Provenance

Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, 28 October 2013.

Private Collection.

Exhibited

Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, The Colour of Light, 1 to 23 November 2013.

Notes

Philip Barlow's practice blurs the boundaries between representation and abstraction, offering a compelling contemporary meditation on perception, light and the fleeting nature of the moment.

Central to his artistic inquiry is the phenomenon of light and its chromatic effects. The present lot exemplifies this through a composition of circular white, red, orange and blue hues hovering against a luminous evening sky, suggesting an interplay of reflected light. Faint architectural structures emerge in the background, signalling the imprint of human intervention on the landscape.

Beginning with a photographic reference, he captures an instant and then reinterprets it on canvas. The resulting images are atmospheric and characterised by diffused edges, tonal gradations and become less about literal representation and more about viewing the world through an altered lens.

His use of the camera as a starting point links his practice to photorealism, yet the softened, glowing aesthetic he achieves through paint suggests an interest in what lies just beyond ordinary sight.