{{Short description|Canadian textile artist}} '''Barb Hunt''' is a multidisciplinary textile artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bclocalnews.com/entertainment/first-north-island-college-artist-talk-series-of-2019-features-barb-hunt/|title=First North Island College Artist Talk Series of 2019 features Barb Hunt|last=Entertainment|date=2019-01-15|website=BC Local News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-30}}</ref> Her art has contrasted knitting as a warming, protective art, against the violence of war.<ref name="Hunt, Barb. 2001">{{Cite book|title=Barb Hunt.|last=Hunt, Barb.|date=2001|publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario|others=Bradley, Jessica., Art Gallery of Ontario.|isbn=1-894243-20-X|location=[Toronto]|oclc=57447287}}</ref> Through her tactile work, Hunt explores domesticity, mourning rituals, the natural world, and the colour pink.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pink is Everywhere: First Friday Lecture by Barb Hunt |url=https://vimeo.com/338342943 |website=Vimeo |date=24 May 2019 |publisher=Mentoring Artists for Women's Art |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>

A feminist and craftivist, Hunt uses materials, processes, and colours traditionally associated with femininity to bring new context and care to objects of war and adds legitimacy to tasks associated with women's work.<ref name="behiery">{{cite magazine |last=Behiery |first=Valerie |date=2011 |title=A Heartfelt Art |url= |magazine=Embroidery |location=UK |publisher=The Embroiderer's Guild |access-date=}}</ref><ref name="Perron">{{cite web |last1=Perron |first1=Mireille |title=The Art of Camouflage |url=http://www.stride.ab.ca/arc/archive_2007/hunt_maloney_cheney_main/hunt_maloney_cheney.html#artistbio |website=Stride Gallery |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>

== Career == A core focus of Hunt's practice has been the devastation of war<ref name="Hunt, Barb. 2001"/> and creating works from camouflage army uniforms.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Toll : Barb Hunt|last=Johnson|first=Bruce|publisher=The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery|year=2010|isbn=9780986745812|location=St. John, Newfoundland & Labrador}}</ref> Hunt's 1998–2010 ''antipersonnel'' series documented the proliferation of landmines through hand knitting replicas in various shades of pink yarn. The work draws on the history of knitting as caring for the body and the use of knitting to create bandages for soldiers. In this context knitting becomes a metaphor for recuperation, protection, and healing, creating a contrast between the materials and the destructive subject matter.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chaney|first1=Candace|title=Gallery Hop: Amid resurgence of knitting, artists explore yarn's possibilities|url=http://www.kentucky.com/2011/02/18/1638929/amid-resurgence-of-knitting-artists.html|website=LexGo/kentucky.com|access-date=23 June 2015|date=February 18, 2011}}</ref> The work was included in the group exhibition, ''Museopathy'', at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario, and later in a solo show named antipersonnel at the Art Gallery of Ontario.<ref>Art Gallery of Ontario, http://www.ago.net/barb-hunt</ref> Her work included in the exhibition ''Unpacking the Living Room (''pieces from two separate series titled ''antipersonnel'' and ''Aprons)'' serves as a material protest against the use of antipersonnel landmines. As Hunt describes "I use these associations to contradict the abuse of power and the use of violence by transforming a destructive object into one that can do no harm."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unpackingthelivingroommsvu.ca/artists/barb-hunt/|title=Unpacking The Living Room|website=www.unpackingthelivingroommsvu.ca|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref>

In ''Toll'', her 2011 solo show at The Rooms in St. John's, Newfoundland, she created large installations using camouflage fabric as a central theme and material.<ref name=":0" />

Hunt's ''Mourning'' series was a textile-based exploration of the relationships between death, mourning, gender and recuperation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aceart.org/critical-distance-7#more-438|title=Critical Distance - Mourning: Barb Hunt|last=Spence|first=Sheila|date=1999|website=www.aceart.org|language=en|access-date=2017-02-22|archive-date=2017-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222111630/http://www.aceart.org/critical-distance-7#more-438|url-status=dead}}</ref> In her ''Steel Dresses'' series, Hunt made metal dresses from cold-rolled steel sheets to create forms resembling textile patterns as well as nature, and forms traditionally associated with women.<ref name="behiery" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Cracking the Vault |url=https://www.cbc.ca/nl/features/vault/one.html |website=CBC Newfoundland & Labrador |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>

Hunt has had solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery<ref name=":0" /> and at Exeter and Bath galleries in the UK.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Barb Hunt - artist: installation, textiles|url=http://www.barbhunt.com/|access-date=2020-01-30|website=www.barbhunt.com}}</ref> Her work has been included in group exhibitions and biennials both national and international. She has also completed residencies throughout Canada, as well as Paris<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Residencies {{!}} The Canada Council for the Arts|url=http://canadacouncil.ca/council/grants/find-a-grant/grants/international-residencies|access-date=2016-03-05|website=canadacouncil.ca|archive-date=2016-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311014355/http://canadacouncil.ca/council/grants/find-a-grant/grants/international-residencies|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Ireland.

Hunt has received several awards including the VANL-CARFAC Endurance Award,<ref>{{cite web |title=Winners of the Past EVA Awards |url=http://vanl-carfac.com/eva-awards/winners-of-the-past-eva-awards/ |website=Visual Arts Newfoundland and Labrador |date=26 June 2008 |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref> The President's Award for Outstanding Research<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Recipients |url=https://www.mun.ca/honours/awards/internal/paor/paor-list.php |website=Memorial University of Newfoundland |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref> from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the Canada Council York Wilson Purchase Award.<ref name="yorkwilson">{{cite web |title=York Wilson Endowment Award |url=https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/prizes/york-wilson-endowment-award |website=Canada Council for The Arts |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>

==Permanent collections== Hunt's art is in many major public collections, including:

* Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Canada Council York Wilson Purchase Award, Kingston, ON Canada<ref name="yorkwilson" /> * Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON<ref>{{cite web|title=small dresses|url=https://artbank.ca/art-piece/small-dresses-94_5-0246?author=Hunt%20Barbara&name=small%20dresses&year=1994#f:@category_e=Sculpture|url-status=live|access-date=31 May 2021|website=Canada Council Art Bank|publisher=Canada Council for the Arts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213938/https://artbank.ca/art-piece/small-dresses-94_5-0246?author=Hunt%20Barbara&name=small%20dresses&year=1994 |archive-date=2021-06-02 }}</ref> * Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland * Fondazione Benetton, Italy * Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, St. John's, NL * Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON<ref name=":1" /> * Winnipeg Art Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.wag.ca/art/collections/artwork/g-96-13-root-dress-barb-hunt/?from=art-search | title=Canadian Art &#124; Winnipeg Art Gallery | access-date=2021-05-31 | archive-date=2021-06-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602220634/https://www.wag.ca/art/collections/artwork/g-96-13-root-dress-barb-hunt/?from=art-search | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Selected bibliography== Since 2001, international journals/books that have discussed Hunt's work include:

*Susan Cahill, "The Elsewhere War: Art, Embodiment, and the Spaces of Military Engagement," Journal of Canadian Studies, Spring 2018. *Black, Anthea and Nicole Burisch. "Craft Hard, Die Free: Radical Curatorial Strategies for Craft in Unruly Spaces." Maria Elena Buszek, ed. Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2011; and in Glenn Adamson, ed. The Craft Reader. New York: Berg, 2010. *McElroy, Gil. Built with a String: Barb Hunt and Knitting in Newfoundland and Labrador. Craft Year, 2007. Accessed February 2, 2020. *Perron, Mirielle. "The Art of Camouflage, A Female Touch: Exploring tactility in the work of Janice Wright Cheney, Barb Hunt and Sarah Maloney." Paula Gustafson, ed. Craft Perception and Practice 3. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2008. *Kirsty Robertson, "Capturing the Movement: Affect, Anti-War Art and Activism." Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Vol. 34, No. 6, Fall 2006, 27–30. *Magliaro, Joseph and Shu Hung, eds. By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. *Wignall, Alice. "This Mortal Toil." ''The Guardian''. October 4, 2005.

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.barbhunt.ca Official web site]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Barb}} Category:21st-century Canadian textile artists Category:Artists from Newfoundland and Labrador Category:People from Corner Brook Category:Living people Category:Interdisciplinary artists Category:Concordia University alumni Category:University of Manitoba alumni Category:21st-century Canadian women textile artists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:People in knitting