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P H I L I P   R O S S    M U N R O
BIO 

 

Philip Ross Munro is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superiéure des Beaux Arts in Paris and has a background in engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and digital media from City College in San Francisco, California. 

 

Mr. Munro’s career spans more than thirty five years and he is currently living and working in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He has also lived in Europe, Canada, San Francisco, California and the Design District of Miami, Florida.

 

He is particularly well known for his paintings and photographs of the human form ranging from traditional portraiture to under water nudes.  Working in series, he documents the figure and explores perception.  He is an observer of the relationship between the mind and the body within a variety of circumstances and environments.  He chronicles the nuances of human comprehension and situation, exposing sensuality in a delicate balance.

 

Munro is most known, and has received acclaim, for his series of underwater photographs shot on location over the last twenty-eight years – long before the current trend.  His underwater photographs are unique in that they are not staged or scripted.  As with his other figurative work, Munro eschews engaging professional models but in all cases seeks to capture spontaneity in each situation.

 

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

 

Regardless of origin or intent, in order to remain relevant Art must ask a question. The creative dialogue and introspection yield discoveries.

 

Studies in engineering, mathematics, design, architecture, psychology, literature and in particular, complex color systems as well as Golden Section are my core precepts. As a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superiéure des Beaux Arts in Paris and having lived in Europe for many years, I believe that my work invokes the formal undercurrent of a contemporary Classicist.

 

Human form figures prominently in my work where encapsulated sentient life experience is spontaneously captured in moments reflecting personal depths. It amazes and astounds me that in our enlightened era that nudity continues to be frequently ostracized. It is the nakedness of our existence that dictates the planet’s course. Raw, intuitive energy resonates at the molecular level and perception inspires reflection of the individual and collective situation. In the current political arena of dichotomies the need for this could not be clearer. And yet my work leans away from ‘shock value’ images in a substantive quest for harmonious meditative, emotional flow and awareness.

 

Having had an unusual upbringing as first a Skinner Baby, later a Military Cadet and then a life in Paris I have ridden through the world of separation from the herd. It is possibly that which brings me to take a closer look at the perceptions of psyche and emotional balance.  Diving into fluid mediums, be they physical or metaphysical, and plunging into the unknown stirs subliminal reactions, sparks, infuses and informs us.

 

I work in series. Each is an exploration to share. I look at, into and through situations. There is a slightly voyeuristic element in the finished presentation that is not limited to the captured image. The outcome is similar to that of a ‘metaphrast’, someone who changes prose to verse. In this case recasting real life into changed perceptions of human form and emotional balance. The goal is to inspire and raise the Qi, or energy, of awareness.