John Ransom Phillips’ work ushers in new hope in an age of bitter partisanship for unifying humanity through art’s transformative power. Inspired by Walt Whitman and his poem, The Sleepers, Phillips invades the dreams of our forty-six American Presidents and channels their desires and life experiences into art. Phillips says, “I am dreaming all the dreams of Washington, Lincoln, Grant, FDR, Kennedy, and Obama. And then I become them."
“Walt Whitman tells us that if you really want to know who someone is, invade their dreams. It is then that you discover the dreamer's larger humanity: unmasked, feeling their feelings and showing us their aspiration."
2013, oil on linen, 50x40"
2011, oil on linen, 38x28"
2011, oil on linen, 65x42"
2014, oil on linen, 40x30"
Phillips’ works have a dream-like quality where forms morph and melt into one another. See his vision come to life in this video.
Masterful design and powerful storytelling - in a single canvas. Having studied with Richard Diebenkorn, Phillips expands on his teacher’s love of light, particularly the blue light of southern California. With this use of color and love of paint, Phillips engages history, both narrative and psychological. His ethos is evident in the choice of subjects; rather than representing recorded histories, he explores inner lives, dreams, fantasies, and for many, secret wishes and desires.
*excerpt from correspondence to JRP
Working across various mediums - painting, film, theatre, and poetry - John Ransom Phillips lives and works in New York but has spent significant periods of time in Europe and Egypt. While continuing his painting and creative writing, he completed his BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.
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