Since 2013 the gallery’s schedule has included an active publishing program. This initiative aims to further explore and support the work and careers of the gallery’s represented artists through the medium of the book while endeavouring to further a culture of art reading.

 

Barnard publishing is a collaborative endeavour involving writers, photographers, designers, printers, editors and of course the artists. Our books feature critical essays by respected authors writers and academics. To date these have included amongst others, Ashraf Jamal (Author of ‘In the World: Essays on Contemporary South African Art’– SKIRA 2018), Pippa Skotnes (Michaelis Professor of Fine Art and Director of the Centre for Curating the Archive at the University of Cape Town), journalist and arts critic Sean O’Toole, Andrew Lamprecht (Senior Lecturer: Theory and Discourse, Michaelis School of Art, University of Cape Town), Karen von Veh (Professor of Fine Art, University of Johannesburg) and Rachel Thomas (Senior Curator: Irish Museum of Modern Art).

 

Barnard publications are not catalogues of an exhibition, nor are they strictly speaking monographs; rather they are an extension or expression of the artist's output in a different form i.e similar to that of an 'artist's book. These books are produced in a limited edition with each signed by the artist. What is produced is both 'book' and 'art object' and is by nature a 'collectible'.

 

To date Barnard publications have been added to the special library collections of the University of Cape Town (UCT); Wits Art Museum (WAM), Johannesburg; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Pratt Institute, New York and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.