London
Phyllida Barlow’s site-specific commission for Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries was one of the most successful uses of this space in recent years. Made from a number of distinct, but closely related, elements, it dominated, even challenged, John Russell Pope’s somewhat pompous Neoclassical interior. The title, Dock, seemed a useful way into the piece, simultaneously suggesting a place for building and harboring ships (and Tate Britain’s location on the Thames), the place where one appears before a judge and jury, and the abstract principle of joining together. When thinking of shipping, it might also be worth remembering that the space is named for Lord Duveen, who made his fortune in the international art trade, and housed in an institution established through the philanthropy of 19th-century sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate. The first of the work’s seven elements consisted of five…see the entire review in the print version of April’s Sculpture magazine.
