James Phillips (b. 1945)
Phillips graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art and was associated with the AfriCobra and Weusi groups in the late 1960s. In New york, he became acquainted with several popular jazz musicians, who inspired him to mimic the rhythms and moods within the music in his own art. Taliza Fleming writes of a work by Phillips: “As evidenced in his 1966 painting The Dealer, Phillips began to incorporate jarring color combinations, sporadic zigzagging forms, and writhing compositions that alter the perception of reality. In similar fashion to the musical free jazz style of John Coltrane—an artist with whom Phillips was acquainted—The Dealer displays striking features of improvisation, layered rhythmic patterning, and violent bursts of colorful forms and accents.” REF: Narratives of African American Art and Identity, The David C. Driskell Collection, p130. Phillips was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem (1971-72). He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Howard University, American Center (Tokyo), and The Children’s Museum, New York as a solo artist; and in group shows at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Kenkeleba House (NYC), and the Selma Burke Center (Pittsburgh). His work is included in the collections of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State office, NY, Hall of Justice (San Fransico), Fisk University Museum, Howard University, and the Schomburg Center (NY). Regina Holden Jennings writes in St James Guide to Black Artists about Phillips work: “It was in the late 1970s and early 1980s that Phillips’ paintings became architectonic and grid based. In these hard-edged geometric compositions his African signs and symbols remain intact, and his painting style and technique are more calculated. The grids on the painting are obvious. At first glance shapes and patterns that are arranged asymmetrically appear to be random and non-repeating, but further examination reveals a deliberate, conscious, and well-balanced configuration. “ (p.415)
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