James Phillips’ first solo exhibition at the gallery will include thirteen paintings and works on papers dating from the 1970s to the present.

As a young artist in Harlem, James Phillips joined the Weusi Group in 1969, before joining the artist collective, AfriCOBRA, in 1972. James Phillips’ paintings most embody a collision between figuration and geometric abstraction. His dynamic, vibrant, often lyrical abstract paintings and works on paper are a diagram for civil rights in America.

James Phillips was an integral component of the DC art world, and has been a long time faculty at Howard University. His work is currently on view in “Soul of a Nation” at the Brooklyn Museum, which travels to The Broad in Los Angeles in 2019. Phillips’ work has also been featured at The Studio Museum in Harlem, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Arts Program Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), Dallas Museum of Art, Howard University Art Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, , and Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. Forthcoming exhibitions include “AfriCOBRA: Messages to the People”, opening in November at MOCA North Miami.