Phyllida Barlow: Fifty Years of Drawings, Hauser & Wirth

Hauser & Wirth are taking a chance to show off their new sign-up; their Phyllida Barlow drawings exhibition takes a deeper look behind the artist's current hype.

One of the most talked-about exhibitions of recent months has been Phyllida Barlow's commission for Tate Britain's Duveen Galleries. Against a backdrop of mild (and mildly irritating) controversy surrounding Tate Britain's programming, this relatively underappreciated artist has stolen everyone's attention. Barlow, who is now in her 70s, is best known for her large scale sculptural projects. However, for the Duveen Gallery commission, she has produced a work on a gargantuan scale even by her standards.

Now, Hauser & Wirth are offering a more intimate glimpse of Barlow's practice; a chance to gain a little insight into her working methods. Surprisingly, almost all of Barlow's sculptures produced in the last fifty years have been destroyed. So, this archive of drawings really is the best extant documentation of her past work.

While Barlow's sculptures have often been huge in scale she resists monumental forms, opting instead to concentrate on the relationships and spaces between objects. It is in her drawings that Barlow most freely explores these ideas. Drawing also allows the artist to play with forms that would be impossible in real life; sculptures balanced on a precarious edge or suspended in mid air. Barlow typically makes drawings while planning and while constructing her sculptural work. She does so in several different media; the drawings in this exhibition include work in pencil, pastel, charcoal, acrylic and watercolour.

Spanning such a long period as they do, these drawings chart the many changing influences on Barlow's practice, from Pop Art to Arte Povera. The exhibition is a history of British sculpture as well as a document of Barlow's career. Over the decades Barlow's output has included elements of Cubism and displayed varying degrees of abstraction and figuration. This show is a must for anyone who finds their interest piqued by the buzz around Barlow. 

Opening: Thursday 22 May 6 – 8 pm