Was so sad to hear this news today. Thank you for this lovely tribute. Really enjoyed your podcast with her. Phyllida left a beautiful path of her life. 💖
Sigh. I’ve been a professional, and successful artist for over 4 decades. This work is just…crap.
I appreciate your tender elegy to someone you obviously liked very much, but frankly, the emperor has no clothes, despite all the sighing and oooing and aaahing.
I don’t say this often. As someone who trained under the masters of the Washington Color school, I definitely have an open mind and a deep appreciation for those that push the boundaries, but this isn’t it. The ONLY thing I can respect, is that she was clever enough to know that if she made work “museum sized” that it would get the attention of…. Museums. And automatically without any judgement of worth or quality be officially approved. But it’s still deliberately artless, laughable crap.
Thanks for this, I have been thinking a lot about the life of Barlow – an artist I wasn’t completely aware of before the many sound bites of her thinking have been posted since her passing.
Her life was worth doing a deep dive into which I did and then wrote about in a blog post on my website. Her story revealed an exceptional later-in-life emergence onto the world stage – the time in a woman’s life when art institutions don’t often pay attention to an “emerging artist“ as that designation is too readily associated with the heady potential energy of an artist in their 20s or 30s.
She balanced her practice with teaching and the work of family, simultaneously building solid foundations in her practice so that when her kids were fully cooked, and she felt that her time teaching was finished, her full emergence was readily noted by the art world.
While the writing is exceptional, the artist not so much. We need to recognize that this woman while talented in an obscure sort of way was undeniably an aristocrat given opportunities no one, definitely an artist far more talented, would ever receive. Doors open because of who you know in the art world no different than any other profession. I will be an artist woman in a world that may never ever recognize talent or genius based on merit but merely who their family linage might be.
I appreciated her perspective on “space.” Gave me something new to chew. Perhaps you’re over educated or institutionalized. Go make some art. You are darkening this space.
And all of the people around the young boy, who had exclaimed the emperor really didn’t have any clothes, tried to insult the boy, shush him , and told his mother she should spank him because they were afraid if they didn’t agree with the powerful emperor, they could be shunned by all of the important wealthy citizens.. But one or two people woke up and realized oh my gosh the emperor REALLY IS naked!!
PS: Jerry Saltz also thinks it’s crap. So I will go with his opinion, rather than some random guy on the Internet, who had his feelings hurt.
It does sound like you are upon a throne making the declarations, sir. Come on down and mix with real folk. Am I supposed to grovel at at the feet of Jerry Saltz, whoever that is. And I guess I should care who you are Dr. Effete.
The fact that you have no idea who Jerry Salz is, the premier Art Critic for the New York Times who has held this role for over 40 years, tells me that you know nothing about art, very little about the world and don’t read either.
Was so sad to hear this news today. Thank you for this lovely tribute. Really enjoyed your podcast with her. Phyllida left a beautiful path of her life. 💖
What lovely work! Bold and gentle at the same time
Thank you so much for this. 👁️
Garbage masquerading as art
Thank you for sharing the creative work and thoughts of this amazing woman artist Phyllida Barlow! Her work will continue to breathe and inspire :)
Sigh. I’ve been a professional, and successful artist for over 4 decades. This work is just…crap.
I appreciate your tender elegy to someone you obviously liked very much, but frankly, the emperor has no clothes, despite all the sighing and oooing and aaahing.
I don’t say this often. As someone who trained under the masters of the Washington Color school, I definitely have an open mind and a deep appreciation for those that push the boundaries, but this isn’t it. The ONLY thing I can respect, is that she was clever enough to know that if she made work “museum sized” that it would get the attention of…. Museums. And automatically without any judgement of worth or quality be officially approved. But it’s still deliberately artless, laughable crap.
Sorry. I did like your essay though. Good writer.
I loved this on a soul-level🤍
Thanks for this, I have been thinking a lot about the life of Barlow – an artist I wasn’t completely aware of before the many sound bites of her thinking have been posted since her passing.
Her life was worth doing a deep dive into which I did and then wrote about in a blog post on my website. Her story revealed an exceptional later-in-life emergence onto the world stage – the time in a woman’s life when art institutions don’t often pay attention to an “emerging artist“ as that designation is too readily associated with the heady potential energy of an artist in their 20s or 30s.
She balanced her practice with teaching and the work of family, simultaneously building solid foundations in her practice so that when her kids were fully cooked, and she felt that her time teaching was finished, her full emergence was readily noted by the art world.
A life well played.
While the writing is exceptional, the artist not so much. We need to recognize that this woman while talented in an obscure sort of way was undeniably an aristocrat given opportunities no one, definitely an artist far more talented, would ever receive. Doors open because of who you know in the art world no different than any other profession. I will be an artist woman in a world that may never ever recognize talent or genius based on merit but merely who their family linage might be.
Dear Dr. Heintz,
From Agnes Martin:
“ The great and fatal pitfall in the art field and in life is dependence on the intellect rather than inspiration.
Dependence on intellect means a consideration of observed facts and deductions from observation as a guide in life.
Dependence on inspiration means dependence on consciousness, a growing consciousness that develops from awareness of beauty and happiness.
To live and work by inspiration you have to stop thinking.
You have to hold your mind still in order to hear inspiration clearly.”
Loved this article. Thank you for sharing.
As the fable goes, the emperor had no clothes, but nonetheless everyone exclaimed how refined he looked.
I appreciated her perspective on “space.” Gave me something new to chew. Perhaps you’re over educated or institutionalized. Go make some art. You are darkening this space.
And all of the people around the young boy, who had exclaimed the emperor really didn’t have any clothes, tried to insult the boy, shush him , and told his mother she should spank him because they were afraid if they didn’t agree with the powerful emperor, they could be shunned by all of the important wealthy citizens.. But one or two people woke up and realized oh my gosh the emperor REALLY IS naked!!
PS: Jerry Saltz also thinks it’s crap. So I will go with his opinion, rather than some random guy on the Internet, who had his feelings hurt.
It does sound like you are upon a throne making the declarations, sir. Come on down and mix with real folk. Am I supposed to grovel at at the feet of Jerry Saltz, whoever that is. And I guess I should care who you are Dr. Effete.
The fact that you have no idea who Jerry Salz is, the premier Art Critic for the New York Times who has held this role for over 40 years, tells me that you know nothing about art, very little about the world and don’t read either.
Opinion cheerfully discarded.