Clive Barker is a first generation British POP Artist. Born in 1940, Clive Barker attained sculptural maturity in 1966. His work was exhibited at high-profile galleries in London and in Europe through to the 1970's, and has been included in international exhibitions of Pop Art since. By replicating functional, mass-produced objects in gleaming metals, Barker has redefined Marcel Duchamp's concept of the 'ready-made'. Barker chooses everyday objects for their specific qualities of contrast after transformation. In Homer, the animated television series Homer Simpson is frozen in his stereotypical gluttonous grin, drawing the attention to the contrast between the lively and whimsical nature of the subject and the tranquillity of its counterpart cast in bronze. Clive Barker's work was the subject of a museum retrospective hosted by the Pop Collection at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Museums holding Barker's work include: Tate, London; British Museum, London; Staedtische Kunsthalle Mannheim; Museum fuer Modern Kunst, Frankfurt; National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.