Meet Philip Lique | Artist & Director of Exhibitions for Mad Arts.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Philip Lique and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Philip, how has your work-life balance changed over time?

I try not to separate my work and my life…or separate the many identities I have. I genuinely love what I do – maybe I could stand to rest a little bit more…..

In the past I tried to compartmentalize each aspect of my practice. I was an artist, and a teacher, and a fabricator, and a grant writer and an art handler….etc. The definitions of each identity were clear, or at least, I wanted them to be…. Somewhere along the line, I let go of burden of defining what an artist was. It wasn’t a conscious decision, as much as a lack of enthusiasm to keep on re inventing my identity each time I wrote an artist statement. I found the ambiguity of working in between all of these spaces was beneficial to my mental health. If your identity is complicated – why put a label on it?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I have a multidisciplinary practice that’s rooted in craft. I really appreciate woodwork, tools, drawing, painting and bookmaking. Most of what I do has some element of visitor participation and environment building involved. I work with and around other artists all the time, and my collaborative projects are the ones that typically have the most reach and engagement .

I’m where I am because I have a problem with saying “no”. My younger self would never turn down an opportunity – and I worked on so many different projects that I can’t even begin to list them here. I got a lot of “on the job” training, and managed to keep moving on to better, an more complex projects or employment. Long ago I was a display designer for Urban Outfitter, a shop tech at YALE school of Sculpture, the co founder of an alternative art space in a college town, Art Professor at a dozen universities, manager of zine oriented artist-non profit and fabricator of exhibits for UNTITLED Art fair. Those experiences expanded my studio practice, and afforded me the opportunity to take a role as the Director of Exhibitions for Mad Arts….and im still learning.

Having a career as an artist is an additive process.

Ultimately, Ive learned that helping other artists has been an important part of what I do. That element is the constant theme—I always try to help.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Hmmm.

I’m a big fan of Sherwoods Bistro in Little River – So we’re going to have to start there for happy hour and have some mussels and frites with a nice cold martini.

We might have to visit my pal David at his grassroots gallery space, Flowerbox projects, in Little Haiti. David has run an independent gallery for years, and has a reputation for letting artists have free reign over the space and mounting really experimental shows…..lately he’s turned the space into a Private BBQ Art club….. so you might have to pony up some cash for the membership dues.

If we luck out, maybe the Aerospace lounge near the MIA international airport has a dance party going on. You haven’t been to a real dance party until you go to one where a 747 takes off directly over your head.

Of course, The beach is the day spot. I go to the beach closest to Cachito Coffee and bakery in North beach. The beach and coffee combo is my favorite.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My girlfriend, Lauren Shapiro, is an amazing artist, and my favorite grocery trip buddy. I love you baby.

Website: philiplique.com

Instagram: @Philip_lique

Image Credits
artist portrait curtesy of : Pedro Wazzan