Chris Barry is an independent artist and scholar based in Melbourne. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Melbourne) in May 2009 entitled, “The Encounter of Culture: A Shared Space or Out of Place? Dismantling the Self in Central Australia”. During the past fourteen years she has been conducting her research and practice amongst specific Aboriginal families living in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Her research explores the mediation between photography, performance, and auto/biography—within the fluidity of Aboriginal sociality and sociability—and the colluding space between culture and cultural production.

Chris Barry has been a practicing artist since 1986. Her work is represented in national and state collections, university collections, state libraries, and regional galleries throughout Australia. She exhibits both nationally and internationally—mainly in university galleries, public museums, and public galleries. She has held key Solo exhibitions at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; Adam Art Gallery/Victoria University, Wellington NZ; RMIT University Gallery, Melbourne; Griffith University Gallery, Brisbane; Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne; Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland.

She has also been included in significant Group Exhibitions including the Australian National Gallery, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Monash University of Modern Art (MUMA), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Issues of marginality, ethnicity, indigeneity, contested homelands, spatial conflicts, and identity politics, continue to inform her practice and writing. Currently she is contracted by Tangentyere Council as Studio Manager and works closely with town camp artists who reside amongst the 22 town camps located throughout the township of Alice Springs.