Phil Tyler past and present in new Arundel exhibition

The exhibition brings together two new series of paintings, which have evolved from earlier works going back almost 30 years, as gallery director James Stewart explains.

“These recent paintings have their roots in Phil Tyler’s abstract paintings from the 1980s, where he was concerned with gestural abstraction and the formal interplay between positive marks and negative space creating a series of visual tensions.

“In the early 90s his work had turned figurative. Dissatisfied with the way that relied on a formulaic structure, he wanted to make a direct response to the figure, but without access to a model he worked from his own nude reflection. After the sudden death of his mother this body of work took on even greater significance as he explored his experiences of grief and loss.

“By the late 90s, Phil began a series of still life paintings of tables, chairs and other domestic objects. These explored the tentative and often fragile intimate relationships of the home. The motifs would eventually transform into groups of figures in and around gallery space as he became fascinated with their various grouping.

“On a trip in December 2019 Phil became fascinated by museum visitors milling around the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, looking at the paintings of Velsaquez, Frans Hals and Rembrandt. The people formed Baroque tableaus, ensembles of people, acting out some silent drama in a cavernous space of light and dark. This provided the initial impetus to make the Ensemble series.

“As 2020 unfolded, it became apparent that looking outward was less important than looking inward. So whilst the Ensemble paintings offered the opportunity to look out into space, the emotional tensions of the domestic, the configuration series explores the tenuous balance of relationships has informed the new series of still life (Configuration) interiors. The world has undergone a paradigm shift and this precariousness has left us all feeling uncertainty.”

Phil studied initially at the East Ham College of Technology (foundation in art 1982-83) then Loughborough College of Art & Design for his BA Hons Fine Art (painting) degree graduating in 1986. During these years he spent some time at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA on their BFA fine art course. Phil completed his studies with an MA in Printmaking at Brighton Polytechnic (1988-1990).

Since the early 90s Phil’s central preoccupation has been with the figure or with groups of people in urban environments. He has looked at collective behaviour, the hive of daily routine. He is interested in both the illusory aspect of painting but also the physicality of the medium, he says.

In 2018, one of his self-portraits was selected for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition. The exhibition which began in London subsequently toured the rest of the UK. In 2017, he appeared on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year and his work was featured in their London exhibition.

His first book Drawing and Painting the Nude was published in 2015 and his second, Drawing and Painting the Landscape in 2017.

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