The work of Phyllida Barlow (1944 – 2023) will take over Hauser & Wirth Somerset in a celebration of the British artist's transformative approach to sculpture, marking the 10th anniversary of the arts centre that was inaugurated by Barlow's solo exhibition 'GIG'. The landmark exhibition is curated by Frances Morris and draws on her close working relationship with the artist during her lifetime. The presentation will explore the evolution of Barlow's formal and expressive vocabulary, bringing together objects and installations, studio maquettes and drawings from across her extensive career, many of which will be on public view for the first time.
Curated by Frances Morris, 'Phyllida Barlow. unscripted' brings together a collection of the artist's signature elements from several major installations, as well as a number of free-standing sculptures ranging from the early 1970s to work made in the last year of Barlow's life. The landscape, courtyards and gardens beyond the galleries are animated and disrupted by a selection of sculptures, including 'PRANK', a series of seven wonderfully—and deliberately—ungainly sculptures Barlow made for New York's City Hall Park in 2023, shown for the first time in the UK. The exhibition also features previously unseen smaller-scale works, including drawings and maquettes. These works reinforce the important role the studio played in Barlow's practice, whilst conveying the restless energy, endless curiosity and unabated ambition which are as much a part of Barlow's legacy as are the works themselves.
'Over the last 10 years, Phyllida Barlow kept her fans and followers on the edge of their seats as she brought new and ever more audacious projects to life in venues across the world. Unfolding as a running commentary on the tragedies and absurdities of our time, each work formed part of an ongoing and intensely experimental investigation into the techniques and materials of art making, seeking visual equivalents to her own personal experience of living and looking.'—Frances Morris, 2024.
The title 'unscripted' refers to the experimental and iterative nature of Barlow's working process, allowing each project to evolve through a process of making, unmaking and remaking, involving chance and mishap as well as changes of mind. She saw this working practice as akin to processes of growth, decay and renewal in nature. Barlow was aware of the forthcoming exhibition and had begun to think seriously about bringing her interest in painting to the fore.
Press release courtesy Hauser & Wirth
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