'Most Wanted' show by Richard Phillips, London

For his ’Most Wanted’ exhibition at London’s White Cube Hoxton Square, artist Richard Phillips depicted the faces of ten celebrities against branded ’step and repeat’ backdrops, using classical portraiture techniques, to hyperreal effect
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
It's rare to find images of the likes of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus emblazoned across wallpaper.com but, in the hands of artist Richard Phillips, they take on a curiously alluring new guise - as seen from his exhibition at London's White Cube Hoxton Square.
The American artist is known for taking material from the realms of television, cinema, porn and advertising and translating it into glossy, hyperreal oil-paintings, using the meticulous techniques of Northern Renaissance painters. The resulting images are redolent with complex discourse on subjects like celebrity, sexuality and identity.
For White Cube, Phillips has chosen ten famous names, which also include Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Kristen Stewart, and depicted them with red carpet-perfect smiles against branded 'step and repeat' backdrops. Each subject is given a bright halo around their image, in reference to Richard Bernstein's illustrations for Interview Magazine, emphasising their deity-like celebrity status, while strangely flattening their image, morphing them into the brands they stand before.
Placing these icons of mass culture in a high art setting is cleverly jarring. It makes the show's message about the subservience of artistic endeavours to the dominant presence of celebrity endorsement all the more potent. And the sheer scale of the portraits - at almost two-and-a-half metres tall - is unnerving in itself - heightened by the blank perfection of the faces that stare back at you.
Each subject is given a bright halo around their image, in reference to Richard Bernstein’s illustrations for Interview magazine, emphasising their deity-like celebrity status, while strangely flattening their image, morphing them into the brands they stand before
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Zac Efron)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Taylor Swift)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Taylor Momsen)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Robert Pattinson)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Miley Cyrus)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Leonardo DiCaprio)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Kristen Stewart)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Justin Timberlake)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Dakota Fanning)’ by Richard Phillips, 2011
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
’Most Wanted (Chase Crawford)’ by Richard Phillips, 2010
Courtesy of Richard Phillips and White Cube Gallery
Photographed by Tom Powel Imaging in Phillips’ studio in New York
ADDRESS
White Cube
48 Hoxton Square
London N1 6PB
Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.
-
Extreme Cashmere reimagines retail with its new Amsterdam store: ‘You want to take your shoes off and stay’
Wallpaper* takes a tour of Extreme Cashmere’s new Amsterdam store, a space which reflects the label’s famed hospitality and unconventional approach to knitwear
By Jack Moss
-
Titanium watches are strong, light and enduring: here are some of the best
Brands including Bremont, Christopher Ward and Grand Seiko are exploring the possibilities of titanium watches
By Chris Hall
-
Warp Records announces its first event in over a decade at the Barbican
‘A Warp Happening,' landing 14 June, is guaranteed to be an epic day out
By Tianna Williams