Phillis Ideal

Phillis Ideal: Recent Paintings 2008-2012

Phillis Ideal’s work is about the materiality of paint which represents a wide range of abstraction: layers of transparent and thick, brushed and sprayed paint; collaged fragments imbedded in medium; zeroxed rasta dots, computer graphics, shards of other drawings; as well as, large gestural brush strokes. Thus, the scope is broad and the paintings exist as both a tangible material and as a catalog of visual language of different styles of image making. Some paintings are more complex in combining reference than others.

Her studio practice underscores a playful and imaginative setting in which many moods, techniques and art history can coexist, referencing the vastness of the operations of abstraction. These paintings are moments in an open process that experiments with both formal relationships and chance elements to create meaning. In this work, she is interested in testing the system of making art within the mind of the artist and the viewer. These paintings are open to visual perception and stand on their own to engage an emotional and intellectual response.

Phillis Ideal has exhibited in major museums and galleries in San Francisco, Santa Fe and New York City. Her work has been shown and collected in many private, corporate and public collections such as MH de Young Museum, Oakland Museum of Fine Arts, Newport Harbor Art Museum and Fine Arts Museum of Santa Fe. She was represented by Rosenberg and Kaufman Fine Arts in New York City, as well as Linda Durham Contemporary Art Gallery and Chiaroscuro In Santa Fe. In recent years she has exhibited her work in Otranto, Italy, Berlin and Paris. Her academic experience includes teaching at San Francisco State, UC Berkeley, and Sarah Lawrence.
 

Phillis Ideal’s paintings are richly layered with a mixture of color, bold and gestural brushstrokes and collaged elements. The wonderful compositions and color palettes evolve during her process of experimentation in the studio, conflating and referencing many art historical movements and tendencies from modernism to Abstract Expressionism and Color Field to Minimalism and beyond—creating her own language out of the many forms of abstraction. Her art-making practice is not meant to be representational, yet the finished artwork, frequently with suggestive titles, is often referential but in different ways to different viewers—a hallmark of great abstraction.

Phillis Ideal has exhibited in major museums and galleries in San Francisco, Santa Fe and New York City. Her work has been shown and collected in many private, corporate and public collections such as MH de Young Museum, Oakland Museum of Fine Arts, Newport Harbor Art Museum and Fine Arts Museum of Santa Fe. In recent years she has exhibited her work in Otranto, Italy, Berlin, Germany and Paris, France. Her academic experience includes teaching at San Francisco State, UC Berkeley, and Sarah Lawrence.
 

Museum Exhibitions:
M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Newport Harbor Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Library of the Museum of Modern Art (Special Collections); Metropolitan   
      Museum of Art; The New York Public Library, The Phillips Collection,   
      Washington, DC:  American Abstract Artist’s 75th Anniversary Print    
      Portfolio 2012
Fine Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM
Morristown Museum, “The Collected Century 1900-2000”, Morristown, NJ

Solo Exhibitions:
David Richard Gallery, “Copy, Cut and Paste”, 2015, Santa Fe, NM, 2015
David Richards Gallery, “Paintings: 2008-2012”, Santa Fe, NM 2013
Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2011, 2009
Painting Center, “Recent Paintings”, New York, NY 2010, 1997
Rosenberg and Kaufman Fine Art, New York, NY, 2004, 2002
Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico Museum, Albuquerque, NM, 2000
Linda Durham Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 1991, 1989
Richard Green Gallery, New York, NY, 1987
55 Mercer Street Artists, New York, NY, 1984
Grapestake Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 1984, 1978, 1976
M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, 1975

Group Exhibitions:
David Richard Gallery, Op Infinitum: “The Responsive Eye” Fifty Years After,   
      Part l, Part ll, American Op Art in the 60’s, 2015
David Richard Gallery, “Gesture: Then and Now: The Legacy of Abstract
      Expressionism”, Santa Fe, NM, 2014
Sensory Impact, Morgan Stanley & Co., Purchase, NY. May 1, 2014 – May 1,
      2015
American Abstract Artists 75th Anniversary Print Portfolio Exhibitions in Colleges
      and Museums, 2012-2015
Painting Center, “Wit”, Curated by Joanne Freeman, New York, NY, 2013
Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2013-2008 (Annual Exhibition)
Paris CONCRET, “American Abstract Artists International”, Paris, France, 2012
Parc Floral De Paris, “Le Salon des Realties Nouvelles”, Invitational, Paris,
      France, 2012
The Ice Box, Crane Arts, “Abstraction to the Power of Infinity”, Curated by
     Janet Kurnatowski, Philadelphia, PA, 2011
OK Harris Gallery, “American Abstract Artists 75 Anniversary”, New York, NY,
      2011
Galerie oqbo Deutche Kunstlerbund, “75th Anniversary American Abstract Artists
     International”, Berlin, Germany, 2011
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, “75h Anniversary of the
     American Abstract Artists”, Ithaca, NY, 2011
Sideshow Gallery, “Material Matters”: American Abstract Artists, Curated by Kat
     Griefen, Director AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2007
Florence Lynch Gallery, “Material Sign”(four person exhibition), Curated by
     Stephen Westfall New York, NY, 2006
RB Stevenson  Gallery, “New Year Gallery Selections”, San Diego, CA, 2003
     2002, 2000
Art Resources Transfer, “A Conversation Exhibition”, New York, NY, 2003  
The Affordable Art Fair, “Rosenberg+Kaufman Fine Art”, Pier 92, New York,
      NY, 2002
Klein Art Works, "Blotto"(four person exhibition), Chicago, Ill, 2000
Condesa Lawler Gallery, “Abstract Index”, New York, New York, 1999
Art Initiatives, “Dealer’s Choice”, New York, NY, 1999
Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY, 1992, 1985
The Gallery at Hastings-on-Hudson, “The Legacy of the Abstract Expressionists”,
      Hastings-on-Hudson, 1990
0scarsson Siegeltuch Gallery, New York, NY, 1987, 1985
Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College, Philadelphia, PA, 1986
Ruggiero Henis Gallery, “Mixed Media”, a sculpture exhibition Curated by
     Fredericke Taylor, New York, NY, 1989
John Davis Gallery, New York, NY, 1988
San Francisco Art Institute, “Four Painters”, San Francisco, CA, 1981
"Art Today USA II"(organized by David Galloway, Teheran, Iran, 1976
Newport Harbor Art Museum, "Market Street Program", Los Angeles, CA, 1973
San Francisco Art Institute,  “Drawing Invitational”, San Francisco, CA, 1973

Reviews:
Christopher Benson, “Contemporary Masters”, The Magazine, Santa Fe New
      Mexico, 2014
Peter Frank, “Haiku:  Phillis Ideal at David Richard Gallery in Santa Fe, New
      Mexico”, The Huffington Post, 2013
Laren Tresp, “Phillis Ideal”, The Magazine, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2013
Stephen Alexander Journal, “American Abstract Artists at OK Harris,” NYC, 2011
Aaron Yassin. “The Material Sign” (Curated by Stephen Westfall and exhibited at              
      Florence Lynch Gallery) Art Critical, 2006
Ben La Rocco. “Ideal: Selections from the American Abstract Artists Metaphor     
     Gallery”, The Brooklyn  Rail, 2005             
Diane Armitage. “Phillis Ideal:  Recent Paintings; Elaine de Kooning, Agnes
     Martin, Agnes Pelton, Florence Pierce:  Classics, The Magazine, 2001
Michelle Faulkenstein. "New York Reviews-Phillis Ideal, Rosenberg & Kaufman", Art News, May 2000
William Zimmer. "Abstract Expressionism: Carrying the Torch", The New York Times, 1990
Stephen Westfall. "Phillis Ideal", Arts, January 1985.
Charles Shere. "Two Women With Insight Into Beauty, Energy", The Oakland Tribune, Tuesday, May 1984.
Thomas Albright. "Art Institute Reviews Tradition of Painting", San Francisco Chronicle, October 9, 1981
Alfred Frankenstein. "The Art World", San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 1976.
Alfred Frankenstein. "Mesoamerica Show", San Francisco Chronicle, 1976.
Terry Graham. "American Artists 'Rediscover' Technique", Teheran Journal, July
      13, 1975.
Thomas Albright. "Ideal and Rose Art", San Francisco Chronicle, September 1973.
Thomas Albright. "Ideal and Lesser Works", San Francisco Chronicle, September
        1973.
Thomas Albright. "New Art Schools Correspondence", Rolling Stone, April 13,  
        1972

Art Fairs:
Dallas Art Fair
  Booth F12
  April 9-April 12, 2015
Metro Curates
  Metro Show NYC
 January 22-January 25, 2015

Collections:
White and Case Law Firm, New York, NY
Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Pacific Enterprises, Los Angeles, CA
Crocker National Bank, San Francisco, CA
Director of Currency, New York, NY
Bank of Rome, San Francisco, CA
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Chicago, IL
Prudential Insurance Collection, San Francisco, CA
Houlihan Lokey Howard and Zukin, New York, NY
Duff and Phelps Credit Rating, New York, NY
Private Collection (Shah of Iran), Tehran, Iran
Bryn Mawr College Collection
Aragon Castle of Otranto, Otranto, Italy

Education:
Born:  Roswell, New Mexico
MFA-University of California Berkeley (Painting)
MA-New York University (Psychology)
BFA-University of New Mexico

Teaching Experience:
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
University of California, Berkeley, CA
San Francisco State, CA