Tejo Philips

Art Singel 100
Amsterdam Contemporary Art Gallery / Galerie voor hedendaagse kunst

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Alberto Carrera
Liesbeth Rahder
Herve Martijn
Judith Heinsohn
Jan van Eden
Esther Levigne
Ger Meinema
Jorge Gay Molins
Jean Bilquin
Achnaton Nassar
Philippe Bouttens
Colette Curfs
Milous Heunks
Tomoko Kawachi
Patricia Lippert
Anton Martineau
Tejo Philips
Pol Mara
Victor Pedra
Mapi Rivera
Chiel Vluggen
Marianne Vollmer
Sadik KwaishAndré de Jong
Maayke Schuitema
Josef Karl
Unni Askeland
Evelyn Jansen
Harry van der Woud
Diego Pombo

Directions

Sabayes - Spain

Fundacion
van Eden-
Santolaria

Tejo Philips

Tejo Philips is a contemporary sculptor who is renowned for his visual and monumental art. His work testifies to his being fascinated by the mixture of absurdity and reality which surrounds us. Social criticism and humour are an integral part of his oeuvre.

He works mainly with clay and over the years (and numerous exhibitions) Philips went on to forge a new sculptural language and style. With various techniques, he converts mechanical and organic parts to single, 'oddly common' objects, at the same time subversive as well as ordinary and familiar.

Most of Tejo's themes derive from the everyday madness of our lives. With a cartoonish and satirical vocabulary, he creates a peculiar distinct reality which sets this artist apart from others.

In Espace Rawette Philips shows us an overview of his career as an artist. The titles of the exposed objects refer to the topics that inspired him.

More well-known themes include 'Street Paranoia', about the fearful overcontrolled society, 'Keep Floating', about the urge to keep under all circumstances our head above water or 'Keep Swinging Babe', where Phillips transforms recognizable and unrecognizable forms into 'living' beings' which seem to be persistently in motion: dancing stoves, shifting surveillance cameras, embracing shoes, …

Tejo Philips understands like few others how to make his art 'relate'. His sculptures relativise, express social commentaryand possess an everlasting pertinence. They fascinate, appeal to everyone's imagination and are, like the artist himself: 'unlimited'.

ESPACE RAWETTE - DEN TEMPST 13, 3000 LEUVEN

Tejo Philips (1960)

Academie voor Schone Kunsten te Leuven (België) 1978-1982
Gerrit Rietveld Academie te Amsterdam 1982-1987
Stage "Structuur 68" te Den Haag 1986

Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst en Vormgeving:
Startstipendium 1988-1989
Werkbeurs 1991
Basisbeurs 1994

Solo-exposities (selectie):

1988 Galerie "Art Singel 100", Amsterdam
1989 Galerie "Westeinde 203", Den Haag
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, "Keramiek in de Vitrine"
1990 Galerie "Vanparijs", Brussel (België), "Beelden / Sculpture"
AMC Ziekenhuis, Amsterdam, "Vitrine Expositie"
1999 Galerie De Witte Voet, Amsterdam

2008 Fuping China

2011 Keep Floating

2012 Unlimited Ouevre

Groep-exposities (selectie):

1987 Singer Museum, Laren, "20 jonge kunstenaars", Obidos (Portugal),
"Primeira Bienal Internacional de Obidos"
Gemeentehuis Ridderkerk, "Eindexamen-expositie Rietveld Academie"

1988 Kapelhuis Amersfoort, "Kijken naar Keramiek"
Museum Fodor Amsterdam, "Amsterdam koopt kunst"

1989 Kapelhuis Amersfoort, "Permanente"
Galerie Westeinde 203, Den Haag, "Tulpenvaas in ere hersteld"

1990 Halle 3, München (Duitsland) "Jugend Gestaltet 1990"
Kapelhuis Amersfoort, "Verbeelding"
Stedelijk Museum Schiedam,"Keramies beroepsonderwijs in Nederland"
Museum Prinsenhof, Delft, "Keramiek '90"
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, "Monumentale keramiek in Nederland"

1991 Pulchri Studio, Den Haag, "Op Uitnodiging"
Galerie "Art Singel 100", Amsterdam, tweemans expositie

1992 Wereldexpositie Sevilla (Spanje)
Galerie "Luts", "Once in a life time"
Museum Prinsenhof, Delft, "Tulpenvazen"
Centraal Beheer Apeldoorn, "Jubileum Expositie '92"

1993 HCAK, Den Haag, losse tentoonstellingen
Kunststation Leerdam, "To hot to handle"
Gemeente Bilthoven, "Keramuze"
Exhibition Istanbul (Turkije), "Tulpenvazen"
Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam
Provinciaal Museum voor moderne kunst in Oostende (België)
Cultureel Centrum "de Oostpoort" in Groningen, "Kleikunst in de Benelux"

1994 Karman-Auditorium, Templergraben Aken (Duitsland), "Leem '94"
N.V. Koninklijke Porseleine Fles Delft, "Moderne Tulpenvazen"
Ambachts- en Baljuwhuis, Voorschoten, "Materiaal en Ruimte"
Vereniging het Binnenhof, Den Haag, "Buiten Beeld"

1995 Kijkwoning Lebeke (België), "Keramiek en Leemobjecten"
Galerie Liter, Den Haag, "De Verovering van een Plek"
Museum Andries de Potter, Rotterdam, 2 mans expositie
Galerie Penisula, Eindhoven, "En entre o.k. en sort k.o."

1997 Kunststation Leerdam, "Decamarone"
Vlaardingen, "Garden of Delight"
Istituzione Museo Intenationale Delle Ceramiche Faenza (Italië), "50 ste Internationale Keramische Kunst Competitie Faenza"

1998 Galerie de Witte Voet Amsterdam
"De keuze van......
Galerie Vert Blau Colmen Frankrijk
Kunst Rai Amsterdam, met galerie Art Singel 100

1999 Beurs van Berlage Amsterdam "Rietveld gaat naar de Beurs!!"
4-mans expositie Kunst Rai Amsterdam, met galerie De Witte Voet
Galerie de Witte Voet, Amsterdam
Vlaardingen, "Garden of Delight"

2000 Galerie de Witte Voet, Amsterdam
Kunstbeurs Hengelo
KunstRAI, Amsterdam

2001 Sculpture Garden Maarssen, "Beelden aan de Vecht"
Stedelijk Museum Zwolle

2005 STREET PARANOIA

The sculptor Tejo Philips has had a busy year. He has already shown work in De Witte Voet’s show Thirty Years as well as some distinctive wall pieces alongside his lively drawings in the recent show Beeld en Tekening. This prolific Dutch artist’s attention has shifted in the last few months, however, and the benign Iooking objects in Street Paranoia reflect his current interest in the way people are silently and surreptitiously observed.
Perhaps surprisingly, instead of using matt black glazes to suggest the sinister aspects of surveillance, these new pieces are subtle shades of pale blue. The surfaces of his sculptures are thickly encrusted with what looks like edible icing. Philips sees all of his work as both serious and humorous, and he sees this use of nursery colours as a way of making these potentially menacing objects seem not too heavy. These are nice, friendly pieces but the title of the show suggests something else is also going on. Philips wants to remind us of the covert ways in which we are being watched. The presence of his ceramic cameras at the entrance to the gallery look similar to the actual CCTV systems often found in museums and other carefully monitored spaces. In fact, Philips sees his latest pieces as a direct response to the feelings of increased uncertainty and hostility post 9/11.

He wants to explore how anxiety and fearget turned into prejudice and misunderstanding. His large piece, which he describes as a 'verklikker' Iooks a bit like a police phone found in comic books. Whether this enigmatic fantasy object is being used to spy on innocent passers-by or whether it is encouraging us to report on other people, is deliberately left unclear.
Philips does a number of things in showing us these curious pieces. Firstly, he alerts us to the strange and appealing shapes found in what was once called 'street furniture’.
There are what look like phone bells perched on top of endearing, playful objects that could have come from the dance sequences of Disney’s Fantasia. At the same time, the handles of these solid, cartoon-like pieces stretch out like the diminutive arms of a Dr. Seuss character. This ﬁre hydrant could come to life and start dancing on the pavement, but it might also be a trap for the unwary, a means of gathering information about what is happening under our feet.
These animated sculptures offer unique insights into the various ways we are controlled and monitored, which makes Philip's timely work both witty and serious.

Tejo Philips - previous

Tejo Philips - recent

website of the artist: www.tejophilips.nl/index.php