In the Design House, Phyllida Barlow, Untitled (chair), 2006

Phyllida Barlow
Untitled (chair)
2006
Timber, paint
Approx. 115 x 53 x 44 cm
3 ft 9¼ x 1 ft 8⅞ x 1 ft 5¼ in.

Phyllida Barlow’s celebrated practice has been continuously punctuated by play and experimentation. Tactile and seemingly precarious sculpture is made from inexpensive, mass-produced materials like cardboard, fabric, paper, glue, plastic, wood and rubber. The result augments our sense of colour and space, playfully challenging her audience to explore their understanding of the nature and role of the sculptural object in contemporary culture. By using a mix of found objects and vibrant, household paint, Barlow pushes the material possibilities of sculpture with immense enthusiasm.

On the wall, three brilliantly painted chairs hang at incongruous angles; installed together as they were when they were shown in a group at Phyllida Barlow’s first exhibition at Roche Court in 2007. The park and galleries were adorned with large-scale work, and the emphasis on colour and surface quality situated these pieces somewhere between painting and sculpture.

Phyllida Barlow, an exhibition at the New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park, 2007.

Dame Phyllida Barlow DBE RA (1944-2023) was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. After studying at Chelsea School of Art from 1960 to 1963, she graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1966. Between 1988 and 2009, Barlow taught at the Slade, and in 2011 was elected a Royal Academician. In 2014, she received the Tate Britain Commission for the Duveen Gallery, and in 2017 represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale with her installation folly. Phyllida Barlow was made a DBE in 2021.