The Surreal and Visionary art of Mitch Barrett has been exhibited worldwide. He has sold to established art collectors, also those from the media and fashion industry. His artwork aims to contribute to raising the consciousness of society and he undertakes both private and corporate commissioned projects. He is currently working on a book called 'The Dreams of Frankie Cameron' which includes artwork relevant to the story. The Dreams of Frankie Cameron is based on the conflict of an artist living in Paris, struggling between his sensual desires and that of his addiction, along with his egoistic wish for recognised celebrity. These desires are in conflict with the search for his lost soul, in the analogy after the death of his beloved and in his search for her in the underworld of dreams.

Born in England in 1960 as Mitchel J Barrett. He was influenced at an early age by various sources, including stories from mythology. Barrett relished in a make-believe world of fantasy and adventure to escape from a humdrum existence in a small coal-mining town. In later years, he discovered the work of William Blake, Gustave Moreau, Salvador Dali and Gustave Klimt, travelling for many years throughout Europe and the East. He was also inspired by the stories of Herman Hesse and the essays of Joseph Campbell.

As a child he was curious as to what he could create from his imagination. At the early age of twelve, Mitch Barrett was known as the 'School Artist' in Sherbrook Comprehensive and was presented to HRH Princess Margaret with a small sculpture which he had created of a man grappling with a Centaur. This event was photographed in the local newspaper - his first taste of celebrity.

From Manchester to Milan, in 1983 he was featured in Italian Vogue, Harpars Bazaar and Linea Uomo for designers, including Giorgio Armani, Gianfranco Ferre and Gian marco Venturi. This was the beginning of a very successful career as an International fashion model spanning fifteen years. He worked in Italy, France, Spain, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. doing many fashion campaigns, editorial, advertising and acting in TV commercials. All these travels contributed to his vast cultural experience and enabled him to continue to paint and exhibit his work.

In 2000 to 2001 Barrett continued studying in film as a guest at the Hochschule fur Film und Fersehen in Munich, Germany. He completed another screenplay called 'Every Picture Tells a Story' and did another course in Film Directing there, which was instructed by Mark Travis called 'The Directors Journey'.

It was during this time that he was introduced to Richard Hartmann in Munich, who was a friend and agent of Ernst Fuchs. Richard Hartman owned in his gallery a huge collection of etchings and graphic work by Ernst Fuchs and it was there that Barrett discovered about the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. Fantastic Realism was founded in 1946 by Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner, Wolfgang Hutter and Anton Lehmeden.

It was in 2001 during a retrospective exhibition in Vienna of the work of Prof. Ernst Fuchs, that Mitch Barrett was introduced. He was later to develop great respect and an affinity towards this incredible Master of Modern Art.

In 2004 Barrett joined the Society for Art of Imagination in England, which was started in the 1960's by Brigid Marlin, a former student of Prof. Ernst Fuchs. Then he continued to assist and work with Ernst Fuchs during the Summer and Autumn months in the Studio of his splendid villa, near the picturesque town of Menton in the South of France.

Barrett returned to England in 2005, living for a while in the small village of Pinner, Middlesex and painting there in a small, rented room. This was a considerable change of circumstances, from Prince to Pauper!

Having physically travelled for many years, this was now a time for reflection after many diverse experiences, including emotional trauma and a near death experience in May 2000. This was possibly the beginning of an internal journey of the psyche towards the Light of the divine.

"As an artist I respond to everything around me which opens a door to an inner world, where past, present and future intertwine, where the soul is revealed."
Mitchel J.Barrett
 
 
"The role of the artist I now understand, as that of revealing through the world-surfaces the implicit forms of the soul...."
Joseph Campbell
 

"Images flowed through me, a language that wished to be interpreted and reflected upon in a meaningful way. My consciousness was being raised, expanded and deepened from past experiences as symbolic and archetypal images that were evolving from my sketchbook onto the canvas. It was as if as an artist I was a channel for mysterious, hidden messages from a Collective unconscious"
Mitchel J.Barrett
 
 
"The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel."
Piet Mondrian

"But it was not without a struggle, as two different worlds were caught in conflict, in our world of duality, wanting to be different, separate, but also wanting to belong. There was the ego of the artist, a (clown-like) decorative mask that we all tend to wear and its desire for recognition, hiding a child-like inquisitiveness. The child in me wanted to be released into a personal landscape, curious, and devoted as a pilgrim on a quest to reaching the source of the True Creation.

I endeavoured to remember as if recalling a dream, as these images emerged onto the canvas. Then I was reminded that we are all connected after looking behind the mask, that we are all in some way in this domain of the Collective Imagination.

So by exploring my psyche through imaginative expression, I also began to recognise the healing qualities of Art. Perhaps Art was now becoming the Grail to heal the wounds of our time. When asked to exhibit my work at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2007, it seemed very appropriate."
Mitchel J.Barrett