Studio blog

News and updates about Tom Phillips, posted by the artist himself

Tom Phillips - December 2012
Tuesday, 16 January 2007 14:33 Written by Tom Phillips

Originals 07

Tom Phillips will be taking part in the annual contemporary printmaking show Originals, at the Mall Galleries in February 2007. Originals sets out to celebrate the art of the printmaker with the most exciting work being produced today. The works are selected by a panel of experts in the field including artists, printmakers, collectors and academics. Last year's exhibition, Originals 06, was described by Peter Blake as "the best print show I've ever seen".

Originals 07 opens 14th February at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 : the gallery is open daily between 10am and 5pm.

Telephone 0207 930 6844

Mall Galleries link

Wednesday, 10 January 2007 07:22 Written by Tom Phillips

first footer

michael c is more than welcome since he qualifies not only as icebreaker at this blog
[for blog it is and not {as it might have seemed} restricted to blood relatives]
but as first footer of 2007
albeit that he is not able to carry a piece of coal across its threshold
and may not even have dark [or any] hair
of hair there will
as my solstitial haircut approaches
be more anon
but meanwhile if michael c should get in touch via website
i can tell him of the gift that i must traditionally give
in exchange for the first footers conceptual coal

Thursday, 04 January 2007 16:18 Written by Tom Phillips

Closing 2006

Leaf Humument
last artrite of 2006...
the celebration just after christmas of 40 years work on
A Humument.
made a humument fragment using the final autumn leaves in talfourd road
a wedding of an old project with a new
and thereby another epithalamium for fiona who now owns it

unlike shane warne i have not retired
and am glad to take the field again this new year .
currently my batting average is 1 run as is my aggregate and highest score
made at the oval in the cricket match to celebrate my fiftieth birthday.
i may reach seventy this season [years not runs] if we get to empire day
[whats that mum?] . i cunningly chose to be born on may 24th since empire day was a half holiday from school...

Tuesday, 19 December 2006 12:30 Written by Tom Phillips

all that fall

The final fall out from princeton activity; laboured over in perivale at brad faine’s new workshop behind the hoover building. two editions of prints celebrate the leaves on einstein drive. the smaller seen here is exclusive to the institute for advanced study. a larger version (though in a smaller edition of 25) unites princeton, peckham (where some last minute substitute leaves were hoovered up and shoehorned in) and perivale itself.

Princeton to Perivale

what I had initially planned to do at the institute was to make some first steps towards the next version of a humument. i completed a few new pages before my study was submerged in dying foliage. as is usual on princeton visits old plans were abandoned in favour of new projects but here is one of the revisions. another will appear in the next issue of Art In America and all of them will be on show in the keiller library at the scottish national gallery of modern art from 6th october 2007 to 6th january 2008.


Humument p. 88 (click image to enlarge)

also I had the solicited pleasure of drawing freeman dyson, pioneer physicist and lucidest of writers on science and its moralities, one of my heroes. In this woven world connections must come to light. It turns out that freeman’s father was the eminent sir george dyson familiar to all church choristers, among whom I had often sung Dyson in G one of the evergreens of the Anglican litany. when I mentioned that my wife is working on the theme of salome we fell to talking about richard strauss. freeman remembers his coming to tea just after the war.

Freeman Dyson

Friday, 15 December 2006 11:13 Written by Tom Phillips

monitoring the ashes

night thought from abroad.......... ie australia.

as one of a yet barmier army of digital listeners
the night porter is on overtime for over after over

how to get jetlag without even leaving the house
Tuesday, 12 December 2006 12:37 Written by Tom Phillips

Bellenden Road

Bellenden Road

Is there a special ring yet to the name bellenden road?
street of strange bollards ornate mosaics and lampposts de luxe.
here for instance one late afternoon leaning against one of said bollards [by antony gormley]
looking over at one of said mosaics [by tp]
under the light of one of said lampposts [also by tp]
i am outside peckhams brilliant bookshop called review
having just bought a copy of jake tilsons 12 kitchens another low priced and lavish work from the local master of food and font
together with his little guide to peckham eating which strangely omits another of the glories of bellenden road
the friendliest and best of peckham eateries
the crossroads cafe where i most often have my lunch .
just the place to go tuesday to sunday after buying one of jakes [or
one of my] books.

Monday, 06 November 2006 12:23 Written by Tom Phillips

Drawing from Turner at Tate Britain

After Turner

A new drawing by TP goes on display from today at Tate Britain as part of a collaborative project and exhibition jointly organised by Tate Britain and the University of the Arts London. TP is one of 30 contemporary artists who over the last two years were invited to draw directly from a Turner drawing in the Prints and Drawings Room at Tate Britain and these drawings are displayed with the original Turners from which the artists worked.

Drawing From Turner
6th November - 22nd April 2007 NOW EXTENDED UNTIL 20th MAY 2007
Tate Britain, open daily until 5pm (except 24-26 December)

for more information, go to this page on the Tate's website.

Tuesday, 31 October 2006 12:49 Written by Tom Phillips

Pastels at Flowers Central

We Work in the Dark

We Work In The Dark (after Henry James)
pastel 2006
57 x 77cm

New works at Flowers Central, 21 Cork St, London W1S 3LZ

Friday, 27 October 2006 10:17 Written by Tom Phillips

Rainbow Room Gala

TP was at the Rainbow Room Gala for the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust on October 24th in New York.

i managed to have a smoke hiding behind a fern in the rainbow room. 65 floors is a long way to go. my dodgy knee was sufficient alibi to avoid dancing and i confess to putting on a bit of a limp. that and the smoke were the highlights of the evening. otherwise very good trip to new york . lunch with tarik followed by a visit to my favourite comic store the time machine w14th at 7th where roger remembered my penchant for rima the jungle godess. i wish i could draw like hector redondo, came away laden back to chelsea hotel
strolling into the malibu diner nearby where i always have breakfast was hailed by old friend gavin henderson an habitue of both the malibu and the chelsea and therefore a person of rough refinement. like david gothard whom i bumped into in small world cafe in princeton last week he is a man of schemes and you become part of his latest after a few minutes. one of the guardians of le gai saber. he paid for breakfast so i worked out that it cost him $743 less to sit with me than it did my companion of the night before.

night porter

Thursday, 19 October 2006 15:53 Written by Tom Phillips

Leaf Sudoku

Tom working

wet and windy today at the institute for advanced study. my studies advance to the extent of trying to make an organic sudoku [doubly fashionable] from the leaves which red and yellow are chasing each other across the wide lawns
3:44 AM
Leaf Sudoku
cezanne said he was doing poussin again after nature...perhaps this is an attempt to do the same with mondrian who as mondriaan started with trees anyway