1. Barry Owen Kamen was a British artist, stylist and model of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and French descent.
20 Facts About Barry Kamen
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Barry Kamen was best known as an original member of Ray Petri's Buffalo movement.
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Barry Kamen was born in Harlow, England, to Zoe and Neville Kamen.
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Barry Kamen was the last of eight children, with four sisters, Sheila, Denise, Ed, Leilani and three brothers, Ronald, Chester Kamen and Nick Kamen.
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Barry Kamen attended St Marks RC Comprehensive School, and later Cambridge College of Art.
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Barry Kamen began his career as a model in his late teens.
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Such agency models were scarce so the Buffalo movement turned to the streets to find new faces, such as Naomi Campbell, who Kamen described as "this nutty girl aged about fourteen, but she was part of the crew".
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In later years, Barry Kamen was a consultant for many brands including Puma and helped to produce Usain Bolt's looks for the 2012 Diamond League.
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Barry Kamen styled countless magazine spreads and advertising campaigns internationally.
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Barry Kamen styled the influential 'Monarchy in the UK' series, shot by Jamie Morgan, for Arena Homme+ magazine.
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Barry Kamen was the co-editor and designer of the Buffalo book.
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Barry Kamen had always had a dedicated drawing practise and had developed an extraordinary level of draftsmanship early under the influence of his father, who brought back technical drawing paper from the factory in which he worked for the children to use.
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However, in 1989, following the death of Ray Petri, Barry Kamen began to dedicate himself seriously to his work as an artist.
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Barry Kamen consistently drew and painted his wife and muse Tatiana throughout his life.
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In 2006 Barry Kamen embarked on another major series, the 'Is Is It' series, which lasted until 2011.
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Barry Kamen was working on another series of large, colourful acrylic works on paper when he died of an undiagnosed rare heart condition in his studio at age 52.
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Barry Kamen was famously private about his work and after his debut solo show did not go on to have any major solo museum or gallery shows.
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Barry Kamen exhibited in further shows in London, Paris, Florence and Tokyo.
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Barry Kamen had an artist's studio at Southgate Studios in London's East End.
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In 2021 the Barry Kamen Estate was founded to archive, preserve, research and exhibit his works.