Barbara Freeman: A Retrospective

14 June to 27 September 2025

The F.E. McWilliam Gallery is delighted to announce Barbara Freeman: A Retrospective. Born in London in1937, Freeman studied at Central St. Martins and Camberwell Colleges of Art, followed by postgraduate study at the University of Leeds before moving to Belfast where she has lived and worked for over 40 years.  Utilising a wide range of media including sculpture, painting, print, installation, sound and film, Freeman’s constantly evolving practice fluctuates between figuration and abstraction to explore themes including time, memory and history.

Collaboration is at the heart of Freeman’s art. She has often worked with composers and musicians to create installations that combine sound and image and respond to a particular place, both as a physical space and a sonic environment. In 2020, she joined NA CAILLEACHA, the collective of formidable older women artists based in Ireland, with whom she continues to work and exhibit.

The first large-scale survey show of Freeman’s work, the exhibition aims to introduce the public to this award-winning artist who has exhibited internationally and now in her late 80s, continues to experiment and push herself to create new innovative work.

Curated by Dr Fionna Barber, Reader in Art History, Manchester School of Art and Dr Riann Coulter, curator and manager of the F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Barbara Freeman: A Retrospective is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring an essay by Fionna Barber and an interview between Freeman and art historian and NA CAILLEACHA colleague, Catherine Marshall.