Emily Barker (artist)

Emily Barker (born 1992) is an American multidisciplinary artist and activist based in Los Angeles. Their work focuses on topics related to disability, discrimination, and capitalism.

Biography
Emily Barker was born in 1992 in San Diego, California, and grew up in the state of Georgia. Barker uses the pronouns they/them. They studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). At age of 19, Baker was diagnosed with paraplegia following an accident. The following year they were diagnosed with complex regional pain. Barker is a wheelchair user and chronically ill. In addition to making art, Barker has worked as a fashion model and podcast host. They have participated in mutual assistance initiatives supporting other marginalized people with similar experiences to theirs.

Artistry
Barker's work examines and challenges ableism embedded into contemporary society.

They have had a solo shows: Wall Works at Sentiment Gallery in Zurich Switzerland, Body Politic at the Torrence Art Museum in California, and Illusions of Care in Los Angeles at Carlye Packer.

Her piece Death by 7865 Paper Cuts is an installation of a pile of 7,865 documents from 2012 to 2015 that includes bills for medical treatments, medical records, and care plans with their accompanying costs.

In 2020, at Murmurs, an art space in Los Angeles, California, presented Barker's first solo show titled Built to Scale and 2021 MMK exhibition Crip Time. Barker participated in the 2022 Whitney Biennial titled Quiet as It's Kept curated by Adrienne Edwards and David Breslin. ; it was the only work explicitly about the topic of disability.

Barker received the Creative Capital Award in 2024. They have done artist talks at MIT, The Royal College of Art and Design, Otis College of Art and Design, UCLA, and The Whitney Museum.