The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture - Phyllida Barlow

Anyone who read my postgraduate dissertation will recall that I have a fondness for the work of Phyllida Barlow, and once again, she does not disappoint. Barlow's work is on the cusp of sculpture and installation. The viewer can stand back and admire the sculpture or can enter into the work, walking amongst the rough concrete pillars.

Although this work has been exhibited before in Des Moines, Iowa, Barlow has obviously put a lot of thought and planning into how it can be re-exhibited in The Hepworth as it responds to and commands the architecture of the Gallery. Moving around is an adventure, and one is continuously changing their understanding of the work as different elements are revealed and new aspects discovered. For instance, once I had scrambled through the structure, I was surprised to be faced with a stunning array of coloured boards that formed the roof of the structure I was just moving through. Out of the darkness I found brightness from these 'roof tiles'. 

In one corner of the gallery a number of right-angled boards lead up the wall, bringing ones attention back into the gallery. 

A bundle of black cables hangs in the opposite corner. The friend that I am visiting with thinks it resembles a sun, but I am less convinced. There is already lots to take in, and I do not think any more is necessary.

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield

During my visit to Yorkshire this Christmas I was keen to check out the The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture is the UK's first Prize for Sculpture. It is a new £30,000 biennial award that recognises a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage in their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture.  It is an integral part of The Hepworth Gallery's 5th anniversary celebrations and named in honour of Barbara Hepworth.

The 2016 shortlisted artists are (in alphabetical order):

- Phyllida Barlow
- Steven Claydon
- Helen Marten

- David Medalla

Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield and Chair of the Selecting Panel said: “We are delighted to have such a strong and diverse shortlist for our inaugural Prize and are looking forward to working with these artists and to inspire and engage our audiences with the medium of sculpture. It is particularly fitting that we launch the first Prize of its kind, here in the heart of the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.”

He added: “While there is no shortage of prizes in the art world, few specifically recognise sculpture and it is our aspiration to redress that with the launch of one of the UK’s most important new awards. We have based the selection of the four shortlisted artists on the significance of their contribution to sculpture in its broadest definition.”

http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/news/the-hepworth-wakefield-announces-the-four-shortlisted-artists-and-judging-panel-for-the-uk-s-first-prize-for-sculpture/

An exploration of playfulness in contemporary art

You may have noticed that activity on my blog has been rather sluggish during the month of January.

The reason for this is that I have had to direct my attention away from the studio and focus on writing my Master of Fine Art dissertation which had to be submitted today.



The dissertation has been a huge challenge, but I have found it to be of great value to my practice.

I chose to write about playfulness in contemporary art, and identified three ways in which play can be said to exist within art, namely: the form of the artwork; the process of making the artwork and the way in which the audience experiences the artwork.

These key aspects were the focus of three contemporary practice case studies. Comparisons and contrasts were made between sculptor Phyllida Barlow, collaborative duo Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich, and Carsten Höller.

I identified how play relates to the artwork they make; the processes they engage in when making work and how the audience interacts with the work.

My experience of going to see their exhibitions, and in the case of Walker and Bromwich, being involved in one of their artworks informed the inquiry which was aided by an examination of secondary research.

I intend to make the dissertation available on my website at some point but, in the meanwhile, if you would like to read my dissertation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

My email address is helen.shaddock(at)yahoo.co.uk

Paint used as glue

Within my dissertation I discuss three ways in which play exists within art; namely, the form of the artwork; the process of making the artwork, and the way in which the audience experience the artwork. Chapter 1 seeks to examine how Phyllida Barlow (1944-) makes work in a playful manner. Within this, I explore the notion of intuition and spontaneity; how she deals with scale; her use and application of colour, and her choice of, and engagement with, materials. 

 

Action is implicit in Barlow’s sculptures. The manner in which she applies paint to a surface is intuitive and physical. Paint is smeared onto a surface in an uncontrolled fashion, covering part of the structure unevenly, and leaving other areas exposed. Tidily and seamlessly are two words not associated with how Barlow works.  Paint is used not just for its colour, but for its structural function as a means of sticking things together. 

This prompted me to use paint as a form of glue, attaching individual Cheerios to one another. The size of the Cheerios limits the extent to which I can apply the paint in a gestural manner, but the paint has been able to stick the hoops together.

Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Briony Fer and Fiona Bradley

Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Fiona Bradley, Director, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Briony Fer, Professor of History of Art, UCL. 

In this video Phyllida Barlow talks openly about her practice. Topics discussed include her exhibition in the grand Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain, her working process, her fear of heights, intuition, scale and size, colour, working with her 'team' to make the work, the discipline of sculpture and her experience of education, both as a student and a lecturer.