Andrej Barov is a German photographer and photo artist, born in Leningrad on 6 October 1958. After working in the Russian film industry, he turned to photography as an art form in the late 1980s. He is associated with Brain Art, a practice that uses digital image-making to explore how images shape perception.
Key facts
- Born: 1958-10-06
- Place of birth: Saint Petersburg
- Citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: photographer
How did Barov’s career develop?
Barov studied theatre studies and art history before working in the Russian film industry. He left in 1988 and made Germany his main home. From the mid-1990s, his work increasingly engaged with digital image processing, computer animation and processes of perception in the brain.
What is Brain Art?
Barov’s approach is not simply to expose how digital images can be manipulated. Instead, it considers how images of any kind can influence the viewer. Digital techniques serve as a way to make visible processes of translation that, in his account, have parallels in the workings of a computer and the human brain.
His works draw on recognisable motifs from media and consumer culture, transforming them through digital abstraction. Series titles include Beauty Matrix Operation, Stardust, Colours of Fragrance, Durstlöscher and Gehirnwäsche.
Which exhibitions feature his work?
Barov’s exhibition history includes presentations in photography, art and design contexts, as well as projects connected with colour and classical sculpture. In 2005, Colour Matrix was presented at the Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke in Munich; the exhibition brought Barov’s work into dialogue with sound installations by Brian Eno.
- In 1992, he showed at the Münchner Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum.
- In 1997, his work appeared in Kabinett – Sankt Petersburger Tendenzen at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
- In 2003, he took part in Wohnträume – Wohnräume at Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.
- In 2005, Colours of Fragrance was presented in connection with the exhibition Parfüm-Ästhetik und Verführung at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
- In 2008, a renewed presentation of an installation appeared in Begegnung in bunt at the Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke in Munich.
Barov’s work brings photography, digital abstraction and questions of perception together. Brain Art gives this combination its name, while his use of familiar imagery foregrounds the ways images can guide a viewer’s response.
Frequently asked questions
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An independent reference profile prepared by intart.org from public biographical records. intart.org is not affiliated with the artist, their estate or their galleries.
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