Alfred Phillips at Studio Art Farm

Posted on by The Wandering Art Historian

On a recent visit to Mount Dora, FL, I stopped by Studio Art Farm. By now, I think we all recognize that Studio Art Farm is one of the most dynamic contemporary art galleries in the Central Florida area. Their current visiting artist, Alfred Phillips, has apparently been selling pieces left and right. I was curious at first, but upon seeing the work with my own eyeballs, everything became clear.

The work is, simply put, magical.

Alfred Phillips describes his work as Contemporary Realism. Personally, I’d take it even further and call it Magical Realism. I know I’ve been on a Magical Realism kick for the past few years, but there is a subtle, extra layer of something special that runs concurrent to his interpretation of realism.

It is difficult to put into words, really. Part of me feels as though Phillips depicts a Florida long gone and only available to us in memory or nostalgia. But another part of me sees a Florida that never existed in the first place, one that was too perfect, too ideal.

There is painting titled Colorful Pass that includes what appear to be enlarged pixels. I love this suggestion that the image before you isn’t entirely real, because it isn’t. Perhaps it is a subtle shout out to my art historical crush, Marcel Duchamp, a reminder that the painting you behold is just that, a painting, and not a window to the real world. That combined with simplifying objects (and even light!) to geometric shapes suggests that the world we see, or the world we remember, is only partially accurate. Is it a simulation, a program that winks out when the Wi-Fi goes out? Or is this just how memory works, sometimes breaking down and rebuilding itself better that it really was?

“Colorful Pass,” Alfred Phillips

My favorite piece in the collection is titled White Sheets and it packs an emotional punch. To me, it screams the loneliness and isolation one might feel when looking at an Edward Hopper painting. And yet, there is this incredible “divine” light that breaks through the darkness and blesses the scene with a serenity I think we all long for in these crazy times.

“White Sheets,” Alfred Phillips

If you’re heading to the Mount Dora Art Festival the first weekend in February, I would highly suggest you take some time to bask in the work of Alfred Phillips. Consider it a brief trip down memory lane of an ideal, more magical Florida that only exists in our imaginations.

For more information on Alfred Phillips, please visit…

https://www.alfredphillips.com/

For more info on Studio Art Farm, please visit…

https://www.studioartfarm.com/post/visiting-artist-exhibition-alfred-phillips-2024

For more info on the Mount Dora Art Festival, please visit…

Mount Dora Arts Festival

2 thoughts on “Alfred Phillips at Studio Art Farm”

  1. Artist Alfred Phillips category of Contemporary Realism seems ok because it encompasses his different art pieces styles of realist, abstract, contemporary. Thx for new FL artist. Go see new entertaining movie in theaters now American Fiction & notice interior scenes look like Edward Hopper art!

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The Wandering Art Historian's avatar
I am writer and artist with a degree in art history who loves to talk to people about art. I have spent the last seven years building up The Wandering Art Historian “brand” as a way to connect with people who want to learn more about art. I give lectures and presentations and teach classes and host book club discussions with a creative or artistic connection. I also write about local artists, events, museums, and exhibitions to promote the arts in Central Florida. In 2021, I had a creative crisis. I struggled with authenticity in the art making process. I decided to make myself vulnerable and find out what a real, genuine Adrienne H. Lee artwork would look like. The process was challenging and emotional and revelatory. I learned that if necessity is the mother of invention, then authenticity is the mother of reinvention. I reinvented myself and learned an entirely new medium. The resulting artwork surprised me, and it will surprise you, too. Some people wish for a fairytale ending. For me, the fairy tale is only the beginning.