Painted Paronomasia: John A. Barry

I came to visual arts via the publishing world, in which I was managing editor/editor of several magazines. I’m also a published author with 12 books to my name as sole or coauthor. Initially, in the late 1990s, I started creating visual puns, usually assemblages of found objects. In 2011, I developed trAction Painting: painting large horizontal canvases with bikes, scooters, skates, and wheelchairs. Paint flows to the wheels, and I maneuver the vehicles around on the canvas. My largest canvas is 21.5 x 12.5 feet. It and a 16 x 9-foot painting I made with a mountain bike cover the floor of my garage studio.

In 2023, I developed P6 (Projectile-Precipitated Propellant-Painting Performative Process). I place objects to be painted in a 4 x 4 x 4 enclosure called the Pigmilion (Pigment Pavilion). I suspend pressurized spray-paint cans from the ceiling and release the paint by shooting the cans with a pellet rifle, through a small opening in the front of the Pigmilion. Results are largely random—sometimes good, sometime not so good. I and artist colleagues have produced approximately 100 canvases by employing P6. In addition to canvases, I have painted a bike, various pieces of furniture, clothing, and flower pots.

I recently returned to visual wordplay with my wall o’ puns, entitled “Painted Paronomasia” (paronomasia is a 6-syllable synonym of pun). Thirteen puns are arrayed against an 11 x 8-foot canvas I painted with a wheelchair. Adjoining the wall are four “Pomme Puns.”) I ran out of space for an additional dozen visual puns.

The fences in my back yard, and a shed, are covered with 22 trAction or P6 pieces. This display is called “Ephemeral Exhibit,” because I am leaving it to the elements to take their course.