Phyllida Barlow – Dock 2014. J Fernandes, Tate Photography
Chelsea alumna Phyllida Barlow‘s Tate Britain Commission is now open to the public. The sculpture entitled ‘Dock’ is her largest in London to date. The sculpture is made up of a series of works spreading throughout the Duveen Galleries.
Phyllida Barlow makes large scale sculptural installations using everyday materials such as cardboard, fabric, timber, polystyrene, plaster and cement.
When asked about the work and whether it was her “intention to frustrate visitors” she commented:
“It is more to raise an issue about what sculpture is for me, and I hope that might communicate itself to an audience. It’s a strange medium in that it takes up space, it takes up our space. It brings things into the world, and there is already too much stuff in the world. So it’s kind of absurd, and its absurdity is what I find fascinating. So perhaps it will mean that people will have to walk around it. I hope that will arouse curiosity about sculpture, about what it is and why it is what it is.”
The work is on display until 2 November 2014.
Phyllida Barlow – Dock 2014. J Fernandes, Tate Photography
Biography
Phyllida Barlow (born 1944) studied at Chelsea School of Art, London (1960–63) and then the Slade School of Fine Art, London (1963–66) where she later became a Professor, her students including Turner Prize-winning and nominated artists Rachel Whiteread and Angela de la Cruz.
Recent international major exhibitions include Venice Biennale (2013), Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2013), Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines (2013), Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach (2013), New Museum, New York (2012), Ludwig Forum Aachen, Germany (2012), Kunstverein Nurnberg, Germany (2011), BAWAG Contemporary Vienna, Austria (2010), and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (2004). She became a Royal Academician in 2011 and lives and works in London.