Artist Research III: Barry X Ball

Barry X Ball is a very unique artist. I was attracted to his work because of it's incredibly refined and meticulous attributes. His work has a very illustrious and extravagant look to it; it's all very elegant as well. My favorite piece of his is the "Portrait of Albert II: Prince of Monaco". The piece is made out of 18 Karat gold and created with pieces of intertwined marine vegetation with symbols of the Principality of Monaco and the Prince's Monogram blended into the piece as well. It's a perfect example of how Barry always manages to pay such incredible attention to detail. In another series of works, he recreated and tweaked two sculptures: Envy and Purity. He mentioned the minor changes he made to the figures in order to make his own commentary on the pieces. He changed the material to make a different sort of emotional response. He removed a cross from Purity's head to make it more universal and enlarged her breath to move it away from religion and to a more sensual piece. They are incredibly well thought out aspects and details that highlight how much effort goes into every inch of his work.