BIO
David Phillips, born in Flint Michigan 1944, has a prolific career spanning over five decades. The remarkable breadth of his artistic output encompasses public art, sculpture, functional objects and drawings. His private and public commissions explore the enduring mysteries surrounding the relationship between nature and civilization. He is perhaps best known for his numerous art commissions throughout the United States and Japan. For production and control of his work Phillips chose to build his own foundries in Somerville and Medford Massachusetts. Locally his work can be seen at the Porter Square Station, Quincy Square at Harvard, City Square in Charlestown among other greater Boston sites. Whether for large scale architectural projects or intimately scaled objects, Phillips' work is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world. His six large bronze frogs located on Boston Common have become a local icon. Phillips gallery work includes braille paper inlaid stone and a unique technique he has developed using magnetic fields and iron powder. A graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Phillips moved to Boston from Michigan in the early 1970's. He has received many awards including a Blanche Colman Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Project Grant, a Pollock-Krasner Grant, MacDowell Colony Residency, Kohler Art and Industry Residency and a Governor's Design Award. In 2020 he established a new studio in Sandwich, Massachusetts where he continues exploring new ideas and materials.
