Kyle Andrew Phillips
b. 1986
“A Hartford Biography”
© Gary W. Knoble, 2015
A prolific and talented painter, Phillips is equally adept at portraiture, trompe l’oiel still lifes, landscapes, and color field painting. His sensitivity shines in his deeply personal art.
Kyle Andrew Phillips was born September 15, 1986 in Tolland, Connecticut to Scott Phillips and Gayle Giese Phillips. He is the oldest of four children. He grew up in Tolland and graduated from Tolland High School in 2004.
He received a BFA from the Harford Art School at the University of Hartford in 2008. Other students at the Art School during his tenure included Matt Morello, Miguel Carter-Fisher, Skylar Hughes, and Sam McKinniss. During his junior year he spent a semester in Italy where he painted his “Self Portrait” and “Separation 2007”.
(“Separation 2007”, oil on board, 16”x20”)
In a 2007 post on the blog “deviant ART”, he described “Separation 2007”.
“Continuing on the idea of painting in the trompe l’oeil style, this was my 2nd still-life done in Italy. I wanted to do something with a limited color palette, and a composition that revolved around a simple organization of shapes. I found this perfect example sitting right next to my work area: a canvas and stretcher that I had intended to put together for another paintings. I love the gritty backdrop of the studio, and all together this is my favorite piece done in Italy.“
At the Art School he studied with Stephen Brown and Carol Padberg. Brown was a major influence on Phillips and the reason he went to the Hartford Art School. He had his sights set either The Art Institute of Chicago or the Maryland Institute College of Art.
“The last school I visited was the University of Hartford, and Stephen was the professor reviewing my drawing portfolio. I was dazed and intimidated after being rushed up to his table by Robert Calafiore. Instead of selling me on their respective schools like the recruiters had, Stephen told me very bluntly that although I was skilled, I needed to vastly improve. He then quickly went through and critiqued my work, and in all of ten minutes had axed my ego and taught me so much about composition and how to perceive interior space. He was stern, and came at the work from so many angles at once. I knew I needed to study with him.”
In his junior year, Phillips finally got to study with Brown.
“Stephen was enthusiastic and used his whole being to teach, physically and emotionally. Because he was so tall and thin, his mannerisms were pronounced and sometimes he would lean so far into a painting to point out a detail I would worry he would lean back with paint on his nose. I think he was so passionate about painting that it had hurt him at times in his life. I am not sure he wanted that for us. Thus, he encouraged us to push ourselves but never overworked us. In his classes we took mandatory breaks, and if the model was late he would bring us outside and we would relax in the sunlight or play Frisbee. He loved Frisbee was damn good at it.
Something interesting about his teaching style is that he was one of the few professors that could tailor his teaching approach towards students individually. He taught specific techniques to specific students. He would show each of us individually over and over again a relatable roster of artists, in easily digestible amounts. You could tell he wanted everyone to advance and would work really hard to accommodate everybody not only from the front of the class but on a one-on-one basis…..
He was so impressionable and was like a lightning bolt of energy for us as young painters. We all loved him.”
Phillips was awarded the Alan Tompkins Endowed Scholarship and the Henrik Mayer Prize.
Also in 2008 he won a competition at the New Britain Museum of American Art for his painting “Walnut Hill Park, 2008”, which is in the collection of the museum. He also participated in the 2008 NBMAA Member Exhibition.
His first solo show titled “Frames of Mine’ took place March 20 – May 2, 2009 at Brick Walk Fine Art in West Hartford, Connecticut. The announcement of the show stated:
“The exhibition will feature over twenty new paintings, many incorporating frames or canvas stretcher which crop the pictures in surprising ways and set up interesting visual dialogues with other geometric elements in the paintings. There are also a number of still lifes in which the focus is on decidedly unexpected objects – radiators, spark plugs, and screwdrivers, to name but a few”.
(“Radiator”, oil on board, 19 ¾”x15 ¾”)
In his “Artist’s Statement” for the show Phillips said:
” While the use of stretcher bars to ‘frame’ a still life began as a beneficial accident, it has evolved into much more. I paint only on panel so I am misusing the stretcher bars on some level. Rather than use them to construct a workable canvas, I use them to construct a working composition. Because theses pieces are portraits of my inner self the frames further rectify this idea. Visually this aspect of the work presents itself clearly as many pieces are composed much like the way I would portray a sitter, central.”
In 2010, Phillips was and Artist in Residence at the Billings Forge in Hartford. Upon completion of his residency he took a position in the café at Real Art Ways in Hartford. In September he had a solo show titled “MLK Format: Multi-Layered Abstractions” at the Charter Oak Temple Gallery in Hartford. From September 2010 to January 2011 he had another solo show titled “The Admiration Series” at the Art Walk at The Hartford Public Library. Included in this show was the painting, “A Noble Tree (2010”.
(“A Noble Tree”, acrylic on board, 36”x36”)
The show received considerable attention in the local press. An Article October 10, 2010 in the Hartford Advocate article noted:
“The young man who by day is on the café staff at Real Art Ways, Kyle Andrew Phillips, is quickly becoming an established area artist, having just completed a formal portrait of recently retired Andrew D. Smith, 14th Episcopal Diocesan Bishop of Connecticut. His most recent oils are on view at the ArtWalk at Hartford Public Library, pieces which honor his favorite painters like Piet Mondrian and Wayne Thiebaud. Each vibrantly colored work is a true reflection of the community that Phillips calls home: the portraits are of people he has encountered and the landscapes are familiar views whose daily life revolves around the capital city.”
Roger Catlin, writing in the Hartford Courant stated:
“The Admiration Series” bursts with the ambition of a 24 year old artist flexing his skills in a number of directions at once while he awaits his own singular direction. A busy and productive artist, who turned out almost all these canvases this year, it seems like he’ll be moving beyond the café counter work very soon.”
Phillips moved to Brooklyn, New York in 2012. However in June he returned to Connecticut for a group show in New Haven at the Reynolds Fine Art Gallery titled, “Vista: A Study of the Land”. In a catalogue for the show Phillips wrote:
“I have been diverting my attention and slowing down to study the physical world around me, remembering what I see as a means to synthesize my emotion and memory of a place somewhere in my past. It sounds simple, and it is satisfyingly so. Compositions are inspired by New England forests, middle-American farmland and the weathered sills and brickwork found in our cities. The body of work as a whole continue the traditions of the Tonalist movement that lasted in America from 1800 to 1920.”
(“Tonalist Landscape”, oil on board, 14”x24”)
Phillips continues to work in many styles, most recently concentrating on abstract color studies.
(“Montepulciano”, oil on panel, 14”x9 ¾”)
Phillips currently works at a New York gallery and has a studio in Brooklyn.
Catlin, Roger, “Kyle Andrew Phillips Pays Homage at the Library”, Hartford Courant, 10/14/2010
Hartford Advocate, ART, 10/14/2010
Phillips, Kyle, “My memories of Stephen Brown”, January 28, 2015
Prevost, Kerri, “Admiring Kyle Andrew Phillips, 2010, Real Hartford website
NOTES
Oldest of four children
Grew up in Tolland, CT
2007 semester in Italy
2007 post on deviant ART website regarding “Separation, 2007”
“Continuing on the idea of painting in the tromple l”oeil style, this was my 2nd still-life done in Italy. I wanted to do something with a limited color palette, and a composition that revolved around a simple organization of shapes. I found this perfect example sitting right next to my work area: a canvas and stretcher that I had intended to put together for another paintings. I love the gritty backdrop of the studio, and all together this is my favorite piece done in Italy. Still can’t think of a title however..haha any suggestions?”
2008 NBMAA competition for painting of Walnut Hill Park, “Walnut Hill Park, 2008” in the collection of the NBMAA
2008 Member Exhibition
2008 BFA Hartford Art School, Same class as Hughes and Morello, studied with Stephen Brown and Carol Padberg. Alan Tompkins Endowed Scholarship and the Henrik Mayer Prize.
2009 3/20 – 5/2 Brickwalk Fine Art “Frame of Mine: New Paintings”
“The exhibition will feature over twenty new paintings, many incorporating frames or canvas stretcher which crop the pictures in surprising ways and set up interesting visual dialogues with other geometric elements in the paintings. There are also a number of still lifes in which the focus is on decidedly unexpected objects – radiators, spark plugs, and screwdrivers, to name but a few.
(Phillips)” While the use of stretcher bars to ‘frame’ a still life began as a beneficial accident, it has evolved into much more. I paint only on panel so I am misusing the stretcher bars on some level. Rather than use them to construct a workable canvas, I use them to construct a working composition. Because theses pieces are portraits of my inner self the frames further rectify this idea. Visually this aspect of the work presents itself clearly as many pieces are composed much like the way I would portray a sitter, centrally,”
2010 Billings Forge Artist in Residence
2010 9/2 “MLK Format: Multi-layered Abstactions” Charter Oak Temple
2010 worked at RAW
10/15/2010- 1/7/2011 The Admiration Series Art Walk at The Harford Public Library. Included “A Noble Tree (2010)”
(Prevost) Admires Skylar Hughes, Mary McCarthy, Matt Morello, and Miguel Carter-Fisher.
(Advocate)
The young man who by day is on the café staff at Real Art Ways, Kyle Andrew Phillips, is quickly becoming an established area artist, having just completed a formal portrait of recently retired Andrew D. Smith, 14th Episcopal Diocesan Bishop of Connecticut. His most recent oils are on view at the ArtWalk at Hartford Public Library, pieces which honor his favorite painters like Piet Mondrian and Wayne Thiebaud. Each vibrantly colored work is a true reflection of the community that Phillips calls home: the portraits are of people he has encountered and the landscapes are familiar views whose daily life revolves around the capital city.
(Catlin)
“The Admiration Series” bursts with the ambition of a 24 year old artist flexing his skills in a number of directions at once while he awaits his own singular direction. A busy and productive artist, who turned out almost all these canvases this year, it seems like he’ll be moving beyond the café counter work very soon.”
2011 taught children’s art classes in Hartford
2012 Moved to Brooklyn
Person Type(not assigned)
