Curated by Frances Morris
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.
Frances Morris comments: ‘Over the last ten 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.’
Over a career that spanned six decades, Phyllida Barlow took inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. Barlow’s restless invented forms stretch the limits of mass, volume and height as they block, straddle and balance precariously. The audience is challenged into a new relationship with the sculptural object, the gallery environment and the world beyond. Barlow exhibited extensively across institutions internationally, including: Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (2023); Public Art Fund, New York (2023); Chillida Leku, Hernani (2023); Sprengel Museum, Hanover (2022); ARTIST ROOMS, Tate Modern, London (2021); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021); The Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019); La Biennale di Venezia, British Pavilion, Venice (2017); Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich (2016); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2015); Duveen Commission at Tate Britain, London (2014). Barlow was awarded the Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung’s 2022 Kurt Schwitters Prize.