Phyllida Barlow is an artist you may not have come across, but she is a favourite among those in the art world, from the leading and cutting edge critics to the traditional academics.
70 years old, Barlow dedicated her life to teaching at the Slade school of Art, but she has only been recently pursuing her own practice.
This year she is the subject of three important exhibitions: the Tate Britain has chosen her to be the next commissioned artist to fill their central halls known as the Duveen galleries, while the powerhouse commercial gallery Hauser & Wirth, who represent artists such as Martin Creed and Louie Bourgeois, have chosen Barlow to stage the inaugural exhibition of its exciting new art centre in Somerset, while lastly their London branch will present her drawings archive spanning fifty years.
The city is her subject: the sense of its presence, of living in it, as well as its formal qualities. Her thoughts about the city are channelled through her deep understanding and life-time's knowledge of art in all its forms and theories learnt during her teaching career, to produce wonderful, innovative artworks full of reflections, feelings and ideas.
She aims for her sculpture to be anti-monumental: they aim to bring sculpture down off its pedestal and onto the ground and make it accessible to everyone - literally and metaphorically. Her work in the Tate Britain was called 'Dock' and was inspired by the river front facing the entrance of the museum.
Her drawings, meanwhile, have been part of her artistic practice since she was a student. she didn't do very well with life drawing so she explored the areas of drawing that interested her.
Some of her drawings are aggressive, that is a performance, that makes the material and the marking the subject.
She uses thick acrylic paint, sketchy quick lines, bright colours and objects made up of frameworks, walls, and barriers. Blocks of shadows are done in a Giorgio di Chirico manner.
She aims for her sculpture to be anti-monumental: they aim to bring sculpture down off its pedestal and onto the ground and make it accessible to everyone - literally and metaphorically. Her work in the Tate Britain was called 'Dock' and was inspired by the river front facing the entrance of the museum.
Her drawings, meanwhile, have been part of her artistic practice since she was a student. she didn't do very well with life drawing so she explored the areas of drawing that interested her.Some of her drawings are aggressive, that is a performance, that makes the material and the marking the subject.
She uses thick acrylic paint, sketchy quick lines, bright colours and objects made up of frameworks, walls, and barriers. Blocks of shadows are done in a Giorgio di Chirico manner.
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