Sophie Barber: Mackerel sky, mackerel sky, never long wet, never long dry
Sabine Caspaire, studio international
October 2025
There is something endearing about a mackerel sky: soft, fluffy clouds like little, round sheep, the pretty white-on-blue celestial design. Sophie Barber seems to think so, too: her exhibition at Hastings Contemporary, the first in her hometown of Hastings, is titled Mackerel sky, mackerel sky, never long wet, never long dry. Titles have always been an important part of Barber’s work, appearing at the bottom of her paintings like captions, thick and smeary and coloured blood-red. Sometimes, the words are misspelt, as in The Year Your Born (2025), which is partly because – as the interim gallery director, Kathleen Soriano, tells us – the artist is dyslexic, but I get the impression that it is more the inherent sense of imperfection and directness to which Barber is drawn. […]