Masterclass Series | Artist Talk: Ciara Phillips

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is delighted to present artist Ciara Phillips in the fifth talk in the Masterclass Series. Masterclass Series invites leading world artists from abroad to give a public lecture on their practice, and engage in one-on-one studio visits with TBG+S Studio Artists.

Glasgow based, Canadian artist Ciara Phillips works mainly in printmaking. Her work is founded upon a belief in printmaking’s potential for political activation and her interest in the process of ‘making together’. Working with multifaceted techniques from screen prints and textiles to photos and wall paintings, Phillips' printmaking process often transforms the gallery into a workshop and she involves other artists, designers and local community groups in the making of the work. Phillips’ work is inspired by a long-standing interest in video and film production collectives of the 1970’s, who focused on using video as a medium for social documentary and activism - labour, struggles, elections, prisons and the work of political organisations, such as the Black Panthers. She also acknowledges the influence of the pioneering artist (and nun), Corita Kent (1918–1986) on her practice. Kent used printmaking and education in concert with her work as an activist in the 1960’s to reinterpret the advertising slogans and imagery of consumer culture. Phillips vibrant use of colour, her innovative approach to printmaking and her use of typography also all owe to Kent.

Ciara Phillips was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2014, for her exhibition Workshop (2010 - ongoing), in Showroom Gallery, London, curated by Emily Petwick. She is founder of the artist collective Poster Club. Recent solo exhibitions include Yours and Mine is Ours, Benaki Museum, Athens (2017) and Comrade Objects, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Canada (2016). She has participated widely in group exhibitions including Systems of Saying It, We The People Are The Work, Plymouth Arts Centre (2017) Policy Show, Eastside Projects 2017; British Art Show 8 (2015 – 2016) and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2014). She is exhibiting at Glasgow International 2018 and the Sydney Biennale, 2018.