PHYLLIDA BARLOW: Messy Monuments

PHYLLIDA BARLOW:

Live Class: Tuesday 9th September 2025

6 -7:45pm GMT

+ 14 Days Recording Access

Taught by Lucy McGeown

The DRAWING SCULPTURE SERIES of classes will be looking into the vital relationship between the drawing practices and making processes of some of the pre-eminent female sculptors and installation artists of the 20th and 21st century. Through the lens of drawing, and sometimes printmaking and photography, these artists were able to discover something new about how to visualise their ideas and expand their perception of space, volume and form.

Maybe I don't think enough about beauty in my work because I'm so curious about other qualities, abstract qualities of time, weight, balance, rhythm; collapse and fatigue versus the more upright dynamic notions of maybe posture ... the state that something might be in. Is it growing or shrinking, is it going up or down, is it folding or unfolding?

— Phyllida Barlow,

Phyllida Barlow was one of the most innovative and radical British sculptors in recent history. Celebrated for pushing the boundaries of contemporary sculpture, she relentlessly challenged what sculpture could be and created her own unique aesthetic from everyday and often industrial materials such as concrete, scrim, hoardings, plaster, rope and wooden timber.

Barlow’s curiosity and playfulness were always at the forefront of her practice, constantly finding new ways to challenge form and always pushing the limits of the materials she worked with. She most famously known for her large scale, imposing and space-filling sculptural installations but she was also a prolific producer of drawings- in fact her drawing and sculptural practices are completely entangled and are almost one and the same.

Drawing was not a peripheral activity or in support of her sculpture practice-but was an integral part of her artistic output and are works in their own right

These drawings are a fantastic example of creating with a boundless energy

The drawings were a space for carefree exploration, where the relationships between the colours and shapes were developed intuitively - without any perception of an end point or even that they would come to inform the 3D work.

She talks about how these were a currency of her creative energy, easily accessible and constant - they were ongoing around her family and work life.

In this class we will be making drawings and painted drawings from a range of her drawings that span her 50 yr career, showing the ways she developed her unique aesthetics and the significant pieces that catalysed new phases of sculptural invention.

After creating a series of our own drawings and immersing ourselves in Barlow's dynamic, humorous and uncanny sculpturall forms, we will be transforming some of our own drawings into sculptures. By using some household materials to improvise our own own Barlow-esque sculpture we will finish the session with an exciting opportunity to play and create in the way the Barlow herself did!

Recommended materials to use:

10 x sheets of paper

Coloured Pencils and Pens

Acrylic paints, waterpot and brushes

An eraser

Scissors

Tapes: colourful: electrical, masking, duck tape

Sticks, found sticks or lollipop/skewers or paper straws

Blue tack

Tissue

This class is open to all levels!

Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class

We love to see your drawings or anything else our classes inspire! You can share them with us by tagging us on instagram (@londondrawinggroup) or emailing us if you don't have socials.

About the Tutor:

Lucy McGeown (b.1986) is an artist and teacher based in Margate. She studied Fine Art at UEL and got her Masters from The City and Guilds Art School in 2017. Lucy is one of the founding members of London Drawing Group and started the LDG Kids classes in 2021.

Lucy is incredibly passionate about drawing and the importance of creativity and play in our everyday lives, whatever your age!

To see some of Lucy's work check out her instagram account @lucymcgeown or lucymcgeown.com

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And that's it!

LDG