Phil Garrett
My work is informed by nature, a kind of mythical nature. The power of storms, the spiritual quality of the elements, the beauty, grace and ferocity of animals -- something greater than myself, something I can't comprehend. Painting and making monotypes is my search for the mystery within the subject, within myself.---Phillip M. Garrett, 2008
History
Phil Garrett was born in South Carolina in 1948. He studied at the University of South Carolina and the Greenville County Museum School in the late 1960s. During the 70s he studied printmaking at the Honolulu Academy with Gabor Peterdi, and continued his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute where he received a BFA and did postgraduate studies in printmaking until 1977. Since returning to South Carolina in the early 80s, he has continued to paint and pursue his interest in printmaking. In the mid 80s through early 90s he worked with Cappy Kuhn (Tamarind Master Printer) at her collaborative Print Studio, Winstone Press. This collaboration produced several large lithographs and numerous series of monotypes. During the mid 90s Garrett worked with Art Thomas in Charleston SC again producing monotypes. In 1998 he acquired a large Intaglio press and founded King Snake Press for the production of monotypes in his studio in Greenville, SC. Beginning in April 2001 and continuing through Oct. 2001 Garrett collaborated with 25 artists to produce monotypes for the exhibit “SEE HOW WE ARE” at the Greenville Co. Museum of Art. Garrett continues to produce monotypes and to collaborate with an ever expanding group of artists from the Southeast and elsewhere. His prints and paintings are in public and Private collections in the USA, Europe and Japan. In October 2005, 2006 and 2008 he lectured and taught workshops on Acrylic Painting Methods in Art Schools in the cities of Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Fukuoka Japan sponsored by Golden Acrylic and Turner company of Osaka.
Selected Collections
South Carolina State Collection
SC State Museum
U.S. State Department
Greenville County Museum of Art
State of Hawaii
McDonald’s Corporation
RBC Insurance
Wachovia Bank
Sterling Drug Company
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Friends of the Arts, Spartanburg, SC
Southern Progress ( Southern Living) Birmingham Ala.
Bank of America
Price-Waterhouse Coopers
BASF Corporation
Carolina Telephone
Palmetto Bank
Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice, Winston Salem, NC
Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, Columbia, SC
Glaxo-Smith-Kline, Morris Communications
Selected Awards
October 1991, Merit Award Easel Painting, Springs Annual Juried Exhibition, Traveling Show (Art of the Carolinas, 1991-92)
December 1990, Stuart M. Egnal Award, The Print Club of Philadelphia, Alternative Situations for Contemporary Printmaking (The 65th Annual Competition)
October 1990, Best Graphic, Springs Annual Juried Exhibition, Traveling Show (Art of The Carolinas, 1990-91)
April 1989, Special Projects Award, South Carolina Arts Commission
October 1989, Best Graphic, Springs Annual Juried Exhibition, Traveling Show
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Pelter Gallery, Greenville SC., April. 2006
Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC, Sept. 2002
City Art Gallery, Columbia, SC, Feb., 1999
Morris Gallery, Columbia, SC, Nov., 1997
University of South Carolina Sumter, Sumter, SC, Feb., 1997
Somerhill Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC, Dec., 1996
Morris Gallery, Columbia, SC, Sept., 1996
Columbia College, Columbia, SC, Jan., 1995
Morris Gallery, Columbia, SC, Oct., 1993
Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC, Sept., 1990
Kershaw County Arts Center, Camden, SC, Sept., 1989
Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC, Nov., 1984
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Selected Group Exhibitions
Jan., 2005 New x 3, Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC
Sep., 2004 Cross Pollination / Phil Garrett and Patti Brady, Columbia College, Columbia SC
Nov., 2002 From the Studio, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Jan., 2002 See How We Are, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
July 2001 Reconstructing Eden, Looking at the Contemporary American Landscape, Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC