Debra Phillips

Born 1958 Melbourne. Lives and works in Sydney, Australia.

Debra Phillips is a Sydney-based artist specialising in photomedia. Phillips’ practice focuses on her interests in disappearance, in the limitations of imperial quests for knowledge, and photography as a physical space in which to place things for consideration or as a structure through which we can critique the world. Her recent solo exhibitions include: On this day, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University, Halifax, Canada (2011); Debra Phillips, BREENSPACE, Sydney (2009); Sit pretty, Institute of Contemporary Art Newtown (2008); One thing leads to another, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2006); 52 sidelong glances, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2001); The Captain’s Ghost: Three contemporary artists on Cook, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (2006), The world as puzzle, Boutwell Draper Gallery (2001); The world as puzzle II, Canberra Contemporary Art Space (2001); Debra Phillips: Work 1992–1995, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1995). Phillips’ group exhibitions include: Photography & place: Australian landscape photography 1970s until now, Art Gallery of New South Wales (2011); Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2008); Perfect for every occasion: photography today, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2007); Photography is Dead! Long live Photography!, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1996); and Australian Perspecta 1993, Art Gallery of New South Wales (1993). Site-specific projects include: Artists in the House!, Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney (1997); and the public artwork Viva Voce, Speakers’ Corner, Sydney Domain (1999). Debra Phillips’ work is represented in Artbank, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Paris Parliament House, Polaroid International, Boston and The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Artist's CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2011   
On this day, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design
University, Halifax

2009   
BREENSPACE, Sydney

2008   
Sit pretty, Institute of Contemporary Art Newtown (I.C.A.N.), Sydney

2006   
One thing leads to another, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne

2004   
One thing leads to another, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney

2003   
52 sidelong glances, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney

2001   
52 sidelong glances, Contemporary Projects Space, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The world as puzzle I, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
The world as puzzle II, Canberra Contemporary Art Space

1999   
Debra Phillips in Swelter, Royal Botanic Gardens Palm House, Sydney

1997   
Michael Wardell Gallery, Melbourne

1995   
Debra Phillips: Work 1992–1995, Art Gallery of New South Wales

1994    
Sillage, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne

1993     
Sillage, Artspace, Sydney

1990    
Colonization of Time, Artspace, Sydney

1987    
Balance of Obsolescence, First Draft Gallery, Sydney
Photographs: Debra Phillips (with Ingeborg Tyssen), Photospace Gallery, Canberra School of Art

1981   
Debra Phillips (with Ric Bolzan), Bondi Pavilion, Sydney

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011   
Photography & Place: Australian landscape photography 1970s until now, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2011 Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise

2010   
group show, BREENSPACE, Sydney

2009   
William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize 2009, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Group Show: Anthea Behm, Monika Behrens, Sarah Goffman and Debra Phillips, BREENSPACE, Sydney

2008    
Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

2007   
Five x Five, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Perfect for every occasion: photography today, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Open Letter, Loose Projects, Sydney

2006   
52 sidelong glances in The Captain’s Ghost: Three contemporary artists on Cook, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

2005   
2005 National Photographic Purchase Award, Albury Regional Art Gallery
Prometheus Visual Arts Award, Prometheus Gallery, Merrimac

2005
Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise
The Citigroup Private Bank: Australian Photographic Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

2004   
The Year in Art: a selection of contemporary works exhibited in Sydney Galleries throughout 2004,
National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
COFA Fundraising Exhibition, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Art & About: Sydney Life, Hyde Park North, Sydney
Atelier: Australian Artists in Paris 1980–2000, Plimsoll Gallery, Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart

2003   
The Year in Art: a selection of contemporary works exhibited in Sydney Galleries throughout 2003,
National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Placemark, COFA Exhibition/Performance Spaces, Sydney
The Democracy of Objects, Multiple Box, Sydney
The way things are, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
Picturing Paradise, Mori Gallery, Sydney

2002   
A Silver Lining and A New Beginning, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Paris Days: The UNSW studio in Paris, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney

2001   
Sufficient Density, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney
Leica/CCP Documentary Photography Exhibition + Award, (Agnes T. Earl), Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
A Studio in Paris: Australian Artists at the Cité, National Trust S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
A Century of Collecting 1901-2001, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Death and Decoration, Launceston University Gallery, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne

2000   
Death and Decoration, Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart

1999   
Four ways around a frame, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney; Albury Regional Art Gallery

1998   
List Structure, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
21st Birthday Show—Sydney College of the Arts Alumni Exhibition, Sydney College of the Arts
Site, Parliament House, Canberra

1997   
Artists in the House!: Elizabeth Bay House Contemporary Art Installation Program, Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney
sextet, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Multiplication:  The multiple object in Art, Monash Gallery, Melbourne
International Multiples, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Release – Recent Photo-Based Works, Michael Wardell Gallery, Melbourne

1996  
Photography Is Dead! Long Live Photography!, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Inheritance, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

1995   
Interlude, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney

1994   
A Hundred Years, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Great Gifts Great Patrons, Art Gallery of New South Wales

1993    
Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Virtu, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney   
Works from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales


COMMISSIONS
1998    Viva Voce, Speaker's Corner, Domain, Sydney, City of Sydney Sculpture Walk
1985    Polaroid 20" x 24" camera
1984    CSR Photography Project
1983    Parliament House Construction Authority

ARTIST PUBLICATIONS
Debra Phillips, Index, Sydney, 1995
Debra Phillips, Source, Sydney, 1999

COLLECTIONS
Albury Regional Art Gallery
Artbank
Art Gallery of New South Wales
CSR Photography Collection / AGNSW
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Parliament House, Canberra
News Limited
Polaroid Australia
Polaroid International, Boston
The National Gallery of Australia

ARTIST BOOK + MULTIPLES COLLECTIONS
Artspace, Mackay
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Tate Gallery Library, London
The Library, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012    Altair Roelants, ‘The Spectacle of Deconstruction: Christian Capurro, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Debra Phillips’, Australian Art Monthly no. 248, April, pp.16–17
2011    Judy Annear, Photography & Place: Australian landscape photography 1970s until now, exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2010    Anne Marsh, Look: Contemporary Australian Photography Since 1980 (Melbourne: MacMillan Art Publishing, 2010)
2009    Adam Geczy, ‘Debra Phillips: Breenspace, Sydney’, EYELINE CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS, Number 70, December 2009, p. 78
Anthony Gardner, ‘Exquisite Time’, Debra Phillips (exh. cat.) (Sydney: BREENSPACE, 2009)
Blair French and Daniel Palmer, ‘Debra Phillips’, Twelve Australian Photo Artists (Sydney: Piper Press, 2009), pp. 120-135
Mark Titmarsh and Alex Gawronski (eds.), Loose Papers: Loose Projects 2006-2007 (Sydney: Loose Projects, 2009)
2008     Judy Annear, ‘photography and place’, BROADSHEET, vol. 37 no. 3, September 2008, pp204–207
2007    Judy Annear (ed), Photography: Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection handbook, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007, pp289–90, p308
Zara Stanhope, ‘Coming back for more’, Perfect for every occasion: photography today, Heide Museum of Modern Art, 2007, pp132–145
2006    Ian Wedde, ‘Haunted by Cook’, The Captain’s Ghost, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006, pp4–10
Rochelle Haley, ‘Substance Over Surface: Debra Phillips, Centennial Avenue 1997’, Photofile, no. 77, Autumn 2006
Catriona Moore, ‘Documentary meets conceptual art in the Australian bush’, Photofile, no. 76, Summer 2006
2005    Judy Annear, ‘The end of photography was in the air’, Points of View: Australian Photography 1985–95, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2005
Geoffrey Batchen et al, CSR 150: CSR 1855–2005 Celebrating 150 Years, 2005
Lily Hibberd, ‘Where Have All The People Gone?’, Photofile, no. 73, Summer     2005
2004    John Conomos, News: Sydney, Contemporary, no. 66, 2004
Sandy Edwards, ‘Sydney Life’, art&about, City of Sydney, Sydney, 2004
Blair French, ‘One thing leads to another’, One thing leads to another, Sydney, 2004
Jonathan Holmes, Maria Kunda, Robyn Ferrell, Atelier: Australian Artists in Paris 1980–2000, Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 2004
2003    Peter Conrad, At Home in Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra in association with Thames & Hudson, 2003
Debra Phillips, ‘Lawson Street’ in Je Veux, onestar press, 2003
2001    Blair French, ‘The Thickness of Vision’, Debra Phillips, The world as puzzle, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra, 2001
Juliana Engberg, 52 sidelong glances: Debra Phillips, Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Projects, AGNSW Sydney, 2001, reprinted in Sophie McIntyre (ed.), The Captain’s Ghost, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 2006
Virginia Ross, Sufficient Density, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney, 2001
Tessa Dwyer, ‘No Alternative’, Leica/CCP Documentary Photography Exhibition + Award, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, 2001
Christina Ueltzen, ‘Debra Phillips’, Australian Art Collector, no. 17, July–September 2001
Nick Waterlow, ‘A Century of Collecting 1901>2001’, A Century of Collecting 1901>2001, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, 2001
Jane Watters, A studio in Paris: Australian artists at the Cité Internationale des Arts 1967–2000, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 2001

EXHIBITIONS