Tony Phillips was born in Liverpool, England in 1952 to a Nigerian father and British mother. He pursued Mural Design at Lancaster Art College, Preston, graduating in 1972 and holding his first solo show two years later. Phillips' artistic practice revolves around the interplay of humans, their historical context, and their surroundings. His best known work, a series of etchings titled <em>History of the Benin Bronzes</em> (1984), narrates the events surrounding the British Punitive Expedition of 1897, during which British forces looted art and culture property.
Painter and printmaker Tony Phillips was born in Liverpool, England in 1952 to a Nigerian father and British mother. Brought up in a culturally diverse neighborhood in Liverpool, he became keenly aware of the profound impact of Britain's colonial past on the city, given its history as a major port. He pursued Mural Design at Lancaster Art College in Preston, completing his studies in 1972. He held his first exhibition at Duke’s Playhouse, Lancaster and Vernon Gallery, Preston just two years later, revealing his ‘hectic, even fervent imagination […] and original vision’ (Bates 1975). In 1978, he relocated to near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
Phillips' artistic practice revolves around the interplay of humans, their historical context, and their surroundings, clearly illustrated in his 1995 painting Liverpool (University of Liverpool Collection). The work depicts a mixed-race child, captivated by the magnificence of one of the lions that grace the square outside St George’s Hall. In Phillips’ own words, the 'stone sculpture's power represents the formidable strength of the British Empire, creating a sense of awe and authority over the bewildered child, simultaneously posing a threat and demonstrating paternalism' (Draper 2020).
In 1984, he produced arguably his best-known work, a captivating series of 12 etchings on metal plates titled History of the Benin Bronzes (V&A collection). This series narrated events surrounding the British Punitive Expedition of 1897, during which British forces looted the art and culture of Benin. These etchings offered a depiction of the bronzes' vital role in the rituals and ceremonies of the society that crafted them. Phillips' work traced the invasion, subsequent pillaging, and the journey of the sculptures to Europe. As curator Zachary Kingdon observed, the etchings offered a stark critique of a form of cultural imperialism that simultaneously disparaged and disheartened Africans and African cultures, while presenting African artistic creations, like the Benin bronzes, as mere objects for display, intended to entertain and impress art enthusiasts in Europe and America (Liverpool Museums). Despite the universal recognition of the Benin Bronzes as exemplary embodiments of African depth and craftsmanship, their presentation within museums, marketplaces, and books often resulted in their decontextualisation. Phillips' drawings aimed to challenge this injustice (Diaspora Artists). His series began with a portrayal of an artist working on what would become one of the most recognisable of the bronzes, Queen Mother Iyoba, who was the mother of the future king, the Oba. In this representation, Phillips broke away from the common, generic perceptions of African art by portraying the craftsman as a uniquely gifted artist. He also placed the creation of the work within the context of a vibrant and successful city-state, rich in art, culture, dance, architecture, and social structure. Phillips' History of the Benin Bronzes also existed as a series of pastel drawings, which were showcased in the Norwich Gallery's touring exhibition History and Identity in 1991, curated by Eddie Chambers.
Phillips exhibited alongside Juginder Lamba at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1992 and held a solo show at the Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool in 1994. His work featured in the landmark exhibitions, The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-war Britain, Hayward Gallery, touring to Wolverhampton and Manchester (1989) and Transforming the Crown: African, Asian and Caribbean Artists in Britain 1966–1996 at the Caribbean Cultural Center, New York (1997). In 2006, Phillips held a retrospective at The University of Liverpool, part of the Independent Programme of the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art. Furthering his engagement with cultural preservation and exploration, Phillips participated in the 'TAKING CARE - Ethnographic and World Cultures Museums as Spaces of Care' initiative as an artist in residence at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge in 2020. Through his drawings, prints, and interventions within the Museum's galleries, he created a dialogue between historic treasures and contemporary consumer items, such as smartphones, prompting questions about the relationships between museum collections and modern life. Among the diverse items in the collection, a tiny Japanese netsuke carving depicting an old man feeding a dragon particularly captivated Phillips. This tranquil scene inspired him to integrate this small figure into a larger picture teeming with the 'chaos of contemporary human existence' (Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology). The resulting artworks highlight the stark contrast between the intricacy, pace, scale, and mass-produced quality of modern imagery and the simple elegance of the handcrafted portrait. Phillips' recent exhibition, 12 Decades at the Bluecoat Gallery (2022), centered on the evolution of technology, particularly our long-standing desire to achieve flight. The exhibition began with an image depicting the first powered flight in 1903 and continued through the decades, showcasing the advent of supersonic jet fighters and drones in our modern era.
Tony Phillips is currently based in Italy. His work is included in numerous UK public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Arts Council, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Tony Phillips]
Publications related to [Tony Phillips] in the Ben Uri Library