A North East-born sculptor has died at the age of 78, it has been announced.

The renowned artist Dame Phyllida Barlow, known for her large-scale installations made from everyday DIY materials, such as concrete and plywood, enjoyed a career lasting almost six decades.

Dame Phyllida was born in Newcastle in 1944, and got her big break as an artist in 2004, when her work was featured at an exhibit at the Baltic in Gateshead. Here, she gained representation from gallery Hauser and Wirth. 

Before breaking into the elite art world, Phyllida had a taught art in the North East, 

Dame Phyllida was described by her gallery, as “a remarkably original, powerful and generous artist” who “playfully guided audiences to become daring explorers”.

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“Phyllida Barlow singularly redefined a language of sculpture and consistently shattered conventions, challenging old notions of monumentality and of beauty,” a statement on the gallery’s website read.

“Over the course of almost 60 years, she embraced humble materials to create sculpture and installations that defied the rules of gravity, balance and symmetry.

“Her work interrupts and invades the space around it, a strategy through which Barlow playfully guided audiences to become daring explorers.”

Dame Phyllida was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1944 and studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art, both in London.

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She joined the staff of the Slade in the late 1960s and taught there for more than 40 years, retiring from academia in 2009.

Dame Phyllida’s “large-scale yet anti-monumental sculptures” were made from low-grade and inexpensive materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim, plaster and cement.

The constructions were often painted in industrial or vibrant colours, with the seams of their construction left at times visible.

 

3She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to the arts.

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours, also for services to the arts.

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“There’s something about walking around sculpture that has the possibility of being reflective, like walking through a landscape,” Dame Phyllida said previously.

“The largeness of sculpture has that infinite possibility to make one engage beyond just the object itself and into other realms of experience.”

Throughout her career, Dame Phyllida exhibited extensively across institutions internationally, including Tate Britain, and in 2017 represented Britain at the Venice Biennale.