Inside Burger Collection: Julia Phillips
By Harry C.H. Choi
Against all the odds, Julia Phillips remains invisible. Online searches yield documentation of her elegant sculptures and works on paper, yet the customary profile image of the artist (who, from all accounts, is charismatic, glamorous, but also somber) is simply nowhere to be seen. Among the rows of installation shots that bear Phillips’s name, the sole “portrait” is a black-and-white photograph of a slender figure donning a monochrome outfit, taken by the artist Keisha Scarville. Presumably this is of Phillips, who made sure that her face was covered with what appears to be her own hair. So any attempt to put a face to a name is a futile one, at least in the virtual realm. As frustrating as this might be, the message is clear: Phillips prefers not to be seen, even in our age of hypervisibility.