Carlos Barrios
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
I was born on June 26th 1966 in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America. My father was an archaeologist and mother a home maker who also worked in business. I had a childhood filled with visits to magical ancient places, pyramids and temples. As a child art was an important discovery, it came to me for the first time in a stone belonging to an ancient city. I was on an excavation site wondering around amongst fragments of ceramic, obsidian and stone. I picked up one small stone, rectangular in shape, and as I looked into it I saw many figures. I kept it, and could observe it for hours, this fragment seemed to contain a film of moving and changing figures.
At about six years of age I discovered some pots of paint and brushes in my father’s workshop. As I moved the paint around with the brushes through my imagination I could see many things, I allowed my hand to follow and trace them. One afternoon I planned a surprise for my parents whilst they were not around I created a large mural on a long corridor wall and was very proud of my achievement. On their return I was ordered to scrub the wall until it was spotless. I then tried collage using pictures and textures cut from encyclopaedias and precious books, I was again reprimanded for my bad behaviour. I was not discouraged as my desire to create pictures of the world I experienced was so strong. I began to keep drawing books where I recorded my experiences privately.
My father was a collector of art and artefacts, I would stare into them and found myself transported to other dimensions, times and spaces. Everything was talking to me especially clouds and shadows, they seemed to describe a space between reality and fantasy, filled with adventures.
The civil war began when I was ten and lasted over ten years. In this war time madness and normality coexisted. Many nights the electricity was cut and in the candle lit spaces of the house I saw creatures moving and watching us, so I would paint and draw them. As I worked I would watch my hand moving, creating the figures and creatures, I was the onlooker, the witness to this seemingly automatic unfolding of pictures, visual descriptions.
From those moments until now, many years have brought new experiences, adventures, travels, people, places. Some moments filled to overflowing with inspiration and others empty, devoid of sensation. The best moments are those in connection with a pencil or a brush dancing over a piece of paper or canvas. Art makes me aware of different levels of existence within the universe, sometimes revealing many questions and other times great understandings.
ARTIST'S REASON FOR PARTICIPATING
I choose to be in this because I was asked and I like the animals, rocks,plants, rivers and everything else that make me feel.
Carlos at Robertson studio 2012. Andrew Ford music.
Carlos Artichoke Cafe Painting performance Time Lapsed painting 2008
sales enquires
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1214 HIGH ST. ARMADALE VIC 3143
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general enquiries
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PAST EXHIBITIONS AND PRIZES
2014-Blue horse; group show in Korea.
-Wombat Hollow group show. southern highlands Australia.
2013-Solo show at Paddington Maunsell wickes gallery. -group show auto portrait at eccosse gallery Exeter NSW -Group show at El Salvador Central America. -group show at mudgge -finalist for the fisher ghost art prize. -assisting John Olsen in a large mural project. -group show at the New England gallery
2012-Solo exhibition at Maunsell wickes gallery (Paddington) -Ceramic show at Paddington -group show in San Salvador, El Salvador -Finalist for the fisher ghost art prize. -Group show at the southern highlands -group show at the New England gallery -solo show at the goulburn regional gallery
2 0 1 1-Plein Air Art Prize Parliament House, finalist
2 0 1 0-Modern Two-dimensional Liverpool City Art Prize for drawing, first prize
Adelaide Perry Prize for drawing, finalist
Permanent exhibition, Maunsell Wickes Barry Stern Galleries, Paddington
Group exhibition, Maunsell Wickes Barry Stern Galleries, Paddington
memories, pasion y lineas, solo exhibition, Loft gallery, Bowral
Plein Air Art Prize Parliament House, finalist
2 0 0 9-Figures & Lines, solo exhibition, Gallery Bodalla, Bodalla
Salon de Petits Tableaux, group exhibition, The Milk Factory, Bowral
Creating the Body, group exhibition at Perl Contemporary Art, Vaucluse
Modern Two – dimensional Liverpool City Art Prize
Plein Air Art Prize Parliament House, finalist
In to the Void, solo exhibition, Painter's Gallery, Mona Vale
Reflections of Australia group exhibition in Zhengzhou, Henan, China
2 0 0 8-The Joy to Be Here, solo exhibition, Bowral, Southern Highlands
Trazos, solo exhibition in El Salvador
Treasure of Seeds, International group exhibition, Jenolan Caves, NSW
Painting donation to Opera Australia Gala Dinner Fundraising Event
Mosman 2008 Group Exhibition
artwork purchased for Mosman Art Gallery Collection
Homanage a Neruda, Marrickville
Group exhibition Washington DC
Works exhibited at Miami Art Fair
2 0 0 7-Blake Prize Finalist with 'Compassion' at National School of Art
Solo exhibition at Painter's Gallery Mona Vale
2 0 0 6-Urban familia – solo exhibition at Wallspace Gallery Sydney
Personajes – solo exhibition at La Pinacoteca San Salvador
Blake Prize Finalist with 'Flying Angel' at National School of Art
Sulman Prize Finalist with "Feeding Time" Art Gallery of NSW
2 0 0 5-Sulman Prize Finalist with "Pushing the Pram" Art Gallery of NSW
DESNUDOS, ANGELES I ESPIRITUS a solo exhibition, Bondi Pavilion
2 0 0 3-Three Ways, Curtis Gallery, Balmain
The Neglected Heart of Heaven, Bondi
Five Standard Drinks, Kellman Winery, Hunter Valley
Transiciones, Fairfield Museum, Fairfield
Death the Last Tabou, Australian Museum
UJANG
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From Forest Fire to Forest Freedom
In July 2010, a fragile infant orangutan named Ujang was rescued from captivity in the Talak district of Ketapang, West Kalimantan. Aged between one and two years old, Ujang was in poor condition—his skin pale, his belly bloated, and his appetite gone. For nearly nine months, he had been kept as a pet and fed a diet of rice and cassava, having rejected fruit and milk. His owner claimed to have found him during a forest fire, a common and tragic backdrop to orangutan rescues.
The initial attempt to rescue Ujang was delayed when the man demanded payment for “caring” for the infant. With the help of the Forestry Department (BKSDA) and Flora and Fauna International (FFI), the team returned the next day, explained the law, and finally brought Ujang to safety.
On arrival at International Animal Rescue’s Centre in Ketapang, he was given urgent veterinary attention. His weight was just 6.3 kg and his temperature low. He was severely stressed and refused food, so the team allowed him to fast while beginning medical evaluations.
Despite a difficult start, Ujang slowly began to heal—physically and emotionally. In forest school, he learned the skills of a wild orangutan: how to climb, forage, and nest. His curiosity and resilience grew with each step.
In February 2020, Ujang was released into Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR), alongside Monti, Anggun, Merah, and Utat. From the smoke-filled remnants of a forest to freedom in the treetops, Ujang’s story is a remarkable journey of survival and renewal.