John Ransom Phillips

John Ransom Phillips is a multidisciplinary artist who has been working in the art world for decades. He lives and works in New York but has spent significant periods of time in Belgium, Egypt, Italy and Judea. After receiving his BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and PhD at the University of Chicago, the California-born Phillips began his tenure as both a professional artist and professor, teaching the history of culture at the University of Chicago. He has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley and Reed College, Portland.

Phillips has written nine books. Among them, Ransoming Mathew Brady, and Bed as Autobiography. His latest book, Sleeping Presidents was published in 2021. His paintings have been exhibited worldwide. His recent series, Lives of Artists showed both with the Boca Raton Museum of Art and BlackBook Presents, New York. Theater works by Phillips include Eve & Adam, Fatherless Sons, Mrs. Mao, and his most current work, Shooting Celebrities.

Over the years, Phillips has developed a direct yet spiritual approach in self-expression, which underpins his art. Working across various media - painting, film, theater, and prose - he engages history. From Renaissance painter Pinturricchio to photographer Mathew Brady to Chairman Mao’s wife, Jiang Ching, Phillips explores their dreams and, for many, their secret wishes and desires. He has spent his life learning to see the larger connections between images and ideas interpreted within the legacy of symbolism. Drawing on memory and lived emotions that have followed him throughout his career, strong connections to past lives, their spirituality and energy guide his work.