P H I L I P J . H A R D Y
to read an interview between Phil & Borough click here
t h e p l a c e y o u h a n g y o u r h a t
r i d d l e s & l i e s : c h a r g e d b y d e s i r e
b i o
Philip Hardy makes work of ambiguously subversive narrative scenes using preexisting and easily available imagery. He has his BFA from SUNY Plattsburgh and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art; from where he has recently graduated. Originally from up state New York he moved to New York City to pursue his master’s degree and currently works and resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
a r t i s t s t a t e m e n t
The work of Philip Hardy is rooted in fairy tales, myths, narration and advertising media and art history. He is concerned with established notions of fantasy and desire. Philip uses these different genres of visual culture as starting points. He will use the appropriation, subversion, juxtaposition and hybridization to deconstruct the images of various visual cultures. He attempts to create new images without completely losing all acknowledgements to referenced ideas and materials.
Advertising uses social values to sell products. It is necessary for advertising to find a purpose for their products in the minds of the people they are attempting to sell to. Fairy tales and myths work similarly. Philips’ work mainly explores these ideas. He is predominately concerned with the aesthetics and the summations of free association and various cultural expressions.
Advertising uses social values to sell products. It is necessary for advertising to find a purpose for their products in the minds of the people they are attempting to sell to. Fairy tales and myths work similarly. Philips’ work mainly explores these ideas. He is predominately concerned with the aesthetics and the summations of free association and various cultural expressions.
h o m e s t a t e m e n t
The concept of home is a prevalent theme in my work. The home concept is important to me. Finding an answer to the question of where and what my home truly is. Is home a particular place, is it a feeling or just an idea. Does home truly exist and if I does can I get there? Home to me conjures associations of family and security; or a place where I can feel at peace. The funniest thing about my relation with my home is that when I go home to visit my family I do not necessarily feel that I am at home there any longer. I have since moved away. No longer is there space for me. I am a visitor. I constantly feel the urge when I am home with my family to go someplace else, get back to my real home where I have a room I take physical ownership of. I suppose home is not a stable place. People change, the want or need different things at different times. What once was the place where I belonged no longer exists. I do not feel this is bad, because change is good, but it is also not easy.
I am also immediately in the process of finding a new place to live. So, right now, I do not have a place I can call my home at all. Do I feel any less at peace? I am in the process of looking for a place I can call my home and my work reflects this. Is a home a necessity? I have been able to make work and I don’t even have a true home. A home is not important to me, at least as much as making art. If I do have a home will I continue to make art? If I was perfectly comfortable I do not think I would try as hard as I do to make art. Confucius once said “happiness is not a destination, but a means of travel.” I think that this is also applicable to the idea of home. Home and happiness have similar connotations at least within the context I am using them. Right now I am enjoying being a traveler without a home.
