14/03/2023
In loving memory of artist Phyllida Barlow (1944 - 2023)
Phyllida Barlow was invited to create a site-specific ceiling for the Audley. Barlow began at the studio by painting lining paper in hot colours – reds, pinks, oranges combined with blues and greens – using a broom to enlarge the textures, drips, and chance gestures. On site these were cut up, collaged and pasted directly onto the ceiling in shapes that were inspired by, and echoed, the existing architecture of the Audley, specifically the curve of the Edwardian windows. The collision of colours and forms that process along the length of the Audley also weaves in musical ebbs and flows, as Barlow explained ‘somewhere between Classical and Jazz […] creating an ebullient mood, that was both welcoming and spirited’, much like the Audley itself!
Pictured: Phyllida Barlow during the installation of The Audley Public House ceiling, London, July 2022. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke