Upturnedhouse 2012

Phyllida Barlow made this sculpture titled 'Upturnedhouse' from painted wood, concrete and found materials. I wonder what it was like for her in the studio, wrestling with these clunky, unwieldy components. I mean, the way she juxtaposes these pale pinks, yellows, and greens with those slabs of rough concrete – it’s kind of jarring, isn’t it? Yet there's a playful kind of sensibility in it, too. It's not just about the materials but how she puts them together, balancing them just so. I find it strangely moving. The house is more like an anti-house; it's a structure but also an anti-structure. I like how Barlow’s work sits outside the mainstream, yet she manages to have the last laugh somehow. You get the sense she’s in conversation with the whole history of sculpture, turning it on its head. Barlow offers an ongoing reminder of the way artists work through ideas, responding to each other, and finding new ways to express themselves through the materials at hand.