What Selected Critics Say:

Daniel Brown, Cincinnati Art Historian and Art Critic, Cincinnati, Ohio, says, “The surfaces of Lynn Rose Phillips’ paintings are sensuous, luxuriant, and exotic. Her world(s) bring the Vienna Secession to mind; the work of Klimt pervades her work without in any way copying his paintings. And since we are living in a decadent culture, Phillips’ hot-colored, intensely painted paintings seem as topical as anything regarding race, gender, and class and power relationships, which are all so pervasive in today’s overheated contemporary art scene. And color is the key component in her paintings, whether they are interpretations of cathedrals from Byzantium or Russia, portraits of elegant and/or whorish women, interpretations of dreams with a fairy-tale like component, collages or a revisitation of The Old West, which is where her work began decades ago. Highly stylized, her paintings refer back and forth to art history and to civilizations past and present. Her in-your-face sensuality and sexuality, both refer to women and to men. Her work runs the gamut from relatively representational to far more abstract. You’re in a wholly different world in her paintings; they are seductive, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed just by the textures and designs of the surfaces of all of her paintings. Phillips is very astute in understanding how women were treated in various cultures. They may have been controlled and lacked choices but Rose’s women always feel free and in charge, proud and cocky….the empowered female. It’s the optimism in her work that so appeals, along with the brilliance of her craft and of her bold and assured narratives. I have not seen work like Phillips anywhere in a very long time: it’s freshness will amaze and delight the viewer.

Owen Findsen, Art Critic, of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, has critiqued Lynn Rose Phillips over the years at The Malton Gallery and The Miller Gallery and from various reviews has stated, “ Lynn adds to the art brew with joyful, exuberant, provocative, paintings , refreshing and original as the artist herself” that “ colorfully energize many a home with a mixed media of jewels, glitter and metallic paint that create spontaneous zaniness”.

“To be or not to be- serious, that is. Artist Lynn Rose Phillips chooses not to be, at least most of the time and that makes her paintings delightful. They are brightly colored, sometimes cartoon-like, sometimes outrageous, and you can’t look at the paintings without chuckling. She says she is usually depressed when she starts a painting and paints to cheer herself up. The paintings are all about the artist and her experiences as a woman and she says it’s not easy being female and that you simply have to have a sense of humor. She delivers her laughs with skill. The colors are bright and happy because Phillips has a fine feeling for color and the skill to orchestrate color to achieve happy effects.”

Fran Watson of The Indian Hill Living Magazine, Cincinnati, Ohio says, “ Whew! A first viewing of Lynn’s work at The Malton Gallery is a little like skinny dipping in a tub of cold champagne. Shocking, but delightful. And highly professional. This artist has made the mythical transition from graphic design to fine art which they say can’t be done. Discerning art collectors agree that her work takes a sizable chunk of time and effort and when the work entails the energy and detail of Lynn’s, it’s staggering. Six of her works were sold as they were being unpacked at The Malton Gallery in Cincinnati, even before her scheduled first solo show had even taken place that week. The visual activity is enormous and the audience will become lost in the pure pleasure of exploration, and the discovery alone is adequate entertainment. Within each of these fantasies is a serious premise for its existence. Often Lynn refers back to her favorite Art Academy study, Art History, for a theme. Medieval cathedrals, Near Eastern motifs, fictional flora and fauna, classical sagas figure in her unique compositions along with portraits of her family which reveal some nice pieces of traditional watercolor painting as their basis. She often bombards the senses with glitter, texture, color and the results of her continuous discovery of new materials. The intensity of her involvement makes each creation a very personal part of her life, one in which business-like detachment becomes difficult to maintain. And it is this very intensity which makes her work “bubbly, enthusiastic, and explosive”.

Jerry Stein of The Cincinnati Post Newspaper, Cincinnati, Ohio, says, “ Cincinnati artist Lynn Rose Phillips’s solo show at The Malton Gallery is bringing some flash and fun to this coming weekend. She has long made contemporary art with variety as a keynote with assemblages, 3-D constructions, and mixed media acrylic paintings on canvas and paper with colorful palettes emphasizing contrasting designs and tongue in cheek phrases of words. Underneath the humor, though, lurk some social and environmental concerns with even a few surprises. Her art is an experience that should not be missed”.

Michael Regan of The Missoula Independent Newspaper, Missoula Montana, says, “ Yee-Haw, and all that stuff. And then there’s Lynn Rose Phillips. Sutton West Gallery presents Lynn Rose Phillips in her first solo show in Montana. Though she’s lived in the Midwest a good part of her life, Phillips may be the wildest woman of the West with her Western Pop Art this weekend. She populates her work with “old boyfriends, unrequited lovers and people who’ve pissed me off”. She says these folks began showing up in her work in Western guises many years ago. Phillips frames cowboys, Native Americans, bikers, naked women and animals in colorful, benignly weird watercolors and acrylics like “Elaine Was Just Simply Too Tired To Get Dressed Today”, “He Was A Short, But Fun Kind of Guy”, which features a Native American Napoleon, and “She Didn’t Want To Be A Sheep Floozie”, a portrait of a large breasted ewe wearing nothing but a cigarette holder and orange high heels. Curly strands of hair attached to the top of the frame hang over the picture. She tries and succeeds in combining humor and serious issues in her work and what might be scary to Cincinnati, her home town, we here in Missoula think it wonderfully over the top and more than acceptable to Montana.”

Melba Silver of The Palm Beach Plus Column of the Sun-Sentinel Newspaper, Delray Beach, Florida, says, “Tenderfoots, saddle up Old Paint and ride along with Lynn Rose Phillips and her wild-eyed cowboys, cowgirls looking for trouble, and a heap of Injuns on the warpath-all rustled up and corralled with feisty cowpunchers, tumblin’ tumbleweeds, and wailing coyotes. Forms Gallery, one of Delray’s popular spots on gallery row specializing in contemporary Southwestern art now hosts Lynn Rose Phillips with a solo show. Lynn hasn’t been snoozin’ in the bunkhouse ‘cause every prairie dog, greenhorn, and varmint we know from mesa to canyon collects these rib-tickling, lighthearted paintings, sculpture, and clothing that will colorfully energize every homestead or silver mine along any dusty trail. The series of acrylic paintings along with their colorful palettes emphasizing dynamic designs and arresting colors is an account of Ms. Phillips own lifetime experiences set in Western mode. She must be dancing a two- step with the accolades that are now being sent her way. “