Phyllida Barlow (born April 4th, 1944) is a British artist.
Phyllida Barlow, Contraption [Sculpture] At: https://www.artsy.net/show/the-fruitmarket-gallery-phyllida-barlow-set (Accessed 13.10.2020)
My first impression of this sculptor was mixed. The attitude to the material was embarrassing. The sculptures are dirty, unkempt and unaesthetic. The material appears to stain with cement or plaster, where cheap materials are bulged outward and smeared with something. There is no logic and aesthetics for me. But repeated references and recommendations about this artist made me look closer at her work.
I felt her work as sculpture for the sake of sculpture. The viewer almost needs to become material in order to feel an object. These works become full-fledged objects of the world in which they have not yet been defined.
Phyllida Barlow: Bad Copies. 12 April – 17 June 2012. Exhibition in the Upper Sculpture Study Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery [Sculpture] At: https://www.henry-moore.org/whats-on/2012/04/12/phyllida-barlow-bad-copies# (Accessed 13.10.2020)
Comparing the objects and drawings of these objects in the latter one feels the limitation. In the natural world, objects begin to interact at the bodily level with a person, but on the plane, these objects are limited, and the material of the drawing is perceived first.
Marisol Escobar (May 22, 1930 – April 30, 2016) was a French sculptor of Venezuelan heritage who worked in New York.
On the other hand, it is interesting to compare the sculptor who combined physicality with figurativeness.
Marisol (Marisol Escobar), Six Women, 1965–66 Wood, paint, mirrors, shoes, formica, and plaster, 69 × 105 × 52 in. (175.3 × 266.7 × 132.1 cm) Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift of the artist, 1968.1 Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago [Sculpture] At: https://mcachicago.org/Collection/Items/1965/Marisol-Marisol-Escobar-Six-Women-1965-66 (Accessed 13.10.2020)
Marisol Escobar, assembling an image from material and colour which are open the character or situation around a human being.
Marisol Escobar, Marta Graham 1977 [Sculpture] At: https://revistaestilo.org/2020/07/18/marisol/#jp-carousel-6354 (Accessed 13.10.2020)
Her work based on wood. The images of people fit into this material, blocks of wood complemented by found objects, plaster, and fabrics.
When comparing these two authors, it is interesting to note that in the first case, the reference goes entirely to the sensible and interpretation through this sensual. In the second example, the first thing that is perceived is the figure, and then there is an interpretation through the material.
Phyllida Barlow does not criticize anyone, she talks about the general meaning of sculpture, and Marisol reflects about society and the position of women.
Comments