Phyllida Barlow
set
27 June – 18 October 2015
The Fruitmarket Gallery
45 Market Street
Edinburgh, EH1 1DF
www.fruitmarket.co.uk
Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / #PhyllidaBarlow
Image: Phyllida Barlow, dock, 2014. Duveen Commission, Tate Britain, London, 2014. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Alex Delfanne.
The Fruitmarket Gallery’s summer exhibition is a major exhibition of new work made specially for The Fruitmarket Gallery by Phyllida Barlow, one of the international art world’s brightest stars. Born in Newcastle in 1944, and with a career spanning six decades, Barlow is known for monumental sculpture made from simple materials such as plywood, cardboard, fabric, plaster, paint and plastic. Physically impressive and materially insistent, her sculptures are inspired by engaging with the outside world, and with the experience of living and looking.
Barlow’s most recent success was dock, made for the prestigious Duveen Commission at Tate Britain, which challenged the architecture of the grand entrance galleries with breathtakingly large yet curiously homely sculptures. We are very proud that now she has agreed to work her magic on The Fruitmarket Gallery, with an exhibition that sets out, in her own words, to “turn the gallery upside down.” She is making a new series of large sculptures that will engulf the gallery in art, spilling from the upper gallery over the staircase and into the ground floor, enticing the visitor from the street and into the world of her visual imagination.
A new monograph is being produced by The Fruitmarket Gallery to mark this exhibition, Phyllida Barlow: Sculpture 1963–2015, written by Frances Morris, Head of Collections and International Art at Tate. Reproducing many works never seen before, this major monograph will illustrate more than 100 works, and will be an indispensible resource on the practice of this important British sculptor, who continues to be lauded by artists and critics for her work, and for her influence on several generations of artists.
The publication will be launched at the Edinburgh Art Festival on 29 July and will include images of Barlow’s installations at The Fruitmarket Gallery; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; Tate Britain; Hauser & Wirth, Somerset and London; the 55th Venice Biennale; and the 2013 Carnegie International, among many others. Published by The Fruitmarket Gallery and Hatje Cantz. Order a copy here.
Events
Director’s talk: Fiona Bradley
Monday 6 July, 6–7pm, free
A chance to hear The Fruitmarket Gallery’s Director talk about how the exhibition came together
Artist’s talk: Phyllida Barlow
Wednesday 29 July, 5–5:30pm, free
An intimate walk around the exhibition with the artist
Discussion: “Extracurricular Activity: Undermining Histories of Art”
Monday 28 September, 6–8pm, free
Catherine Spencer (University of St Andrews) and Moran Shelag (UCL) explore ideas around humour, (anti)-education and contemporary art.
Panel discussion: “Why Make?”
Tuesday 6 October, 6:30–8pm, free
Phyllida Barlow and fellow artists Kate Davis, Keith Wilson, Eric Bainbridge and curator Jon Wood (Henry Moore Institute) consider the actions and ideas behind making sculpture now and how they relate to other forms of art making.
“Art and the Anti-Monumental”
Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Frances Morris at Edinburgh International Book Festival Tuesday 25 August, 11am, Edinburgh International Book Festival
Barlow discusses risks, restlessness, her Fruitmarket Gallery exhibition and her new book Phyllida Barlow: Sculpture 1963–2015, with its author Frances Morris.
Book tickets here.
