Interested in the transgressive and interdisciplinary possibilities of food, hospitality and education, phillip McCrilly’s work explores the idea of threshold in often collaborative forms. Combining somatic learning with haptic processes of making, food is frequently used as a conduit for the transference of knowledge and skills.
ARTIST BIO
Phillip McCrilly is a Belfast-based artist and chef. Previously a co-director at Catalyst Arts, he is currently a participant within the Freelands Artist Programme at PS² (2021-2022), as well as a member of FRUIT SHOP; a collective of Belfast-based artists operating within a suburban residential café that merge food production and grassroots growing initiatives with local food histories. Recent projects include Irish Modernisms at CCA Derry~Londonderry, Jaunt commissioned by Catalyst Arts and Goethe Institut, Dance Food (with Fiona Hallinan) at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, and Kombucha Bar at Catalyst Arts, Belfast.
Gorse Wine (After John Oliver), 2021, Phillip McCrilly, 750ml, Glass, Found Bottle Top, Shaw’s Bridge Gorse Flowers, Yeast, Sugar, Filtered Water
FRUIT SHOP, September 2020-present, artist-run café
Considering cruising and foraging as likeminded deviant practices, his current research is centred around collective acts of land and property reclamation, as well as the potential for queer desire in the rural Irish landscape.
When I put my finger to the hole they've cut for a dimmer switch in a wall of plaster stiffened with horsehair it seems I've scratched a two-hundred-year-old itch, 2021, Phillip McCrilly, wall painting, black gloss paint on black matt emulsion
The Geographic Tongue (as part of Sam's Eden), 2021, Phillip McCrilly, collaborative performance, cruising walk with refreshments
Jaunt Seed Packets, 2020, Phillip McCrilly, bespoke and stamped packets, wild flower seeds
