Barry Whittaker is a multi-media artist, designer, musician, and Professor of Art at the University of Toledo. He teaches graphic and interactive design and is a member of the Art in Public Places Committee of the Toledo Arts Commission.
As an artist, Whittaker specializes in multimedia art, design, and technology, exploring intersections of mythology, language, cultural hybridization, and play. His research delves into miscommunication and collaboration, using experimental methodologies to examine how narratives and symbols evolve in a globalized context. Through projects encompassing generative animation, experimental typography, sound-based visual systems, and collaborative media, Barry investigates the role of technology in shaping modern mythologies and collective memory. His work often bridges academic inquiry with creative practice, engaging audiences through innovative uses of language, interactivity, and immersive media experiences.
Whittaker has ongoing collaborations with Sam Sheffield, full-time faculty of Game Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art, creating interactive installations and games under the name SaBa, 2D images and installations with Michael Bernhardt, Associate Professor of Art at Metropolitan State University of Denver, under the name Barchael, and performances and multi-media installations with independent artist Donald Fodness and Michael Bernhardt under the name The DMB Collective.
Whittaker has taught in the U.S., France, China, and Japan, and his work has been exhibited extensively across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Selected exhibitions include: MANIFEST: IO '25 at the Haus der Visionaire in Berlin, Germany; FILE FESTIVAL 2022 at the Galeria de Arte do Sesi in São Paulo, Brazil; ArtFarming a collaborative project with the Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, Japan; Hors Pistes Japon, organized by the Centre Pompidou and presented in Tokyo, Japan; Throwing Things at the Sky, which opened at 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan; #TAGGING ART#, an exhibition and print project through Vision Magazine, Shanghai, China; Supernova Digital Animation Festival, Denver, Colorado; STROBE Network, at FLUX Factory, Long Island City, NY; and Playpublik at FORUM, Krakow, Poland.
A native Texan, Barry Whittaker received a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He divides his time between his home in Toledo, Ohio, and Nara, Japan.
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