Philip Crawford

Philip Crawford (b. 1988) is a US-American artist based in Berlin. His studio practice combines critical essays, works on paper, video, sculpture, and installation in a wide-ranging study of popular representations and “fast images”. In his work, Crawford investigates ways to slow down their reading to re-visualize black livingness, unsettle hegemonic historical narratives, challenge systems of oppression, and reclaim technologies of power. Philip holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University and an MFA in Sculpture from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. His work has been exhibited at galleries and cultural institutions in the United States including Kai Lin Gallery (Atlanta, GA); Elaine L. Jacob Gallery (Detroit, MI); Pilot + Projects and Temple Contemporary (Philadelphia); and Santa Fe Art Institute (Santa Fe, NM); as well as internationally at Zizkovsiska Gallery (Prague, Czech Republic); Enter Art Foundation, Global Diplomacy Lab, Kunstquartier Bethanien and Nüüd Gallerie (Berlin, Germany); University of Cologne (Cologne, Germany); Galerie Der Künstler*innen and Akademie Für Politische Bildung (Munich, Germany).

In addition to his studio practice, Crawford provides artistic direction for decolonial projects in Berlin through Studio Karfi. His published essays and articles investigate the cultural histories of pop culture artifacts in relation to contemporary social struggles.

Artist Statement

The study of "fast images" is central to my artistic practice. I investigate ways to slow down their reading to unsettle hegemonic historical narratives, challenge systems of oppression and reclaim technologies of power. In my work, fast images take the form of oblique references, visual representations, statements, objects and sounds appropriated from popular culture. Common and commodified, these things are fast not only because of the speed at which they are produced and consumed, but because the narratives they transmit conform to the ways we expect the world to be.

My current body of work revels in notions of selfhood and practices of self-defense in marginalized communities. With a particular focus on the black Diaspora, I'm interested in exploring expressions of self-protection that-while often perceived as violent-can also be read as moments of individual and communal self-making. Through my practice I hope to engage others in this study, and to offer a series of spatial, temporal, and conceptual experiments that meditate on blackness and black culture in/as a stand-in for humanness and culture.