Phillip Thomas – The N-Train (2008)
On October 22, three Jamaican artists were awarded Musgrave Medals by the Institute of Jamaica: Petrona Morrison (Gold), Jasmine Thomas-Girvan (Silver) and Phillip Thomas (Bronze). The NGJ congratulates them and, as has become customary, is publishing the citations on its blog, starting with Phillip Thomas:
“The Institute of Jamaica recognizes Mr Phillip Thomas for merit in the field of Art.”
“Phillip Thomas currently teaches painting at the Edna Manley College’s School of Art, his alma mater, where he attained a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Painting and in the process earned the coveted Albert Huie Prize for painting. He also earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from the New York Academy of Art, where he was awarded a one year post graduate fellowship. He has recently completed a residency at The Prince’s Drawing School Dimplex Studio at Dumfries House in Scotland.”
Phillip Thomas – An Upper Saint Andrew Concubine, triptych, mixed media on canvas, National Biennial 2012
“Thomas has exhibited widely in Jamaica and internationally. He won the Public Award in the Mutual Gallery’s Under-40 Artist of the Year competition in 2008 and he is a regular exhibitor at the National Gallery of Jamaica, where he was awarded the prestigious Aaron Matalon Award for his submission to the 2008 Biennial. He is represented internationally by the Richard J. Demato Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York.”
“In his oil paintings and mixed-media works, Phillip Thomas combines the imagery and techniques of the Old Masters with contemporary fashion images, erotica, and patterns associated with luxury brands, to create new iconographies that interrogate contemporary cultural and social conventions – often the very same conventions to which his work appears to appeal. As he puts it: ‘You want a way to lure people into the image, and then it unfolds itself, like a very slow car crash. I try in many ways to present the audience to themselves.’ Using these strategies, his work represents a sophisticated critique of the aftermath of colonialism, especially in his native Caribbean.”
“For his contribution to Art, the Council of the Institute of Jamaica is pleased to award Phillip Thomas the Bronze Musgrave Medal for merit in the field.”
Phillip Thomas – Carousel (2010), central panel of triptych
