There’s Something About Cece Philips: A Fresh Perspective on Liminality in Art

Introduction

Cece Philips, a London-based artist, is making waves in the contemporary art scene with her Asia debut at Seoul’s Peres Projects gallery. Her work, characterized by its seductive, isolated in-betweenery, captures the liminality of existence that arises from the spaces between opposites. Her unique portrayal of a world populated with females in cinematic tones is reminiscent of the avant-garde of the early 20th century, where black Americans went to avoid the racism they faced.

Exploring Liminal Spaces

In her second iteration with Peres Projects, Cece Philips continues to explore liminal spaces, times, and situations through her signature snap and glow. Her art takes us on long strolls through a composite cosmopolis draped in the hues of the blue hours. Here, we observe each scene from its periphery through an open window, from the opposite sidewalk, from behind a bush, or a sofa placed in a voyeuristic position. The liminal space between day and night, between dog and wolf, creates a mysterious atmosphere that lingers over each tableau.

Parallel Influences

Despite the self-evident parallels with Edward Hopper, Cece Philips’s work is most often likened to the cinema of Stanley Kubrick. There’s no small irony in that. Her becalmed Chiswick studio is beside the paddling swans and ducks on a quiescent stretch of the Thames, and close to the home and grave of the painter William Hogarth. Philips’s art aesthetic creates a circularity of art aesthetics from 17th-century Hogarth, whose work inspired Kubrick’s cinematography in Barry Lyndon, to 21st-century Philips.

CeCe Philips and the Digital Age

While Cece Philips is conscious of the contemporary urban scrollopolis of digital living, she’s not always in sync with it. The expectation that artists and writers must be doing things in front of the camera, selling the dream, and putting themselves out there feels uncomfortable for her. She prefers to split her working days into two. In the morning, she listens to podcasts, while in the afternoon, she listens to music. Her art evolution is nascent, having debuted only two years ago in the show On Love at HOME gallery.

Related Facts

• Peres Projects Seoul marks Cece Philips’s Asia debut.
• Her art is characterized by a liminal portrayal of a world populated with females in cinematic tones.
• Her art explores liminal spaces, times, and situations through her signature snap and glow.
• Her work is most often likened to the cinema of Stanley Kubrick.

Key Takeaways

• Cece Philips’ is making her Asia debut at Seoul’s Peres Projects gallery.
• Her art is characterized by a liminal portrayal of a world populated with females in cinematic tones.
• She explores the spaces between opposites through her unique portrayal of the liminality of existence.
• Her work is most often likened to the cinema of Stanley Kubrick.

Conclusion

Cece Philips is an up-and-coming artist whose work explores liminal spaces, times, and situations through her signature snap and glow. Her portrayal of a world populated with females in cinematic tones is reminiscent of the avant-garde of the early 20th century. Her art is characterized by the spaces between opposites, which creates a mysterious atmosphere that lingers over each tableau. Despite the self-evident parallels with Edward Hopper, her work is most often likened to the cinema of Stanley Kubrick. Cece Philips is a breath of fresh air in the contemporary art scene, and her future is promising.