Brian Barneclo

Brian Barneclo (b. 1972 - Indianapolis, IN) is a San Francisco based artist recognized for large scale murals that take on a uniquely stylized figure/ground oriented vernacular. He describes his style as a sort of Cubist-sign-painter-folk-modern kind of thing. His work is seen in a range of arenas including fine art galleries as well as murals- public, private and commercial. With a Fine Art degree from Indiana (IU BFA 95) he moved to San Francisco lured by skateboard culture and Beat Generation nostalgia with a vision of some sort of jazz/punk aesthetic in mind. In his early years, he learned his ABC’s (Always Be Creating ethos) dating back to Jr. High School while running around with his friends, learning how to express themselves through photography, skateboarding, shooting videos, drawing and making homemade zines. These experiences instilled in him the creative appetite.

He arrived in San Francisco in 1996 in the wake of Mission School’s peaking influence. He remembers the scene was fairly active with “tons of group shows, and lots of characters oozing with ambition”. During this time Barneclo participated in many of the group shows (Shooting Gallery, 111 Minna, Future Primitive) while working a side job doing murals and signage for mostly restaurants. In 2004 he was awarded a commission by the SF Bay Guardian for the first of what would become a career painting murals.

Perhaps his greatest achievement to date is Systems Mural Project. In 2008 he spotted a 600 foot wall (40’ high), perfectly suited for a mural, sitting right along Caltrain tracks near the San Francisco station. “Somebody should paint that”, he thought. “I should paint that!”. Flash forward to 2011 and the mural was complete, but only after collecting permissions, aligning with fiscal sponsor Intersection of the Arts, raising corporate funding, becoming a Caltrains certified rail worker, receiving a proclamation from Mayor Gavin Newsom, and appearing in a Super Bowl ad for Levi’s/Dockers. The title refers to the inspiration of the project which is to align with the understanding of whole systems as the highest path to a healthy society. Barneclo continues to parse his attention in a wide range of projects. He bounces around from designer to muralist to studio artist which allows him to access different aspects of his creativity. Designing a mural or working commercially involve the challenge or pleasure to collaborate, but he acknowledges that the highest form of expression comes from painting in the studio, expressing from the higher self- or that which flows through. And that could involve simply doodling. When it’s going well he claims he has nothing to do with it. Just get out of the way. This is where is method of working with a figure/ground style makes for a more immediate expression and communication with an audience. Most recently he has found a new form of expression through experimental animation which he presents online or in live large-scale projection.