Draft:Gertrude Barrer

Gertrude Barrer (or Gertrude Russell-Barrer / Gertrude Russell, 1921-1997) was an artist operating in New York in the mid-20th century. In the 40s and 50s she engaged with "Indian Space Painting" — a form of abstract expressionism.

Personal Life
Barrer was born in New York in 1921 and studied at the State University of Iowa (now University of Iowa), where she was taught by Philip Guston, who she ranked her most influential teacher.

Around 1942, Barrer married Oscar Collier (1924-1998) — an artist who also worked with the "Indian Space" painters, the two had met as students in Iowa City and were both a part of the Art Students League. The two gave birth to their daughter, Greer Fitting, on October 22 1943. Collier and Barrer separated after the Second World War. Barrer also gave birth to another daughter, Aurora.

Barrer married a second time to artist Frank Russell (1921-1988), following which she moved to Roxbury, Connecticut in 1959. . Russell ended up adopting Barrer's daughter from her first marriage, Greer

Career
In the mid 1940s, Barrer studied with the Art Students League, where the term "Indian Space" was coined by Howard Daum. The movement was heavily inspired by Native American as well as Oceanic art practices and iconography. In 1946 Barrer took part in the "8 and a totem pole" (Or "Semeiology") exhibition at Galerie Neuf in New York, along with other members of the Indian Space group. The group consisted of: Will Barnet, Robert Barrell, Gertrude Barrer, Peter Busa, Oscar Collier, Howard Daum, Ruth Lewin, Lillian Orloff and Robert Smith. In 1947, Barrer opened her first solo show at Galerie Neuf, which was reviewed by Clement Greenberg for 'The Nation', who said: "Gertrude Barrer is one of the most promising painters in the country ... [She] succeeds in assimilating Klee and Haida art to her own personality. In Miss Barrer's hands Klee's influence serves admirably to expand the absolutely flat and formal patterns of Northwest Indian art and render them permeable to contemporary feeling. " The New York Times described Barrer and the Indian Space painters' style as the following: "Their bright, often intricately patterned abstractions, which borrow equally from Cubism and Surrealism and from the animated, animal-based motifs of Northwest Coast Indian art, add a new chapter to the story of the art of the 1940's. " In 1946-47, Barrer, Collier and Kenneth Beaudoin founded 'Iconograph', an independent art and literature magazine, where Barrer worked as the art director. . The quarterly tackled iconography, language and semiology, in addition to North Native American culture. In total, five issues and two supplements were published with the final issue coming out in the Autumn of 1947. Collier, who would eventually turn away from painting in favour of publishing, published a subsequent issue independently

Although the publication's run was cut short due to financial difficulties.

Barrer and her second husband, Frank Russell, collaborated for over 40 years, founding the Russell-Barrer Atelier, which produced ceramic paintings. This work was far more illustrative and whimsical than the work Barrer was previously known for.

When discussing art, Barrer said: "Art is a religion and a way of life to me. It involves intellect and constant learning, intellectual as well as just the craft of skills in any medium. I am a thinker who uses art as my discipline but I live in the world and must find my symbols in the world. "