Phillip Southern Artist Statement / Short Bio

My objective:  I have always thought of myself as a figurative artist.  I am a fresh-air painter and my work is always done from life, on the spot, and I try to go beyond the visual sense and open myself to everything going on around me, the movement and the space, the sounds and the temperature of the air and even the smells. I am delighted that the world does not sit still for me.

I am at my best when I achieve a certain level of concentration (I don’t know how else to describe it) where the energy takes over and I begin to see more deeply, and then the painting itself takes over, becoming unpredictable.

This is my experience and I try to bring it to my paintings, and I want the viewer to experience it also, but I want the viewer to experience it in his or her own way, I do not wish to impose my experience. The viewer is at least as wise as I am.

Short Bio: I am a New York artist who paints New York City scenes and people primarily but also portraits, landscapes, and the occasional still life.

My paintings have been called impressionistic, expressionistic, and interpretations of realism. I am told that they are colorful and very energetic, and this is what I strive for, and I also try for great joyfulness and spirit.  The street is ever-changing and fleeting, and this is its challenge and great beauty. It is where the center of life is, where people, traffic, markets, buildings and sky all intersect.

I studied at the Art Students League in New York City. I became a member of the Street Painters, a group who worked outdoors doing cityscapes, at the invitation of several ASL instructors and other artists. I am presently a member of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors and periodically show with the group.

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