Phoenix


Born and based in Melbourne, street artist Phoenix has been drawing throughout his life – and has been an avid collage and photocopy artist since the mid 1980s. During the last six years, he has used these skills in making art for the streets and lanes of Melbourne and beyond.

Phoenix's name arises from the massive fire in 2004 which destroyed his home studio. This space contained a large collection of works as well as an extensive library and processing system of collage images. After scouring through the ashes beneath the studio's collapsed roof, and salvaging what he could, he took a break from making art for five years – exploring instead his other creative interests. 

Five years after the fire, spurred on by the prolific street art of Melbourne, he began to rebuild his collage system – and soon began installing collaged pieces on public walls. His many works installed around Melbourne have now been joined by those seen across Australia, Europe and the Americas.

At the core of Phoenix’s work is the combination of three art processes: drawing, collage and photocopy. Photocopy and collage enhance his drawing process - and then convert it through a range of photocopy and collage methods into pasteups, stickers and mountable wall-plaques.

Phoenix's work is all about the combining of multiple layers: multiple physical layers of collage and sculptural relief – and multiple layers of iconography, text and meaning.

These interrelationships mirror those within his broader body of work - which is organised into a whole structure of ongoing series, bound and propelled by different sets of rules. 
Key ongoing series within this body of work are his Voice of the Blue Earth, Silent ♥, Dalíesque, TEXTing, Milking IT!, Stacks of Cans, Flight of the Osprey, EPHEMERAL, and Tools of Phoenix series.

His successful recent solo show in Sydney, FROM THE ASHES, follows a number of group and solo shows in Melbourne over the past five years.

A range of his works are now showing at Breslin Gallery, Carnegie


MEDIA
Here is a link to the recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald about me and my recent solo show in Sydney.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/street-artist-phoenix-rises-from-the-ashes-after-fire-destroyed-decades-of-work-20150823-gj3n35.html