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Joseph Clark Collection

Phyllida Barlow

1944–2023 · Sculpture, installation and drawing

Phyllida Barlow (1944–2023) was a British sculptor who built large installations from plywood, cardboard, fabric, plaster and cement that embraced instability and collapse. She represented Britain at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.

Work on this site

Phyllida Barlow, Untitled: Grinder, 2014. Acrylic on watercolour paper with dark sweeping forms over a pale grey ground.Untitled: Grinder, 2014Acrylic on watercolour paper

In the collection

About the artist

Phyllida Barlow (1944–2023) was one of the most influential British sculptors of the contemporary era, celebrated for monumental installations that transformed ordinary materials into emotionally charged environments of tension, instability, and physical presence. Working with plywood, cardboard, fabric, plaster, cement, timber, paint, and industrial debris, Barlow developed a sculptural language that embraced imperfection, provisionality, collapse, and excess. (Tate)

Although widely respected within artistic circles for decades, Barlow achieved major international recognition later in her career, culminating in representing Britain at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. Her work fundamentally challenged traditional ideas of monumentality, permanence, and sculptural authority, instead foregrounding process, fragility, improvisation, and physical labour. (British Council)

Sources

  1. Tate: Phyllida Barlow
  2. British Council Venice Biennale
  3. Hauser & Wirth
A room in the Joseph Clark Collection hung salon-style: framed paintings, drawings and photographs cover two white walls, with sculptures on a teak sideboard and a white plinth below.
Installation view of the Joseph Clark Collection, including works by Zhang Enli, Tamsin Relly, Glenn Ligon, Louise Bourgeois, Ray Parker, Phyllida Barlow, Bengt Rosenström, Antonio Tarsis, Hugo Glendinning, Tim A Shaw, France-Lise McGurn, Mia Chaplin, Fabian Peake and Yukako Shibata.

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