The Road to Extinction, acrylic on newspaper
Barry Scanlan is a mixed media artist who often uses his practice as a method ofcalling attention to social, political, and environmental issues. Barry’s works tend to be colourful and stylized, incorporating text that lends each piece a punk or DIY-esque aesthetic.
Profits. Wealth. Money. Nothing Else Matters, acrylic and paint pens on newspaper
Barry’s recent series of work, Corporate Environmental Abuse, focuses on just that. The artworks in this series are aggressive, but not entirely humourless. Bright colours and cartoonish figures peer forth from a dystopian world that looks suspiciously similar to the one we live in today. Text that seems like it could exist on protest signs frames these images, making them impossible to overlook.
Barry's art portfolio website
I also enjoy the way that Barry plays with texture and media in his artworks. In his portraits gallery, for example, the artist showcases recent experiments painting on canvas that’s been textured with pumice. The resulting effect hearkens to ancient frescos, and the heavily textured abstract works of Nella Lush.
Politics and Money, acrylics, pumice, oil sticks
About the author

Dallas Jeffs is the Editor of Artist Run Website's blog. She is a recent graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she studied Critical and Cultural Practices. She is passionate about talking and writing about art, and sharing that interest with others. In her studio practice she is a painter, but she considers herself an art writer and educator foremost. If you like art, books and culture with a science fiction twist, check out Dallas' personal blog, HappySpaceNoises