Phillip Thomas

Jamaica, 1980

BiographyPhilip thomas was born in Kingston, Janmaica where he received his BFA in 2003 from Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing arts. At this institution he also received the Albert Huie award for painting and the end of his four-year study. thomas has been involved in numerous group shows, including "under 40 artist of the year" where he received Public Award, and other exhibitions, such as the 2008 Jamaica National Biennale where he was awarded the Aaron Matalon award. Phillip received two major educational scholarships. The first, a chase Fund grand, towards an MFA, and a grant from the Cobb family foundation, also towards his Masters degree. Philip since then graduated from the New York Academy of Art with an MFA in painting. He has also completed a fellowship award received upon completion of his degree, and is currently teaching and painting at his home, Kingston, Kamaica.

artist's statement
"Phillip intends to manufacture cultural reliquaries, artifacts and social curiosities that represent the cultural tapestry of the Caribbean and the wider “new world”, using mediums and other agents of the old world.

Paintings and other artifacts in this case are not for the sake of the medium of presentation, but more so as an artifact of works of art of the past hence the entire object produced (stretcher bars, rames, oil paints, Phillip Thomas and all the other elements and mediums of these objects) is a complete manifestation of an archeological response to agents of the old world as well as products f the new. This allows for a kind of metadiscourse between the originals and the copies of western art history.

This act of the “Master copy” is the very nature of colonialism. The idea of studying at a “French Academy” in the United States is entrenched in cross-cultural pollination. For the Caribbean, there are pecific cultures that concern the work. Predominantly these would be the English, the French, and the Spanish. Each one of these cultures is reflected in the body of works presented. From the Master Copies” of Turner and Ribera to sections of Velazquez, are fused into the discourse not as mere hints of artistic influence, but also as cultural relics."

Person TypeIndividual

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