Gemma Barr
(b.Glasgow 1992) is a London based sculptor graduating from the MA Sculpture program at the Royal College of Art. Following her 2014 graduation from Glasgow, she spent a pivotal formative period working in the design-art industry alongside artist Nacho Carbonell in Eindhoven, establishing over a decade of experience across European art studios.
Her practice currently focuses on assemblage, material scavenging, and the found object. Created as a direct response to contemporary ecological and political crises, her work uses discarded matter to confront overconsumption, waste, and gothic materialism. Through large scale installations, she explores the lifecycles of objects and builds spaces for joyful community refuge within the detritus of a post capitalist society.
Her major graduation pavilion, Belonging (exhibited at the RCA Battersea Hangar Gallery, June 2026), received major institutional backing. Her degree show work was fully sponsored by the Liu Shiming Art Foundation Bursary, a highly selective grant awarded to one RCA sculpture student per year following faculty nomination. During the final show, Gemma was also awarded the Kenneth Armitage Foundation Award 2026.
Awards, Exhibitions, Teaching, Residencies, Scholarships, Press, Below:
Awards, Grants, Bursaries, Scholarships
2026 - Liu Shiming Art Foundation Bursary Award
- Each year, one student from the MA Sculpture Royal College of Art cohort is awarded $3000 by the Liu Shiming Art Foundation.
2026 - Kenneth Armitage Foundation Award
- Each year the Kenneth Armitage Foundation gives one postgraduate award of £7000 and an undergraduate award of £3000 to a final year student specialising in sculpture at art schools with which he had a close association: the London based The Royal College of Art and The Slade School of Art, and the regional schools Bath and Leeds.
2025 - UK Cost of Living Scholarship, Royal College of Art
2025 - Cultuur Eindhoven, Snelgeld Grant
2023 - Cultuur Eindhoven, Snelgeld Grant
2022 - Cultuur Eindhoven, Snelgeld Grant
2021 - Cultuur Eindhoven, Noodsteun Grant
Residencies
2024 - Casa Lü, Benito Juarez, Mexico City, 3 months.
Teaching
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Talk ‘A wander from objects to systems’
University of Farnham
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Tutorials,
University of Farnham
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Talk ‘A wander from objects to systems’
University of Gloucester
2026 - Workshop Host - ‘Fluid Thinking’, University of Gloucester
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Talk ‘A wander from objects to systems’
University of Chichester
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Tutorials,
University of Chichester
2026 - Visiting Lecturer, Tutorials
University of Westminster
2026 - Workshop Host - ‘Fluid Thinking’, University of Westminster
Exhibitions
2026- RCA2026 Degree Show “The Art of Urgency” Curated exhibition of selected works from the Arts and Humanities department.
Hangar Gallery. The Royal College of Art, London, UK
2026 - Biennale Internazionale Donna, Porto Vecchio, Italy ‘Traceform’
2026 - Brutal Collective, Brixton Jamm, London, UK ‘Resurge’
2026 - Sculpture Studio Exhibition - Royal College of Art, London, UK
2025 - FESTUS - Royal College of Art, London, UK
2025 - NaZesUur, Studio Nacho Carbonell, Dutch Design Week,
Eindhoven, Netherlands
2025 - Installation: Nacho Carbonell x Down the Rabbit Hole Festival, Netherlands
2024 - Casa Lü, Mexico City, ‘Atypical Archeologies’ Mexico
2023 - Installation: Nacho Carbonell x Down the Rabbit Hole Festival, Netherlands
2023 - Gallery Tableau, Copenhagen ‘Rhubarb Drip’, Denmark
2023 - Design Miami Basel, Galerie SceneOuverte, Switzerland
2023 - Collaboration x Maria Bernand - Les Fleurs x Primtemps Haussman,
Paris, France
2023 - Collectible Fair, Brussels: Curated Section by Leo Orta, Belgium
2023 - Galerie SceneOuverte, Paris: ‘Quelque chose d’irréel’ France
2022 - Installation: Nacho Carbonell x Down the Rabbit Hole Festival, Netherlands
2022 - Milan Design Week, Isola Design District: ‘Rising Talents’ Italy
2022 - Pavillion of Art and Design (PAD) Paris, Galerie SceneOuverte, France
2021 - Galerie SceneOuverte, Paris: ‘Differenté mais semblable’, France
Press
2026 - China Global Television Network - Interview
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-27/Art-school-graduation-in-the-digital-age-1OjCglZnEc0/p.html
2025 - Architectural Digest - Interview -
Article: Les Nouvelles Radicalities/The New Radicalities
2023 - Elle Decoration France Issue No. 295 & 296
2023 - Dezeen: Collectible 2023
2023 - Galerie Sceneouverte
2023 - Artegian Creators
2022 - Fuorisalone - Gemma Barr
2023 - Arts & Collections