The exhibition presents two positions on sculpture in the 21st century. Barlow is a pioneering English artist whose sculptural installations are characterised by their large scale, often made quickly in the same place that they are to be shown with materials that are subsequently recycled for future use. Baghramian is a Berlin-based artist known for her sculptural installations and photographs. Her complex work includes elements of re-worked design, minimalist and modernist architecture. Baghramian and Barlow's installation spaces where works are placed in dialogue with each other.
The exhibition is curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Director,
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, and Kathryn Rattee, Curator,
Serpentine Gallery.
The Serpentine Gallery presents an exhibition of the work of artists
Nairy Baghramian and Phyllida Barlow. The exhibition presents two
positions on sculpture in the 21st century.
Nairy Baghramian (b. Iran, 1971) is a Berlin-based artist known for
her sculptural installations and photographs. Her complex work
encompasses questions of context, institutional framing and the
production and reception of contemporary art. It also includes
elements of re-worked minimalism, design history and modernist
architecture. Well represented in Europe, this is Baghramian's first
exhibition in a major public institution in the UK.
Phyllida Barlow (b. United Kingdom, 1944) is a pioneering English
artist whose sculptural installations are characterised by their large
scale, often made quickly in the same place that they are to be
shown with materials that are subsequently recycled for future use.
Their often rough appearance conveys the urgency with which they
are produced. In addition to being a practising artist since the 1960s,
Barlow has had a long teaching career, tutoring several generations
of students who have gone on to become distinguished artists.
Although strikingly different in their approach, a number of key
concerns are addressed by both artists. For instance central to
Baghramian’s work is how art historical debates around minimalism,
literature, design and politics are translated into specific decisions
about materiality, manufacture and display. Whilst Barlow’s work
engages with related questions, it reaches contrasting conclusions.
Baghramian and Barlow’s installation will include rooms displaying
solo presentations of their work as well as spaces where works are
placed in dialogue with each other. This exhibition will offer a new
perspective on these two artists.
Responses to context are also a shared interest; Barlow often uses
a work’s location as a starting point for its dimensions and form, as
well as actually constructing some works in situ, whereas
Baghramian’s work deals with the relationship between sculptural
forms the spaces they inhabit.
Nairy Baghramian’s recent solo exhibitions include The Walker’s
Day Off, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2008); Affairs. A Semiotic House
That Was Never Built, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen,
Germany (2008); Entr’acte, Skulptur Projekte Munster 07 (2007);
Es ist ausser Haus (It is outside the house), Kunsthalle Basel,
Switzerland (2006); and Everlasting layers of ideas, images, feelings,
Kunstverein Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany (2006).
Phyllida Barlow’s recent solo exhibitions include: BRAKE, One in
the Other Gallery, London (2009); STINT, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts
Centre (2008); untitled: ramp, tower, flags, 2007, Galleria Jesus
Gallardo, Mexico (2007); and Peninsula, BALTIC Centre for
Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2004-05). Recent group exhibitions
include Under One Umbrella, Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2010);
Silberkuppe, Kunstmuseum Basel, (2010).
Image: Nairy Baghramian, Portrait (The Conceptual Artist’s Smoking Head) 2008. Installation view Nairy Baghramian and Phyllida Barlow, Serpentine Gallery, London 2010 © 2010 Nairy Baghramian. Photograph: Raphael Hefti
For press information, contact:
Rose Dempsey, 020 7298 1520, rosed@serpentinegallery.org
Tom Coupe, 020 7298 1544, tomc@serpentinegallery.org
Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
Nearest Tube: South Kensington or Lancaster Gate
Gallery open 10am to 6pm daily
Admission free