Phyllida Barlow in front of Act (2021) at Highgate Cemetery Photo: David Owens
Phyllida Barlow works on a monumental scale but in the most unmonumental of styles. Her sculptures are usually made from materials typically found in a builder’s yard, such as wooden offcuts, scaffolding poles, concrete finishes and lengths of gaffer tape. Her colours day-glo pinks, reds, green and turquoise are also at odds with the gravitas commonly associated with sculpture. Sprayed, daubed and grungy they are more reminiscent of hi-vis and hazard warning signs than Pop Art sheen.
Her British pavilion for the 2017 Venice Biennale positively exploded with towering, teetering columns and bulbous boulder-like protuberances. And these unruly works, which she has likened to unwanted guests have been shown in a number of other august institutions, including Kunstalle Zurich, Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, the Royal Academy of Arts and Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.
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