Moving around uncertain and tenuously balanced space, a sense of instability and the deception of materials, all are elements for me of Phyllida Barlow’s work in this exhibition at the Royal Academy.
What seem to be massive blocks of concrete are skimmed bits of plywood. Bent wire and painted plaster structures affect the space around them with delicate shadows
and precariously balanced slabs are seemingly held up by randomly placed wooden poles.
Huge teetering and slapdash-looking scaffolding holds blocks up high demanding to be seen from underneath
Ambiguous equilibrium and an overwhelming sense of the temporary, in contrast to the massiveness of scale.
