ARTIST BIO

Andrew Barr

Artist

Andrew Barr was born in Canada and studied Biology and Geology at university. He first started painting in the 70s after coming to Australia to begin a teaching career at various tertiary institutions. He now lives in Adelaide and is an Australian landscape painter.

His first painting exhibition was in Canberra in 1982 with material inspired after spending 12 days white water rafting down the Franklin River. Since then, he has been a regular exhibitor in Adelaide, Sydney and online.

He is part of a volunteer organisation called the Scientific Expedition Group (SEG) that does biological surveys in remote SA. During these surveys he sketches and photographs rare plants, animals, and geology in the remote parts of South Australia. He records these fast-disappearing images found in nature on his canvases, which he paints with oils in his studio.

The larger oil paintings have evolved from photographs to an impressive expressionistic style that engages his emotions and imagination for art. The range and complexity of his plant illustrations bear witness to his biology training and scientific eye.

Andrew is the founding chairman of the Circle of Art foundation Inc. that promotes all artists with exhibitions in the Fringe and SALA each year.

Andrew Barr painting at the Eaglehawk Restorative Reserve May 2021

‘It is the love of art that drives the creation of paintings of this unusual South Australian landscape that I have been fortunate to visit with SEG. For years I taught photography at UniSA but, with my paintings, I create something new that expresses my feelings about the place rather than just a snapshot. It is my ongoing desire to grow as a landscape painter.’