PHILIP BARLOW
(b.1968 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)

Philip Barlow describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of colour, where he at first captures his images with a camera and then translates them into a painted format. He is interested in the concept of capturing “the moment”, a millisecond in time when everything lines up perfectly. His paintings seek to explore and demonstrate this, rather like a wonderfully composed climax of a symphony, a perfect marriage. His paintings also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and colour come together in all their complexity. Barlow has a deep appreciation and love for the power and science of colour. Careful tonal shifts and subtlety characterize his work, and the blurred image enabled by the camera lens creates new but familiar understandings of form and the relationship between people and place.

‘The figures in the landscape serve as carriers and reflectors of the light that falls upon them. Bathed in the luminosity, it is my hope that they would become more beautiful. To me, light is the ultimate subject because it embodies the pinnacle of all reality.’ He is fascinated with the common notion that everything is random when there can be no question that there is design in everything. His is a philosophy of harmony, where even in the grit and grime of a city there is immense beauty to be discovered. A beauty that lies between the imperceptible and the unknown.

Barlow graduated in 1990 from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. He has shown in numerous exhibitions in South Africa, as well as in North America, the UK and Europe.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025   

split, Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

2021   

slowing a split second, Everard Read, London, UK 

2020   

intersections, Galerie LeRoyer, Montréal, Québec, Canada

2019   

between broadway & 42nd, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa 

2018   

still motion II, Everard Read, London, UK

2017   

still motion, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2015   

The Anatomy of Colour, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2013   

The colour of light, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa 

2010   

Light Train, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa 

2008   

Vapor, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

Luminosity, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa 

2006   

De Light, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa 

2005   

Solo exhibition at the Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa 

2004   

Glow, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2003   

This Thing of Light, Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023   

If you look hard enough, you can see our future, African American Museum, Dallas, USA

2022   

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Group show, Galerie LeRoyer, Toronto, Canada

Art Miami, with Galerie LeRoyer, Miami, USA

2021   

Oasis, 25th anniversary show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2020   

Odyssey, online exhibition, Everard Read, South Africa & UK

2019   

Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2017   

Reality Check, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Solo studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa

Winter, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2016   

Summer in the City, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Solo studios, Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa

2014   

Summer Salon, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece

2013   

Allusions of Abstraction, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa

2011   

Persona, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa

Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA

The Homestead Charity Art Auction, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa

2009   

Art That Inspires, 10-20 Anniversary, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa

Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA

2004   

Identity,  Fortis Circustheater, Scheveningen, Netherlands

COLLECTIONS

Bowman Gilfillan, Johannesburg
Nandos, London