A minimalist art installation features large, rectangular black blocks arranged in a zigzag formation on a light grey floor inside a white, high-ceilinged gallery with arched beams and overhead lighting. The blocks have a textured, rough surface.

Phyllida Barlow

Bluff

23 April–29 May 2010

​A major sculpture commission by British artist Phyllida Barlow, as well as a large number of recent drawings.

This new commission at Studio Voltaire included a series of works that directly responded to the gallery’s unique architecture. Dominating the space were two long structures that stretched from one end of the space to the other, mirroring the beamed ceiling. These barrier-like forms referenced different structures one might encounter in everyday life, such as those that control or navigate us, along with other surrounding structures, including ramps, walls, barricades and sea groynes.

Beside these interventions was a wall piece that had the quality of an enclosed balcony shrouded in blue tarpaulin; it was an object in a state of flux, as it could be finished or still in the process. Three smaller works, based on security cameras, were hung from the beams, acting as observers of the strange environment.

Barlow’s recent work emerges from a 40-year practice in which she questions the nature and role of the sculptural object in contemporary culture. She employed an extensive, fluid vocabulary and had immense enthusiasm for engaging with the physical aspects of the world. Barlow created her work from materials as varied as tarpaulin, wooden pallets, cement, polystyrene, card, plaster and chicken wire. After construction, many were painted with industrial or synthetic colours. Although abstract and often absurd, the sculptures have a strong sense of objectivity; they force us to consider relationships between the plastic, the body and narrative.

In partnership with Kunstverein Nürnberg. Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and Valeria & Gregorio Napoleone.

  1. Phyllida Barlow DBE RA (b. 1944, Newcastle–d. 2023, London) lived and worked in London. Solo exhibitions included Phyllida Barlow frontier, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021); cul–de–sac, The Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019); Phyllida Barlow: prop, High Line Art, New York; Tenth Anniversary Commission, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (2018); Phyllida Barlow: folly, La Biennale di Venezia, British Pavilion, Venice IT; ARTIST ROOMS: Phyllida Barlow, Turner Contemporary, Margate UK (2017); tryst, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas TX; set, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2015); Duveen Commission: Phyllida Barlow. dock, Tate Britain, London (2014); siege, New Museum, New York (2012); BLUFF, Studio Voltaire, London (2010).

    Recent group exhibitions included: Another Energy. Power to Continue Challenging, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo JP; Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945, Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition, (various locations) UK (2021); the other side of the coin, New Art Centre, Roche Court, Salisbury UK (2020); Objects of Wonder. From Pedestal to Interaction, ARoS, Aarhus DK; Carl Plackman and His Circle, Pangolin, London UK (2019); Tissage, Tressage, Foundation Villa Datris, Isle sur la Sorgue FR; Power to the People, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt DE (2018); Versus Rodin: Bodies Across Space and Time, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia AU; Constellations: Highlights from the Nation’s Collection of Modern Art, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool UK (2017); The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield UK (2016); New Rhythms, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge UK (2015); Yes, Naturally, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands (2013); Sculptural Acts, Haus der Kunst, Munich DE; United Enemies: The Problem of Sculpture in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds UK (2011); Nairy Baghramian and Phyllida Barlow, Serpentine Gallery, London (2010).

  2. Phyllida Barlow, Bluff, 2010. Installation View, Studio Voltaire, London. Courtesy of the artist and Studio Voltaire, London. Credit Andy Keate.

Phyllida Barlow and Vincent Fecteau

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