Frank Phillips

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Frank Phillips uses his experience with drawing, painting, and physical activity to convey ideas of construction and shape. He received his BA with High Honors from Hobart College in 1997 and received his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005. Phillips currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia and works at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, where he teaches Painting, Drawing, and is Chair of the Arts. 

EDUCATION

2001-2005 Maryland Institute College of Art; MFA 2005

1993-1997 Hobart College; BA 1997 (High Honors)

 

EXHIBITIONS / RESIDENCIES

April 2023: Solo Exhibition, Quirk Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

October 2022: Solo Exhibition, Hidell Brooks Gallery, Charlotte, NC

April 2022: “Color Notes,” Solo Exhibition, George Gallery, Charleston, SC

July 2021: POETS Group Exhibition, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

May 2021: Selected Work, Two-Person Exhibition, “Colthurst Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

September 2019:  “Pentimento,” Solo Exhibition, Shockoe Artspace, Richmond, VA

July 2019: “Intro7,” Hidell Brooks, Charlotte, NC

June 2019:  “Those Who Can,” Group Exhibition, Marshall Arts, Memphis, TN

March 2019:  “Continuum,” Solo Exhibition, The George Gallery, Charleston, SC

July 2018:  Judge – Bath County Art Exhibition

June 2018: “Too Much of Too Much,” Juried Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA    **JUROR’S PRIZE AWARD**

May 2018: “Those Who Can,” Faculty Exhibition, ANJG Gallery, Alexandria, VA

March 2018: “The Practice of Process,” Solo Exhibition, The Welcome Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

September 2017: “Pilgrimage,” Solo Exhibition, ANJG Gallery, Alexandria, VA

August 2017: Solo Exhibition, The Garage, Charlottesville, VA

November 2016: “Scripting Space,” Solo Exhibition, The George Gallery, Charleston, SC

November 2016: Art in Embassies, “508,” Bratislava Embassy

October 2016: Artist Talk, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

September 2016: Artist Residency, Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand

July 2015: Juror – Alexandria City Hall Exhibition, The Art League

November 2015: “Course of Action,” Solo Exhibition, Artful Living, Washington, DC

November 2015: “Behind the Scenes,” Group Exhibition, Chevy Chase, MD

August 2015: Solo Exhibition, Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA

January 2015: Frank P. Phillips, Solo Exhibition, Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC

January 2013: “From 500 Sketches,” Solo Exhibition, Davis Gallery, Geneva, NY

November 2012: “Circa 1839” Group Exhibition, Boston Int’l Fine Arts Show, Boston, MA

November 2012: “From 500 Sketches,” Solo Exhibition, ANJ Gallery, Alexandria, VA

September 2012: “Circa 1839” Group Exhibition, Pride Fine Art, Alexandria, VA

May 2010: “…to Point B.” Solo Exhibition, ANJ Gallery, Alexandria, VA

June 2008: “Paper Airplane,” Juried Group Exhibition, Paperwork Gallery, Baltimore, MD

September 2007: “Inspired by:” Group Exhibition, Angie Newman Johnson Gallery, Alexandria, VA

June 2007: “Strictly Painting 6” Juried Group Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA

November 2006: “Predominance of the Empirical Process,” Solo Exhibition, ANJ Gallery, Alexandria, VA

July 2005: “Prodigal Summer,” Group Exhibition, G-Spot Gallery, Baltimore, MD

June 2005: MFA Thesis Exhibition, Fox Building, Baltimore, MD

February 2005: “Marking Process,” Two-Person Exhibition, Angie Newman Johnson Gallery, Alexandria, VA

July 2004: “Group Exhibition,” Brown Center, Baltimore, MD

July 2003: “Group Exhibition,” Fox Building, Baltimore, MD

October 2002: “Disparate Voices: Group Show,” Rice Gallery, Westminster, MD

July 2002: “Group Portrait Show,” Bank Building, Baltimore, MD

July 2000: “Faculty Exhibition,” Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

January 2000: “Faculty Exhibition,” The Landon School, Bethesda, MD

July 1999: “Faculty Exhibition,” Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

 

GRANTS & AWARDS

2018 Juror Prize for FROM 500 SKETCHES*, “Too Much of Too Much” Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts

2016-2017 Olsson Sabbatical

2015-2016 Cochran Mastership for Fine Arts for Excellence in Teaching

2013-2014 Robert E. Latham Mastership for Excellence in Teaching

2012-2013 Excellence in Teaching Art Mastership

2011-2012 Cochran Mastership for Fine Arts for Excellence in Teaching

2008-2009 Cochran Mastership for Fine Arts for Excellence in Teaching

2005-2006 Excellence in Teaching Art Mastership

2003-2005 Faculty Incentive Award for Excellence in Teaching

2002 Norman Farquhar and Gordon N. Farquhar Mastership for Excellence in Teaching

1997 Arthur Dove Award for Excellence in Studio Art

 

My work uses a flat plane to convey the visual ideas of construction, mass, and volume. The formally arranged imagery is all invented, but takes cues from architecture and engineering (materials and the structures themselves), as well as the erosion and the decay of perceived ruin. The display of process is an integral component to the work; it tracks the time, mistakes, revisions, and the experience used to arrive to a resolved composition. The end results are pieces that embrace surface and relate the ideas of: the used, the weathered, the discarded, and the beaten. I aim to create a quiet calm to the work that is still able to convey a stoic presence.

At its core, the compositions are about physicality and decision making. The immediacy of drawing and painting allows me to attack spaces on the canvas. The size of the plane forces me to use my entire body; the act of painting, drawing, erasing, and sanding all require a certain balance of touch and force. One idea completion may necessitate removal, thereby initiating another physical activity. As an artist, I need the action, and the work needs to be work; the labor is chronicled in the surface as removed elements are never really gone, only ghosts of the materials’ (pencil, charcoal, and paint) permanence.

Compositions are constructed primarily with line. Line acts as a device for the illusion of suspension as well as enclosing or mapping a shape. There emerges a printmaking look to the surface (at times with embossed marks) achieved through rubbings and other treated materials. Subsequently, the compositions read as a sort of blueprint. The line-play between the “exact” straightedge is offset by the “imperfect” hand and creates a diagrammed visual tension.