Joel Daniel Phillips | Welcome to the Orange West

October 7 - November 11, 2017
Opening Reception: October 7th, 6 to 9 pm

Tinney Contemporary is pleased to present Welcome to the Orange West, an exhibition of new work by Joel Daniel Phillips. The exhibition comes out of Phillips' search for an understanding of his new surroundings after relocating to Tulsa, OK from San Francisco at the beginning of 2017 to participate in the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. Welcome to the Orange West explores the historical and cultural events that shaped Westward Expansion in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century. Through the lens of abandoned and decaying advertising littering the landscape along Route 66, the exhibition focuses on the sociological factors surrounding Manifest Destiny. Contrasted with renderings of historical moments central to the formation of the American West, the works examine the ways in which the United States has been shaped by, for better and worse, a deeply nostalgic relationship with Westward Expansion and the idea of the pioneer.

Most particularly, the drawings speak to the juxtaposition between history and nostalgia. We are in the midst of a cultural moment that sees many Americans hoping to return the country to their own individual understanding of its past; Welcome to the Orange West is an exploration of that past, and how our fascination with its glamour continues to shape decisions that affect our future.

Joel Daniel Phillips' work focuses on the tenets of classical draftsmanship employed in monumental formats. Inspired by the depth and breadth of human experience, he strives to tell the stories etched in the faces of those around him. Through the tip of his pencil, the artist seeks to find moments where our projected senses of self are transparent, allowing deeper, more truthful emotions to become visible. Phillips’ work has been exhibited at institutions and galleries across the United States as well as abroad, and he was recently the 3rd prize recipient in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.