With the tip of a pencil and a piece of charcoal, Joel Daniel Phillips 鈥�11 tells stories about people. His monumental drawings depict inhabitants of a blighted San Francisco neighborhood, shedding light on the overlooked and unidentified. For three years, he walked outside his studio and home in a former factory and asked to photograph neighbors he met on the corner of Sixth and Mission. He turns those images into revealing, life-sized graphite and charcoal portraits.
鈥淢ost people avoid that corner with its visual deficits and detritus,鈥� he says. 鈥淗omelessness, drug addiction and poverty are more visible there than in most cities.鈥� But Joel entered the community he found. 鈥淎t first, people asked me, 鈥榃hat do you want? What will you do with the photos?鈥� I soon became known as the guy who draws people. Four years later, I鈥檝e made a lot of good friends.鈥�
Today he lives in Oakland, part of the artist exodus from over-priced San Francisco. He shares a studio and living space in an old cannery, with BART trains constantly zooming by the window. 鈥淚t鈥檚 idyllic after San Francisco,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 separated from the inspiration and social fabric of that corner. I鈥檓 looking at it from the outside.鈥� To reconnect with the neighborhood, he has to rent a room with just a sink and see how long he can stand it.
Joel worked for two years without selling a single piece, supporting himself with graphic design. Then the gallery that became Hashimoto Contemporary accepted his art, and it all sold in two months. His shows now sell out. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to keep anything in stock,鈥� he says.
His work has appeared in group exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, New York, Miami and the 蜜桃传媒 Ridley-Tree Museum of Art as well as in two solo shows, 鈥淣o Regrets in Life鈥� at Satellite 66 in San Francisco in 2012 and 鈥淚 Am Another Yourself鈥� in 2014 at Hashimoto Contemporary.
A printmaking class led Joel to switch his major from English to art. 鈥淭ony Askew pulled me aside and told me I had to do art,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was one of those moments that change everything.鈥� Joel focused on graphic design, a sensible direction his father supported. But he discovered drawing during a semester at the New York Center for Art and Media Studies. 鈥淪omeone gave me charcoal nubs and suggested I draw people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 spent much time drawing before, but I felt it was what I was supposed to do.鈥�
His senior art project at 蜜桃传媒 featured four, full-length charcoal portraits: his father and his brother, both attorneys, and himself and his uncle, both artists. 鈥淚t was my way of telling my dad what I planned to do,鈥� he says.
Joel works diligently on his craft. 鈥淚 thought my original drawings were amazing,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut after 8,000 hours of drawing, I realize I鈥檓 not anywhere near where I want to be.鈥� Spending up to 100 hours a week in the studio has him seeking some balance in his life. He spends all his time either working or spending time with fellow artists. But he appreciates these new friends. 鈥淚 finally feel like I have a community for the first time since leaving 蜜桃传媒,鈥� he says.