Philip Barlow
Philip describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of color, 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 also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and color come together in all their complexity.
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Biography
Philip Barlow’s paintings transform scenes of contemporary life into luminous studies of light, color, and perception. Streets, figures, and architecture emerge through softened edges and shifting fields of color, creating images that feel at once familiar and elusive. Hovering between representation and abstraction, his compositions capture the fleeting visual experience of a place rather than its precise details.
Light is central to Barlow’s work, shaping both the atmosphere of his paintings and the relationships between figures and their surroundings. Working initially from photographic imagery, he uses the camera’s selective focus as a point of departure, distilling observed scenes through carefully modulated color and tone. Details recede while illuminated forms come forward, allowing everyday environments to take on an unexpected sense of rhythm, harmony, and depth.
Barlow is particularly drawn to transient moments when light, movement, and color briefly converge. Within the activity of city streets and public spaces, he finds instances of beauty that might otherwise pass unnoticed. By obscuring familiar forms, his paintings encourage a slower way of looking, inviting the viewer to move between recognition and abstraction and to experience the atmosphere of a scene before resolving its individual elements.
Born in 1968 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Barlow studied Graphic Fine Art at Port Elizabeth Technikon, graduating in 1990. He has exhibited in South Africa and internationally, including in North America and Greece, and his work is held in collections worldwide. He lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
Born
1968 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Education
1987–1990 Diploma in Graphic Fine Art (Printmaking, Stained Glass, and Photography), Port Elizabeth Technikon (now Nelson Mandela University), Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Split, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 Urban Glory, Bugno Gallery, Venice, Italy
2021 Slowing a Split Second, Everard Read, London, UK
2020 Intersections, Galerie LeRoyer, Montreal, Canada
2019 Between Broadway and 42nd, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Still Motion II, Everard Read, London, UK
2018 Solo Exhibition, 28th Février, Singapore
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 Luminosity, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2008 Vapor, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006 De Light, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
2005 Solo Exhibition, 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
2024 Urbes, Contemporary Landscape, European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, Spain
Southern Light, Everard Read, London, UK
Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 If You Look Hard Enough, You Can See Our Future, African American Museum, Dallas, TX, USA
2022 Summer Group Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Miami Art Fair, Galerie LeRoyer, Miami, FL, USA
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
2017 Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
CIRCA Winter Collection, CIRCA, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer Exhibition, Everard Read, London, UK
2016 Reality Check, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
2015 Summer in the City, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2014 Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer Salon Show, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
2013 Allusions of Abstraction, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2012 Scape, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2011 Persona, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
Group Exhibition, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2009 Group Exhibition, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Art That Inspires – 10–20 Anniversary, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2004 Identity, Fortis Circustheater, Scheveningen, Netherlands
Selected Collections
Bowman Gilfillan, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nando's, London, UK
Publications
2011 Dany Laferrière, L'Énigme du retour, compact edition, Boréal Publishers (cover artwork)
2009 Dany Laferrière, L'Énigme du retour, Boréal Publishers (cover artwork: Passing)
Press
PRESS
Born
1968 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Education
1987–1990 Diploma in Graphic Fine Art (Printmaking, Stained Glass, and Photography), Port Elizabeth Technikon (now Nelson Mandela University), Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Split, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 Urban Glory, Bugno Gallery, Venice, Italy
2021 Slowing a Split Second, Everard Read, London, UK
2020 Intersections, Galerie LeRoyer, Montreal, Canada
2019 Between Broadway and 42nd, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Still Motion II, Everard Read, London, UK
2018 Solo Exhibition, 28th Février, Singapore
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 Luminosity, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2008 Vapor, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006 De Light, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
2005 Solo Exhibition, 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
2024 Urbes, Contemporary Landscape, European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, Spain
Southern Light, Everard Read, London, UK
Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 If You Look Hard Enough, You Can See Our Future, African American Museum, Dallas, TX, USA
2022 Summer Group Show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Miami Art Fair, Galerie LeRoyer, Miami, FL, USA
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
2017 Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
CIRCA Winter Collection, CIRCA, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer Exhibition, Everard Read, London, UK
2016 Reality Check, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Solo Studios, The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
2015 Summer in the City, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
2014 Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer Salon Show, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
2013 Allusions of Abstraction, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2012 Scape, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2011 Persona, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
Group Exhibition, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2009 Group Exhibition, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Art That Inspires – 10–20 Anniversary, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
2004 Identity, Fortis Circustheater, Scheveningen, Netherlands
Selected Collections
Bowman Gilfillan, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nando's, London, UK
Publications
2011 Dany Laferrière, L'Énigme du retour, compact edition, Boréal Publishers (cover artwork)
2009 Dany Laferrière, L'Énigme du retour, Boréal Publishers (cover artwork: Passing)
Philip Barlow’s paintings transform scenes of contemporary life into luminous studies of light, color, and perception. Streets, figures, and architecture emerge through softened edges and shifting fields of color, creating images that feel at once familiar and elusive. Hovering between representation and abstraction, his compositions capture the fleeting visual experience of a place rather than its precise details.
Light is central to Barlow’s work, shaping both the atmosphere of his paintings and the relationships between figures and their surroundings. Working initially from photographic imagery, he uses the camera’s selective focus as a point of departure, distilling observed scenes through carefully modulated color and tone. Details recede while illuminated forms come forward, allowing everyday environments to take on an unexpected sense of rhythm, harmony, and depth.
Barlow is particularly drawn to transient moments when light, movement, and color briefly converge. Within the activity of city streets and public spaces, he finds instances of beauty that might otherwise pass unnoticed. By obscuring familiar forms, his paintings encourage a slower way of looking, inviting the viewer to move between recognition and abstraction and to experience the atmosphere of a scene before resolving its individual elements.
Born in 1968 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Barlow studied Graphic Fine Art at Port Elizabeth Technikon, graduating in 1990. He has exhibited in South Africa and internationally, including in North America and Greece, and his work is held in collections worldwide. He lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
Biography
Press
Philip describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of color, 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 also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and color come together in all their complexity.
Philip Barlow
Philip describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of color, 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 also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and color come together in all their complexity.