Making Architecturally Scaled Collages with Phil Irish

Phil Irish makes paintings that are both fierce and beautiful. He is known for cutting paintings into fragments, and installing those pieces to make architecturally scaled collages that engage your senses and your mind. Ontario artist, Phil Irish, has taken some dramatic turns in his creative practice.  Very much a painter, he began to scale up his work to an immersive scale. Creating painterly collages that interact with architecture has opened up new opportunities and collaborations.  These shifts have also involved rethinking business aspects of his work, from venues to funding.  With the ecological and spiritual themes that underlie his work, artist residencies have also been a critical research opportunities - including the Banff Centre and on an arctic icebreaker. Phil Irish holds degrees from York (MFA) and Guelph (BA). His work has been shown at public museums, artist-run-centres, and commercial galleries across Canada, and in touring group exhibitions in the USA.