Courtesy of White Cube
About the Work
The first silkscreen print edition ever done by Richard Phillips, Solipstica Nihilisti presents an intense black-and-white portrait of iconic Russian supermodel Natasha Poly set against a dark background emblazoned with the Luftwaffe emblem. Once the name for the Nazi Airforce, Luftwaffe is now the name of a Chicago-based band, infamous for their controversial nihilistic views.
This dramatic image of impossible, idealized beauty is fraught with visible tension, wrought by juxtaposing the bold background symbol with the high cheekbones and large eyes of Poly. As the title suggests, it encourages the viewer to reexamine preconceived notions of popular culture, beauty, celebrity, and sex in terms of the philosophies of nihilism—the meaninglessness of life—and solipsism—extreme egocentrism.
About the Artist
Richard Phillips has achieved international fame for his large-scale hyper-realistic portraits that appropriate material from a range of cultural sources: porn, advertising spreads from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, photographs, and Pop paintings. His close-up, highly stylized renderings of his subjects’ faces are often set against a bold, neutral background that disassociates them from their original context. The people in his portraits are almost eerie and empty in their perfection, resulting in beautiful images that provoke a disengaged, disembodied psychological state in the viewer. Although some may read cynicism, irony, or inhumanity in the empty faces of his canvases, he argues that his intention "is not to be ironic or make disparaging commentary."
Recently Phillips has gained notoriety for receiving product commissions from brands including Montblanc, MAC cosmetics, and Jimmy Choo, as well as the inclusion of his painting Spectrum (1998) on the show Gossip Girl. He has exhibited his work in numerous group shows internationally including the Whitney Biennial, New York, NY (1997). He has had numerous solo shows at White Cube, including his most recent exhibition Most Wanted, a series of portraits culled from red carpet photographs of contemporary celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Justin Timberlake, and Miley Cyrus.
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