Though not herself Aboriginal, Flynn has delivered or is currently working on projects with Australian Aboriginal artists for Cross River Rail, Brisbane (2020–23); North Western Program Alliance, Preston Additional Works Package, Melbourne (2020–22); Quay Quarter Sydney (Jonathan Jones, 2018–22); Central Park, Sydney (Yhonnie Scarce, 2018–19); Sydney Airport (Archie Moore, 2017–18); and 40 Mount Street, North Sydney (Freddie Timms, 2006–10). Jenny Holzer’s important work I STAY (Ngaya ngalawa) (2009–14) presents the writings of 80 Aboriginal writers, poets, essayists and commentators in monumental scale on a 19-metre-high column in the centre of Sydney’s financial district. The research document Flynn prepared for the NWPA Preston Alliance project, Melbourne, presents a comprehensive analysis of the art of 119 Australian Aboriginal artists she recommended for the project.
Before arriving in Australia in 1996, Flynn was a gallery owner in New York (1980–94) and an executive with Gagosian Gallery, New York (1994–98). She held assistant curatorial positions in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, and Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf museums in Germany, and conducted interviews with Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke and Blinky Palermo in 1975–77, with funding from a Yale University Murray Fellowship. Her studies in art history were undertaken at Yale University (BA cum laude 1975) and New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Flynn’s knowledge and contacts are extensive, which enables her to bring an active network of artists to any project she oversees. She has the credibility and reputation to secure artists who are the most exceptional working in the world today, and the management skills and diplomacy to see the projects through. Flynn’s abilities in these areas are unique, and she uses them to achieve singular results for artists, architects and clients.
Further reading ‘It's what makes the city your city’: Sydney’s battle for public art – The Guardian
Barbara Flynn Art Adviser – Australian Design Review
A bird hunt, and top spots to admire Sydney’s public art in architecture – Sydney Morning Herald
Art adviser Barbara Flynn – Australian Art Collector
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