Untitled 1995

Curator: This drawing is by Phyllida Barlow, known for her monumental, often transient sculptural installations. This work, titled "Untitled," currently resides in the Tate Collections, and it really captures her interest in form. Editor: Immediately I'm drawn to the rough, almost brutalist lines. It’s as if Barlow is exploring the very essence of shape and structure. The dark charcoal against the stark blue paper creates a sense of immediacy. Curator: I see that too. Consider her broader practice; Barlow challenges traditional notions of permanence and monumentality. The sketch echoes her engagement with precariousness, disrupting hierarchies of value, while questioning the gendered narratives embedded in architectural spaces. Editor: There’s a strange sense of ritual here too. Note the circular form—a potent symbol. The stool itself is humble, domestic. Perhaps this is about the sacred within the ordinary? Curator: Perhaps, and it's interesting to consider how Barlow uses scale, even in a small work like this, to subvert patriarchal notions of power and authority, decentering traditional heroic narratives. Editor: It’s fascinating how a simple sketch can hold so much symbolic weight. Barlow reminds us to look closer, to question the objects around us. Curator: Indeed, it is in these quiet interrogations that we find the most compelling critiques.