Mark Phillips is a painter and printmaker who also writes, sculpts and creates installation projects. He was raised in the Pittsburgh area and studied painting, drawing and printmaking at the School of Art at EastCarolinaUniversity (1987-92). There he studied printmaking in depth under Michael Ehlbeck, Donald Sexhauer, and Michael Voors and had the opportunity to study painting under artists Clarence Morgan, Darryl Halbrooks and Paul Hartley.
In 1992, Phillips founded The Agave Plant, a studio and exhibition space in eastern North Carolina. Phillips worked for several years in the printing industry as a graphic artist and screen printer. For five years he owned his own sign and graphics business, Agave Signs, creating hand carved redwood, dimensional signs and computer graphics. In 1999, he moved to Chicago where he continued to teach at the Hyde ParkArtCenter, while continuing to paint and make signs.
His work has been exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hot House Performance Center, the Evanston Art Center, the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago Art Source Gallery, Gallery Mornea and nationally in various galleries from New York to Sofia, Bulgaria. His work is in private collections in Canada, Australia, Europe, Asia and the US.