Philip Argent - Artist Statement
Most of my paintings begin as digital mock-ups; this facilitates a process of layering and modification and enables me to start a painting with a relatively clear idea of composition and palette. However, the digital study does not always dictate the progress of the work over time; once the painting is underway and I’m entirely concerned with the physicality of the medium and the painting, I might edit and make corrections as I see fit (this could mean further digital work/painted studies or changes made directly on the canvas).
Accident and visual surprise (such as unexpected color interactions) play an important role and will often suggest revision. These works form part of my ongoing goal of pairing a sense of control with more experimental and improvisational techniques. I often use tools other than brushes to apply paint and the liquid nature of diluted acrylic is used to infuse the work with a suggestion of immediacy and a tenuous relationship between different spaces and surfaces. These recent paintings illustrate the goal of depicting a spatiality and a temporality that allude to the tangible and intangible coexisting or morphing; presence and absence, inside to outside, anxiety and calm.
BIO
Philip Argent was born in Southend–on–Sea, Essex, England. He received an M.F.A. from UNLV and a B.A. honors from Cheltenham School of Art, England. He has exhibited at institutions such as MOCA, Cleveland; the Cranbrook Art Museum MI; the Albright Knox Museum, NY and the Young Eun Museum of Contemporary Art, Kwangju, Korea. In 2016, twelve of Argent’s paintings were featured in DATAStream at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.
His work has been shown in solo shows in Los Angeles, NY and Berlin and included in numerous national and international gallery exhibitions. His work can be found in the permanent collections of MoMA, NY; Albright-Knox, NY; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The artist currently lives and works in Goleta, CA., and taught painting in the Dept. of Art, UCSB for over 25yrs.