In the Design House | Philip Medley, Postcard to Murillo, 2025

'My paintings endeavour to reach and touch the soul, with an emotional immediacy, working assiduously towards authenticity.'
- Philip Medley

Philip Medley
Postcard to Murillo
2025
Pigments in acrylic dispersion
122 x 244 cm
48 x 96 in.

Born in Chester in 1962, Philip Medley now lives and works in St Ives, Cornwall. In 1992 he won the Pollock Krasner Award in New York. He first exhibited at the Herbert Read Gallery in Canterbury and subsequently at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, the New Art Centre, the Basel Art Fair, and at the Tate St Ives.

We may view the work of Philip Medley through the lens of abstract expressionism. Through colour and a series of images, which he refers to as his 'visual alphabet', Medley engages in a conversation with his canvas, working intuitively and guided by feeling rather than a predetermined image. This allows for motifs to arise; his paintings are, on reflection, thematically tied, allowing for a harmony across his work. 'The activity of painting can often be spontaneous and sometimes gradual, I am content to accept both transitions of time, as a form of visual meditation.' (Philip Medley). The painting's title, Postcard to Murillo is, like all of his titles, a personal reference. An acknowledgement to his parents and children, snippets of colloquial language from authors and songwriters, and 'the occasional moment of clarity from myself', make up the names of his work. Tying these abstract images to people and places, we may equate Medley's work to a visual diary of his life.

To find out more about Philip Medley's work, please enquire below: