On the Go
I am a painter, maker and teacher and have exhibited at: Phoenix Art Space, Brighton. CAC, Brighton. ONCA Gallery, Brighton. The Sussex Open at the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne and Hastings Museum. The Royal Academy summer show (2022 & 2023), the Eyesees Gallery in Arles, France and at Project78 Gallery in St Leonards on Sea. I served for a number of years as a trustee for Project Art Works (PAW) Hastings. I have curated and co-curated a number of exhibitions including ‘JDWC’ at the Kino Teatr, St Leonards on Sea, ‘Diastr’, H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G and H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G_x2 at Phoenix Brighton.
I first encountered polystyrene resin whilst working under the guidance of Tanya Dean at Brighton College of Art and in the last 15 years I have been investigating its properties and experimenting with its possibilities. I have been concerned with how best to combine a limited palette of simple coloured geometric elements. I have used the square, rectangle and the circle. I respond intuitively to these elemental shapes, they seem … absolutely, enough to experiment with.
My works reference the architecture of net, plan and container, the forms that we construct for ourselves and our things. The works become a vehicle for my ideas, experiments and feelings. Preliminary sketches on board are followed by repeated pours of hand-coloured resin. The first colour begats the next, and so on. I plan a colour sequence or ‘grouping’ but this can change as the painting unfolds. Production of these painting objects is rooted in deliberation rather than a gestural approach. In the completed work, evidence of the painter/maker is notably almost absent. In their ‘hard-edged-ness’, the paintings might be misunderstood as digitally created but the element of craft in their making attests to a more analogue approach. I have found moments of calm in the mundane repetitiveness of construction.
My considered use of plastic is controversial but intentional in order to elevate its status and that of the work. The production of something permanent is in contrast to the use of these materials to construct and to package temporary and throwaway vessels.
Philip Cole May 2023
Born 7/7/61
Educated: Sussex University 1979 - 82
Lives and works in Brighton, UK
Studio address: 4S1 Phoenix Brighton, 10 - 14 Waterloo Place Brighton BN2 9NB East Sussex, UK
Curation
2020 H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G_x2 Phoenix Brighton
2018 H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G Phoenix Brighton
2017 JDWC at the Kino Teatr St Leonards on Sea
2013 'Dust & Vermin' A curated Pop up Gallery at various venues Brighton
2010 'Diastr' Phoenix Gallery Brighton
2010 'Colecorner on the Hoof' at Factory Brighton
2009 'Keep off the Grass' Open house, Brighton Festival
2008 'Preparing for Emergencies' Open house, Brighton Festival
Exhibitions
Solo and two person shows
2022 ‘Marginals’ (2-person) Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2019 ‘Entractes 8’ (solo) The Eye Sees Gallery Arles. France
2019 ‘Making Painting +-’ (solo) Window Gallery, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
2016 'Trash or Treasure - a Peripheral View' (2-person) ONCA Gallery. Brighton
2015 'A Peripheral Vision' (solo) Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2014 ++(+)+ WP29 (solo) Community Arts Center Brighton
2003 'Temporal' (2-person) Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
2001 ‘Adding and Subtracting' (solo) Redroaster, Brighton
Group shows
2023 Royal Academy Summer Show Burlington House, Piccadilly, London
2023 ‘Overtones’ Wrap Queens Road Brighton
2022 Royal Academy Summer Show Burlington House, Piccadilly, London
2021 ‘BOOM’ Dynamite Gallery Brighton
2020 Hastings Open 2020 Hastings Museum and Art Gallery Hastings East Sussex
2020 Saturation Point Sunday Salon 10 | Temporal Objects ACME studios. Childers Street Deptford, London
2020 ‘H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G_x2’ Phoenix Brighton
2019 ‘Editions19’ Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2019 ‘Edition1’ Window Gallery Phoenix Brighton
2018 ‘Editions18’ Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2018 ‘The Momentum I Relative Trajectories’ Angus-Hughes Gallery, London
2018 ‘ H_A_R_D_P_A_I_N_T_I_N_G’ Phoenix Brighton
2017 ‘Editions 17’ Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2017 ‘Perspectives 2012-2017’ at ONCA Gallery Brighton
2016 ‘Black and White’ Baker Mamanova Gallery St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex
2016 ‘Editions 16’ Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2015 Editions '15 Project 78 Gallery. St Leonards-on-Sea
2015 'East Sussex Open' Towner, Devonshire Park, College Rd, Eastbourne,
2014 '20 Painters' Phoenix Gallery Brighton
2012 'Final Light' Phoenix Brighton
2010 'Diastr' Phoenix Gallery Brighton
2010 'Colecorner on the Hoof' at Factory Brighton
2009 'Keep off the Grass' Open house, Brighton Festival
2008 'Preparing for Emergencies' Open house, Brighton Festival
2003 'Cracks in the Empirical Pavement' Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
2002 'Hang Ten' Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
1998 '21x21' University Gallery, Newcastle
1998 Sussex Open 98, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
1998 'Re-Enchant' Open House, Brighton