23 June 2008

Philip Argent

Philip Argent (Courtesy of the artist)

(The following article is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Art on the Edge: 17 Contemporary American Artists.)

Window Crop #1, 2000. Acrylic and diamond dust on canvas. (Courtesy of the artist and Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA)

"Although the influence of virtual/digital technology and design is often cited as the source for these works (apparent in the way the visual information is superimposed in successive layers, windows or screens for example), my process also involves the arranging and reconfiguring of a variety of observable and physical phenomena, including commercial signage and graphics, and landscape and architectural references.

These elements are configured to emphasize certain spatial relationships or qualities while a sense of the painting as an abstract surface of graphic form, color, and pattern is retained. I'm interested in showing (within certain formal limitations), how particular combinations of color or surface/texture will create these different spatial or optical effects or how, for instance, a section of implied depth may appear initially as a decorative element or embellishment. This use of formal relationships is both playful and analytical and leads to the depiction of an environment which synthesizes the real and the imaginary."

(Philip Argent (b. 1962, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England) attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (MFA 1994); the University of Idaho (MA 1990); and Cheltenham School of Art, England (BA 1985). He has had solo exhibitions at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, California (2001, 2002); Galerie Jette Rudolph, Berlin, Germany (2002); Tate, New York City (1999); and Post, Los Angeles, California (1999). His work has been shown internationally at venues in Dusseldorf, Germany (2003); Kwangiu, Korea (2002); Graz, Austria (2001); Tenerife, Canary Islands (2000); Turin, Italy (1999); and Zurich, Switzerland (1999). Argent lives and works in Santa Barbara, California.)