Barry Owen Kamen (22 September 1963 – 3 October 2015) was a British artist, stylist and model of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and French descent. He was best known as an original member of Ray Petri's Buffalo movement.
Early life
Barry Kamen was born in Harlow, England, to Zoe and Neville Kamen. He was the last of eight children, with four sisters, Sheila, Denise, Ed, Leilani and three brothers, Ronald, Chester Kamen and Nick Kamen. He attended St Marks RC Comprehensive School, and later Cambridge College of Art.
Career in Fashion and Styling
Barry Kamen began his career as a model in his late teens. After a chance meeting with pioneer stylist Ray Petri in the early 1980s, both Barry and his brother Nick Kamen became members of the Buffalo movement led by Petri, and became his muses. The Buffalo movement was a creative and experimental explosion that included a group of designers and artists, and photographers Jamie Morgan, Roger Charity and Mark Lebon whose images of the movement would help to cement its influence. The Buffalo aesthetic was drawn from styles seen on the streets and in nightclubs of London and Petri was a pioneer in mixing sportswear with couture (something that has since become ubiquitous), also using juxtaposing cultural and religious symbolism to create images of power, attitude and killer style. As Edward Enninful writes in his 2021 memoir A Visible Man, ''' Buffalo co-opted symbols of strength for people who most of the world weren’t used to seeing claim ownership of anything’. As such, one of the most radical and innovative aspects of Buffalo was the use of racially diverse models that were rarely seen in editorial or advertising at the time. 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". Modern designers continue to draw on the aesthetics of Buffalo, and in 2015, Kamen collaborated with the brand Dr. Martens to style the Spirit of Buffalo campaign.
During these years, Kamen appeared in diverse publications and catwalk shows, participating in much of the innovative creative life of London. As fashion journalist Ian R Webb notes of the Kamen brothers, ‘Everything was going on creatively, and they were at the centre of it.’ Notable appearances were in magazines such as The Face and i-D; advertisements; catwalk shows for fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood, BodyMap, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent and Yohji Yamamoto; and music videos such as Neneh Cherry's "Manchild", styled by iconic jewellery designer (and close friend) Judy Blame. In 1986, he appeared on the catwalk for Comme des Garçons with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, musicians Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot and Migi Drummond from Curiosity Killed the Cat, and singer-songwriter Richard Jobson from Skids.
In later years, Kamen was a consultant for many brands including Puma and helped to produce Usain Bolt’s looks for the 2012 Diamond League. He styled countless magazine spreads and advertising campaigns internationally. He also styled the influential 'Monarchy in the UK' series, shot by Jamie Morgan, for Arena Homme+ magazine (Fall/Winter 2009). Some of Kamen's final work as a stylist on Boxer, in collaboration with photographer Paul Vickery, was exhibited posthumously in 2016 at the Exposure Gallery on Little Portland Street, London.
Kamen was the co-editor and designer of the Buffalo book.
Art Practise
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. Fashion shoots and important moments were all recorded in Kamen’s many sketchbooks, all of which remain in his archive.
However, in 1989, following the death of Ray Petri (which he documented in his drawing series Buffalo Last Breath), Kamen began to dedicate himself seriously to his work as an artist. His first solo show was in that same year, at Jean-Paul Gaultier’s studio in Paris, where he showed his first major series of canvasses under the exhibition title 'Treasure'. Kamen’s early work in painting is characterised by primary colours, colour blocks with black outlines, signifying a beginning in his lifelong exploration into abstraction. Early work in this style included album art for Nick Kamen (his brother, fellow Buffulo muse and Madonna collaborator), Elton John, Diana Ross, Manic Street Preachers and UB40. Kamen’s early works in film included backing films for the Rolling Stones live in concert.