Brumfield Gallery
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    • Yuji Hiratsuka
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    • Angela Purviance
    • Keaney Rathbun
    • Keith Schneider
    • Luba Sharapan
    • Richard Shorten
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    • Maggie Taylor
    • Mary Alayne Thomas
    • James Tisdale
    • Cary Weigand
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    • Aggie Zed
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Micheal Barnes: The Steindruck München Series
​October 10 - November 8
Open: Thursday - Sunday, 11am - 4pm
& by appointment
Book a Private Viewing
Second Saturday Art Walk:
October 10, 11am - 8pm
The Steindruck München Series

A Delicate Balance

$900.00

A Morning Disturbance

$900.00

Some Things Are Better Forgotten

$900.00

Breaking of Stones

$900.00

Decisive Action (Mann gegen Bär)

$900.00

Im Garten

$900.00

On the Road To Bremen

$900.00

The Trouble with Gravity

$900.00
This recent series of lithographic prints created by Michael Barnes was begun during a residency at the Lithografiewerkstatt Steindruck München studio in the Münchner Künstlerhaus, Munich, Germany in June and July of 2018.  The pieces began as the key black and white images and were developed in color over the following two years and completed in September 2020.  Each piece was printed in a limited edition of 12 and measure approximately 20” x 17” in size.
​
The imagery of this series explores ongoing themes in Barnes’ work, which addresses, in part, the destructive nature and absurdities that so readily prevail for humankind, along with themes of mortality, morality, and the philosophical questions of existence in general.  The images are concerned with environment, social decay leaning towards an inward and isolated path, and cynicism about the historical evolution of so-called civilization and its effects upon the world and its inhabitants.  The two-month period of working in the Altstadt of Munich brought new inspiration to this series.  Daily walks through the city, it’s museums, and the beautiful Englisher Garten evoked images of daily life experiences and exploration and inevitably seeped into the imagery that he was developing during this period.  

Additionally, a new theme emerged during this time exploring traditional folk lore.  This was inspired by the stories and images of the Brothers Grimm, which came about during a trip into the Alps which passed through the small town of Oberammergau. In this town many of the houses are painted with murals (Lüftlmalerei) of traditional folk lore, scenes of Bavarian life and religious traditions.  On one of the homes was painted the mural of the four animals from Brothers Grimm’s “The Town Musicians of Bremen”.  The animals are standing on each other’s backs in the famous scene where they all make their various calls and scare robbers from farmhouse that was encounter on their path to Bremen.  This encounter led Barnes to further explore these tales and in which he found many parallel themes to his own work.  In Barnes’ interpretation, “On the Road to Bremen” he embellishes the travels of the four animals, who stop to take a picnic outside of the farmhouse just after they have just scared off the robbers, (the town musician animals creatively altered in Barnes’ piece to reflect his own imagination and world of creatures).  These tales, especially many of the older and original versions speak to many elements close to Barnes’s work in dealing with human nature and the ethics of life and morality, often in a rather dark manner.  In this piece, he notes the point that unexpected experiences may happen on any life journey that may lead to a change in direction – in the case of the story, the animals, who all met originally by chance and shared life conditions, end up settling peacefully in the farmhouse they encountered and abandoning their original plan to moving to Bremen to be town musicians. 

Michael Barnes
Michael Barnes was born in 1969 in Michigan of the United States.  He grew up outside the small town of Ithaca, where his family lived on a wooded plot in the midst of farmland.  This wooded plot contained a 19th century family cemetery where he spent much of his youth playing and fostering his imagination for later ventures in his artistic life.  He went on to receive his BFA from Alma College, Michigan in 1991 and his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1996, both with a focus on Printmaking.  Michael developed a passion for the medium of lithography during his graduate studies at Iowa and has focused on this process for much of his work since.  His research seeks to document and retain traditional methods of this fine art printing medium, while investigating means of integrating them with new media.  His art has been exhibited and has received awards in venues worldwide. His research and artistry have taken him to such places as Germany, France, Serbia, Belgium, Italy, China, Estonia, Poland, and New Zealand, and he was recently supported by a Fulbright Specialist Grant.  

Michael  resides in St. Charles, Illinois, near Chicago.  He is the head of the printmaking area at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where he is a recent recipient of the Presidential Research, Scholarship, and Artistry Professorship. 

Available Works

Approaching the Summit

$500.00

Resisting the Inevitable

$500.00

Fidelity

$500.00

The Blessing

$300.00

Preparing for the Worst

$300.00 - $460.00

The Mascot

$500.00 - $670.00

Coldest Day of the Year

$500.00

A Day in the Sun

$500.00

To Each Their Own

$500.00

The Encounter

$500.00 - $670.00

It's All Dry Land

$980.00 - $1,280.00

Riding Out the Storm

$980.00 - $1,280.00

Wish You Where Here!

$1,000.00 - $1,300.00

A Race to the End

$500.00

Mocking The Omen

$500.00

The Crossing

$350.00

Left To Your Own Devices

$600.00

The Profit

$600.00

Gathering of the Minds

$600.00 - $920.00

Final Acts of Fortitude

$600.00

Curse of Onehunga

$600.00

Terms of Conversation

$600.00 - $925.00

Weighing The Options

$600.00

Tending To Critical Matters

$850.00

Concealing The Source

$850.00

Assuming the Burden

$850.00

An Exercise in Abjection

$400.00

A Patient Man Grows Old

$400.00

The Colonialists

$600.00 - $925.00

The Curse

$300.00

Something has to Give

$300.00

A Delicate Balance

$900.00

A Morning Disturbance

$900.00

Some Things Are Better Forgotten

$900.00

Breaking of Stones

$900.00

Decisive Action (Mann gegen Bär)

$900.00

Im Garten

$900.00

On the Road To Bremen

$900.00

The Trouble with Gravity

$900.00
Brumfield Gallery
1033 Marine Drive
Astoria • OR • 97103
Tel: 503 741 3439
E: info@brumfieldgallery.com
Imprint Gallery LLC dba Brumfield Gallery 
  • Info
    • Visit/Contact
    • About Us
    • Appointments
    • Framing
    • Astoria Second Saturday Art Walk
    • Subscribe to our Newsletter
    • Layaway
    • Artist Submissions
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Future Program
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Art & Artists
    • Inventory by Artist
    • Karen Abel
    • Micheal Barnes
    • Andrea Benson
    • Marit Berg
    • Morgan Brig
    • Lyell Castonguay
    • Molly Cliff Hilts
    • Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley
    • Shanna Fliegel
    • Gene Flores
    • Patricia L. Giraud
    • Gary Goodman
    • Michelle Gregor
    • Laine Groeneweg
    • Erik Haagensen
    • Yuji Hiratsuka
    • Lynne Hobaica
    • Jani Hoberg
    • Ruth Hunter
    • Duy Huynh
    • Liza Jones
    • Steve Jones
    • Michèle Landsaat
    • Suzanne M Long
    • Emily C. McPhie
    • Paul Miller
    • Briony Morrow Cribbs
    • Carla O'Connor
    • Angela Purviance
    • Keaney Rathbun
    • Keith Schneider
    • Luba Sharapan
    • Richard Shorten
    • John Taylor
    • Maggie Taylor
    • Mary Alayne Thomas
    • James Tisdale
    • Cary Weigand
    • John Westmark
    • Doug Whitfield
    • Aggie Zed
  • Blog