Vanitas I Photograph - Limited Edition of 1

John Phillips is an artist, photographer and printmaker. In 1974 he co-founded Paddington Printshop, a community arts resource creating posters with and for the extraordinary community that lived locally. Paddington Printshop became a model for community based printshops across the UK and John became a leading figure in the Community Arts Movement, and a pioneer of socially engaged art practice in the UK. In 1983-4, supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Arts Council, he travelled in Mexico, Central America and Cuba, researching community and socially engaged printmakers. While working at the René Portocarrero Studio in Havana John conceived the idea of a new type of organisation, with one foothold in community activism, and the other in the art market. He subsequently established London Print Workshop (now londonprintstudio) with the aim of creating prints with established and emerging artists for home and international art markets, alongside developing innovative art projects with and for the local community. John has curated a number of exhibitions with a particular focus on print and popular culture - music, fashion and costume, visual books, and social engagement. Recently he has employed photography in both personal and community-based projects. John is full-time Director of londonprintstudio where he also teaches on the studio's MA programme. He studied sculpture at Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University), and has a PhD in Fine Art from the University of Brighton. His work is held in a number of collections including V&A, International Institute of Social History and Rhode Island School of Design Museum.