Phyllida Barlow’s first solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Zürich, ‘small worlds’, features new sculptures, drawings and wall-works made by the artist during and inspired by the 2020 lockdown in London. The exhibition in Zurich coincides with Barlow’s major survey show at Haus der Kunst in Munich, opening on the 10 March 2021.

Phyllida Barlow’s new ‘lockdown’ sculptures in Zurich continue a shift away from the more immersive environments within her practice. Created in her home studio in London, these smaller sculptures, placed on steel plinths or directly onto the wall, invite the viewer to consider the works on an individual and more intimate basis. Working on a smaller scale during this period has also allowed the artist to return to a more direct means of making.

Varying in size, texture, materials, colour and shape, the lockdown sculptures have been transformed from offcuts of previous works, using their raw materiality and structural elements as a starting point for creation. The exhibition also presents a suite of new drawings made in 2020. Drawing is an integral part of Barlow’s practice; she draws before, during and after creating sculptures, both as a means of developing a working process and to visualise ideas which are later translated into three dimensions.

Phyllida Barlow: small worlds / Hauser & Wirth Zürich. Zürich (Switzerland), March 2, 2021.

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