Phil Ralston is an artist who lives in Atlanta. Born in Pomona, California in 1953, he grew up feeling a strong preoccupation with artistic and creative things - with music especially. He learned to play guitar and piano during adolescence and young adulthood, but to this day he's never considered his performing abilities as anything greater than a source of personal gratification, for the most part. His feelings and thoughts about some of his favorite music, however, go a long way toward informing and shaping the development of what he has allowed himself to take rather seriously - abstract drawing.
As a young man, he felt an admiration for artists who faithfully and adeptly portrayed the world around us, and showed some ability himself in the areas of still life, landscape, portraiture, and other realistic depiction. He also became interested in many of the movements within twentieth century modern art, and had no trouble embracing the, for some, challenging aspects of abstract expressionism, for example. While he has long felt that his ability as a pictorial depicter of our world is something he would truly love to develop, there has been, for many years now, a rather stronger focus on the challenges of abstractionism.
His drawings are improvisations, but they show an exacting deliberation in their execution. There are no preliminary sketches. Each mark on the surface is decided upon with the appearance of the drawing, up to that point, as the main consideration for what happens next. Phil is hopeful that these careful decisions regarding composition (line, form, lyricism, conflict and resolution, the occasional quirky human detail) can coalesce, becoming a complete image somehow recognizable by other people. One observer has written: “Each work is contained within itself as a fully realized thought, but a thought that the rest of us haven’t had yet.”
In 2008, a substantial grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation allowed Phil to take time off from his full-time bartending position, using that time to greatly enhance his body of work. It also facilitated a visit to New York, where Phil showed examples of the drawings to the eminent gallerist Ivan Karp, who subsequently mounted a solo exhibition at the historic OK Harris gallery in 2011. A solo show took place in 2014 at the stunningly beautiful Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, in Atlanta; more recently, MOCA GA, The Museum Of Contemporary Art Of Georgia, has included Phil's work in two large exhibitions. The work has been represented at various times in Atlanta by Mason Fine Art.
From 2016 through 2019, Phil took a hiatus from drawing. He has never considered himself a driven artist; drawing is a naturally occurring activity which he accepts as a part of his identity, but he also feels it can be a mistake to place unnecessary demands on himself. In 2020, he picked up his pencil and started again, and is currently active producing fresh new pieces. By comparison with many other artists, he works slowly, deliberately, self-critically - holding hope that others may at some time see some truth, legitimacy and perhaps integrity in the ongoing work.
SOLO SHOWS
2024
Latest Work, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta
2016
Latest Work, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta
2014
New and Selected Works, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia
2011
Selected Works, OK Harris, New York, New York
2010
New Drawings, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Selected Works, Stone Soup Kitchen, Atlanta, Georgia
Selected Works, J Costello Gallery, Hilton Head, South Carolina
2009
Works from the Pollock-Krasner Grant Period, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
2008
Latest Works, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
2007
Sleeping on Apollo's Porch, The Gallery at Chastain, City of Atlanta, Department of Cultural Affairs, Atlanta, Georgia
1996
New Work, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2016
Abstraction Today, MOCA GA/The Museum of Contemporary Art Of Georgia, Atlanta
2015
Gathered: Georgia Artists Selecting Georgia Artists, MOCA GA/The Museum Of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta
Clash and Burn, One Twelve Gallery, Atlanta
2014
Georgia Artists, Abernathy Arts Center, Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture, Sandy Springs, Georgia
2012
Red, Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia
2009
Free Press in Free Fall, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, Georgia
AAC 6th Annual National, Atlanta Artists Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Group Show, The Temporary, Atlanta, Georgia
2008
Allied Artists of America, The National Arts Club, New York, New York
Texas National 2008, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas
La Grange National Biennial XXV, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia
2007
New Work, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
ARThouse Exhibition, Atlanta Gallery Association
Gerry Hull, Phil Ralston, Beth Filson, Holly Farrell, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta
2006
Group Show, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta, Georgia
Draw! Group Show of Drawings, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
The Emergent Eye, Quinlan Art Center, Gainesville, Georgia
2005
Soulstice, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
1997
Art Auction to Benefit Battered Women, The Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia
1992
Phil Ralston & Patrick Giles, The Neon Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
1985
Little Five Points Arts Festival, Atlanta, Georgia
1982
Group Show, Henry Hicks Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
AWARDS AND HONORS
2009
First Place Award, Atlanta Artists Center Sixth Annual National Juried Exhibition
Nominee, American Academy of Arts and Letters 2010 Invitational Exhibition
2008
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
As a young man, he felt an admiration for artists who faithfully and adeptly portrayed the world around us, and showed some ability himself in the areas of still life, landscape, portraiture, and other realistic depiction. He also became interested in many of the movements within twentieth century modern art, and had no trouble embracing the, for some, challenging aspects of abstract expressionism, for example. While he has long felt that his ability as a pictorial depicter of our world is something he would truly love to develop, there has been, for many years now, a rather stronger focus on the challenges of abstractionism.
His drawings are improvisations, but they show an exacting deliberation in their execution. There are no preliminary sketches. Each mark on the surface is decided upon with the appearance of the drawing, up to that point, as the main consideration for what happens next. Phil is hopeful that these careful decisions regarding composition (line, form, lyricism, conflict and resolution, the occasional quirky human detail) can coalesce, becoming a complete image somehow recognizable by other people. One observer has written: “Each work is contained within itself as a fully realized thought, but a thought that the rest of us haven’t had yet.”
In 2008, a substantial grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation allowed Phil to take time off from his full-time bartending position, using that time to greatly enhance his body of work. It also facilitated a visit to New York, where Phil showed examples of the drawings to the eminent gallerist Ivan Karp, who subsequently mounted a solo exhibition at the historic OK Harris gallery in 2011. A solo show took place in 2014 at the stunningly beautiful Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, in Atlanta; more recently, MOCA GA, The Museum Of Contemporary Art Of Georgia, has included Phil's work in two large exhibitions. The work has been represented at various times in Atlanta by Mason Fine Art.
From 2016 through 2019, Phil took a hiatus from drawing. He has never considered himself a driven artist; drawing is a naturally occurring activity which he accepts as a part of his identity, but he also feels it can be a mistake to place unnecessary demands on himself. In 2020, he picked up his pencil and started again, and is currently active producing fresh new pieces. By comparison with many other artists, he works slowly, deliberately, self-critically - holding hope that others may at some time see some truth, legitimacy and perhaps integrity in the ongoing work.
SOLO SHOWS
2024
Latest Work, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta
2016
Latest Work, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta
2014
New and Selected Works, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia
2011
Selected Works, OK Harris, New York, New York
2010
New Drawings, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Selected Works, Stone Soup Kitchen, Atlanta, Georgia
Selected Works, J Costello Gallery, Hilton Head, South Carolina
2009
Works from the Pollock-Krasner Grant Period, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
2008
Latest Works, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
2007
Sleeping on Apollo's Porch, The Gallery at Chastain, City of Atlanta, Department of Cultural Affairs, Atlanta, Georgia
1996
New Work, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2016
Abstraction Today, MOCA GA/The Museum of Contemporary Art Of Georgia, Atlanta
2015
Gathered: Georgia Artists Selecting Georgia Artists, MOCA GA/The Museum Of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta
Clash and Burn, One Twelve Gallery, Atlanta
2014
Georgia Artists, Abernathy Arts Center, Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture, Sandy Springs, Georgia
2012
Red, Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia
2009
Free Press in Free Fall, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, Georgia
AAC 6th Annual National, Atlanta Artists Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Group Show, The Temporary, Atlanta, Georgia
2008
Allied Artists of America, The National Arts Club, New York, New York
Texas National 2008, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas
La Grange National Biennial XXV, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia
2007
New Work, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
ARThouse Exhibition, Atlanta Gallery Association
Gerry Hull, Phil Ralston, Beth Filson, Holly Farrell, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta
2006
Group Show, Mason Murer Projects, Atlanta, Georgia
Draw! Group Show of Drawings, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
The Emergent Eye, Quinlan Art Center, Gainesville, Georgia
2005
Soulstice, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
1997
Art Auction to Benefit Battered Women, The Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia
1992
Phil Ralston & Patrick Giles, The Neon Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
1985
Little Five Points Arts Festival, Atlanta, Georgia
1982
Group Show, Henry Hicks Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
AWARDS AND HONORS
2009
First Place Award, Atlanta Artists Center Sixth Annual National Juried Exhibition
Nominee, American Academy of Arts and Letters 2010 Invitational Exhibition
2008
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant