Ed Barr: CONDO

From Box 13 Artspace:

“Some windows of Condo depict luxury, achievement and modernity while others model the mundane, archaic and natural world.  A myriad of archetypes coexisting in time and place;  the viewer is made aware of the paradox of existence.

What does it mean to be successful and unhappy at the same time? In our effort to climb the ladder of success we continually naw away at the spiritual tethers that once brought understanding to a seemingly callous and meaningless world. We dismiss a natural and simpler life for a perfectly insulated and often sterile landscape.

Striving for perfection, status and material possessions can sometimes lead to an unexamined life, resulting in pain and loneliness. When I look up at these condo towers I sometimes wonder if the inhabitants are looking down with a sense of satisfaction or a feeling of existential dread.

What does is mean to be successful in our modern environment?  What does it mean to lay your head down at night and be so far from the ground?   Does your prestige grow with each successive floor you climb?  Will you wake up one day to discover that your happiness is inversely related to the distance between your condo and Mother earth?

Ed Barr was born and raised in Texas.  He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a mechanical engineering degree.  After graduation he began a career in investment banking.  Although challenging, it lacked a creative aspect so he began investing in real estate and eventually moved into real estate development.  Remodeling properties and building homes from the ground up did allow him a creative outlet but eventually he realized that his desires could only be accommodated by making pure art. After having spent some of his adult life in the non-art world he eventually succumbed to his inclinations and desires and began pursuing a career in fine art. He now lives in Dallas, Texas and devotes all his time to being an artist.”