, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Tell Me Tell Me: Korean and Australian Art 1976-2011, National Art School Gallery, Sydney; and National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, 2011. The Ultimate Time Lapse Megamix, Federation Square, Melbourne, The 2nd Terminal Short Video Festival, Austin, USA, 2010. OK. Video Comedy, International Video Festival, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2009. Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece, 2008. Girl Parade, Australian Centre for Contemporary Photography, Sydney, 2007.
