Upturnedhouse 2012

Phyllida Barlow's Upturnedhouse is this crazy construction, it looks like it was made out of whatever was lying around the studio or building site. Barlow plays with color in a way that feels both deliberate and off-the-cuff, you know? The surfaces are roughly painted, like she's building more than painting. I'm thinking about that raw texture, those visible brushstrokes, the way the colors butt up against each other with a kind of awkward grace. The palette of pastel colors feels deliberately mismatched to the bulky materials, as if Barlow is aiming to disrupt any easy reading of the work. There is a kind of dialogue between the formal and the emotional. It’s almost like a conversation between the artist and the materials that unfolds as she’s working. Reminds me a bit of Kurt Schwitters, but with more color and a playful, feminist sensibility. It refuses to be just one thing, and I think that's where its power lies.