Interview: Artist Richard Phillips On Painting Celebrities, NYC's Art World, And His Distinctly Evocative Paintings

How do you think that the New York art world has changed since you came here?
Richard Phillips, Josephine MeckseperIt's become a lot bigger, that's for sure. And the rapidity of art, the speed...it's become bigger and faster I think. It's become even more international, and I think that it's less segregated and bound up and cordoned off, and I think it's more open and more accessible. There are just so many positives...there are aspects of the mid-80's that I absolutely adore, and that remain inspirational to me, just in terms of a kind of uncompromising nature that existed at that time. And slightly less commercial per se, even though there was quite a bit of commercialism going on at that time. But there was, the dynamic, the climate of politics, and discourse of examples of art, were quite strong and people took quite committed positions, less hedging and less focused group tested types of balancing. People were really going for it. I carry forward that inspiration but there are so many advantages of why New York remains the most important city in the world for art, because of the fact that it draws in the greatest of talents and has the capacity to put on the best shows. [Richard Phillips, Josephine Meckseper] Speaking of New York, who are some current artists you're interested in? Of course I have to say this summer has been a great summer, I mean the work of Josephine Meckseper out East, was incredible, Alisa Baremboyam's work, who I think we saw together at PS1 and at Fireplace Project, I think were really strong presentations. I'm looking forward to seeing Danny Fuller's photographs in Montauk. Rob Pruitt's show from Karma was absolutely superb, really strong bursts of energy from Rob who I applaud and have a lot of admiration for. Shows at Karma have been just as sensational and Fireplace Project have been sensational, I really enjoyed them. I've been doing really out of town vibes, and it's been really good.
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