Phyllida Barlow (b. 1944, Newcastle, UK; d. 2023, London, UK) trained at Chelsea College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art. She began teaching at the Slade School of Fine Art in the 1960s. She stayed there for almost half a century, teaching the likes of Turner Prize winners Rachel Whiteread and Martin Creed, but in 2009 she retired from teaching in order to focus on her own work.
Barlow creates large-scale works that are often made from inexpensive material, like cardboard, plywood and polystyrene, crudely painted in industrial or synthetic colours.
Barlow cites among her important influences artists such as Germaine Richier and Barbara Hepworth. However, her sculptures replace their solid volumes and carving with ragged, raw materials to create large-scale structures that often encroach upon the viewer’s space.
‘Maybe I don’t think enough about beauty in my work because I’m so curious about other qualities, abstract qualities of time, weight, balance, rhythm; collapse and fatigue versus the more upright dynamic notions.’
The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture
Phyllida Barlow was nominated for the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture.
For the Prize exhibition, Barlow made new work and adapted existing sculptures constructed from simple everyday materials, with which her work has become synonymous.
A monumental sculpture titled screestage dominated the gallery space, creating a heightened awareness among the visitor of their surroundings.
Wall-mounted sculptures included the newly made untitled: blackcoils2016 and untitled: toletsigns2016, reconstructed from some existing works, an ongoing practice of the artist.
Both works are constructed from throwaway or domestic items which make reference to structures encountered in urban environments.
While Helen Marten won the judges approval to be crowned winner, Barlow was awarded the people’s choice award voted for by visitors to the exhibition.
Related exhibitions & events
The Hepworth Prize For Sculpture 2016
21 Oct 2016 - 19 Feb 2017
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Further Reading
News
Shortlisted artists and judges announced for Hepworth Prize For Sculpture
The Hepworth Wakefield announced the four shortlisted artists and judging panel for the UK’s first prize for sculpture.
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