Richard Phillips' photo-realistic paintings of celebrities, particularly those of female icons such as Adriana Lima, Miley Cyrus, and, most famously, Lindsay Lohan, interrupt common associations of what the role of portraiture and of painting can be. Taken from found imagery, either film stills or publicity shots, they are portrayed in almost lurid colours and are executed with a highly refined painting style. Phillips is interested in the implications of the celebrity's rehearsed expression: "It was a face that each of these stars rehearsed and used to become a blank screen endorsement of product or event that they might appear at⦠In a way thereâs that level of abstraction where itâs no longer attached to any type of accomplishment. It had more to do with providing a kind of blanket type of coverage for the endorsement moment. I very specifically chose that moment to use that selling phase, that winning expression they know. Itâs that type of consciousness that Iâm trying to portray."
