A load of rubbish

Or, rather, one of her "imposing, large scale sculptural installations using inexpensive, everyday materials such as cardboard, fabric, timber, polystyrene, plaster, scrim and cement", now gracing the Duveen Galleries. Phyllida Barlow at Tate Britain:

Elsewhere, the elephant in the room:

A group of art enthusiasts are introduced to the complexities of Bill Woodrow's meditation on colonialism, constructed from an ironing board, old maps, a rusted automatic weapon and a number of car doors.

At least someone's having a good time:

The young lad here of course, - sailing past Henry Moore at the back there, and another of Phyllida Barlow's "sculptural installations" - is paying homage to Martin Creed's 2008 masterpiece Work No 850, in which runners sprinted down the gallery every 30 seconds.

Good to see that art is still capable of inspiring the next generation.

Comments

[Richard Powell]

There's an entire room given over to another Martin Creed work of equal imaginative power, the one where the lights go on and off the whole time. I can't be bothered to check its opus number. It really is scandalous that space should be wasted on such tripe, when important artists are completely unrepresented in the displays. In the earlier days the crap was siphoned off to Tate Modern, but now it seems to be worming its way back.

[Mick H]

I somehow never made it to Martin Creed's big show at the Hayward Gallery this year, but the critics on the BBC's Review Show were very positive. Paul Morley was particularly enthusiastic, suggesting that "artist" was no longer a proper description for such a genius. Too constraining. We need, he said, a new word for people like Creed. No one, sadly, was impolite enough to respond with the obvious suggestion.

[Richard Powell]

To be fair to the Tate, they've removed Work No 227 and the room is now given over to Alan Davie, who died recently. So at least it's being used to display modern British paintings. The Ken Clark exhibition in the basement is excellent. The Phyllida Barlow is the biggest pile of dead wood I've seen since Bonfire Night in Lewes.

[Mick H]

True, there is some excellent stuff on show, as well as the dead wood. I particularly liked the retrospective on photographer Chris Killip.

[Minnow]

"but the critics on the BBC's Review Show were very positive"

Yes and Front Row liked it too, getting very excited when they interviewed Creed. Everyone else, though, pretty much panned it. I think the BBC are uniquely bad at reviewing the arts.