Philip Wakelam
Biography	Artwork

 

Philip Wakelam was born in 1946 in Kings Norton, Birmingham and has painted since he was 17 years old. His father was a jeweller in Vyse Street (Birmingham Jewellery Quarter), and consequently Philip went on to study Design and Engineering at Birmingham School of Jewellery.

Philip's oil paintings are bold and graphically executed. Seemingly humorous and light-hearted, there is a hidden moral to his work reflecting his soul-searching journey. Due to a traumatic motorcycle accident in his youth, the mental scars have stayed with him through out his life. He suffers from a nervous disposition, specifically agoraphobia. Philip admits that he doesn't communicate well but chooses to express himself through his painting. One of his friends and mentors, Terry Wooley, has been a huge influence on his work. Terry, twenty years his senior, was an illustrator and painter for the Cadburys factory. The two became firm friends and have painted together.

"I was astounded to see a volume of paintings hidden away in a bedroom, it was like an untapped source of energy which had not been shown anywhere before…having been recommended by his daughter who works in Brindleyplace, I was intrigued by the unusual, almost unique style of painting. Reflections of Beryl Cook, Rene Magritte and Henry Moore can be seen on the surface of Philips work, However, his aim and quest to paint what he feels ensures that the naivety of the image can be turned like the page of a book and the chapters seem to fall off the canvas…within a short period of time his work has jumped two generations and will be seen on the forthcoming LP cover for ‘The Suffragettes'-a highly charged, loud, up to the minute rock band, comprising three talented young female musicians."

-Lee Benson