The Latest from Phillip Adams
By: Alyssa Laverda, Assistant to the Directors and Head of Sales
Fig 1: Photo Courtesy of MuralARTS
Seraphin Gallery artist Phillip Adams has recently installed a new mural in celebration of a citywide love and favorite, The Philadelphia Eagles. Collaborating with Jonathan Laidacker, this new public project entitled, Philadelphia Eagles Mural (fig 1&2), was installed this month at the Lincoln Financial Field. This 17,000 square foot undertaking was developed in coordination with the MuralArtsProgram of Philadelphia, and was sponsored by our home team. During the Fall of 2014, the Eagles invited fans and members to become part of the process of painting this work of public art. “The design illustrated the full experience of going to an Eagles game: the anticipatory travel to the stadium, the excitement of being part of the crowd, and the thrill of the game itself. This concept, tied together with strong Philadelphia iconography, including the Eagles stadium, Philadelphia skyline, players and fans, creates an image and project that inextricably links the Eagles with the city of Philadelphia,” states a release by the MuralArtsProgram of the City of Philadelphia.
Fig. 2: Photo Courtesy of MuralARTS
This is not the first public art project that Phillip Adams has been party to. Adams created Ortleib’s Brewery (fig 3) last year as part of a series entitled Industrious Light-- designed to illuminate Philadelphia’s industrial history. It is the first of many in this MuralArtsProgram series to be completed. Adams has touched Philadelphia in many other places including SPIN (Orthodox St., 19124), Woodland Ave., 24th and Fairmount, and the concourse below City Hall among others. His work is recognizable as being particularly imaginative, carefully composed, and beautifully detailed. The perfect medium to reach out to the public and brighten our commutes, events, and daily life. His public work can also be seen in the cities of Trenton, Montreal, Huntingdon and across the world in Mwanza, Tanzania.
Fig. 3: Industrious Light, Ortlieb's Brewery, Photo Courtesy of the Artist
Adams is a local artist who is based in Philadelphia. He graduated with an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, and in 2002 he received a BFA from the University of Georgia. Seraphin Gallery has been representing Adams since 2010 and was last shown at the gallery in 2014 in his exhibit Peaks and Valleys. Previously, in Love at the Matterhorn, Adams exhibited not only landscapes, but portraits as well. Former Assistant to the Directors, Jennifer Bickel, wrote, “Phillip creates a mysterious environment, with hip looking individuals concealed by their reflective aviators and hooded figures shrouded in blue camouflage, as inaccessible as the Matterhorn peak itself. These modern portraits confront you head on, aggressive yet distant.”
Seraphin has exhibited Masters and Mavericks, Love at the Matterhorn, and I Can’t Get You Out of My Mind, in 2013, 2011, and 2010 respectively. The artist states, “I am constantly looking at and responding to the world around me. In doing so, I am creating a world in which these drawings or characters will exist. In recent years I have only used charcoal on wood panels as my materials. I use charcoal because it is a medium that is immediate and fragile. I respond to its quickness and subtly. The wood panels I am able to control the surface of, as well as handle the way I use charcoal.” Phillip Adams has exuberant technical skill and has proven to capture the feeling of the landscape, the personality of his subjects, and the excitement and celebration of Philadelphia.
For more information please see http://seraphin.squarespace.com/phillip-adams/
For the artist’s website, please see http://phillipadams.com/
For information on the Philadelphia Eagles Mural, please see http://muralarts.org/collections/projects/philadelphia-eagles-mural
Tony Seraphin
You Don't Have to Look Through the Window For Art
Seraphin Gallery and Joe Mooney display public art.