Philip EmdeGermany

Philip Emde‘s (b. 1976, Mannheim, DE) collection of used stuffed animals, which have already experienced the most diverse emotional states of their previous owners, reveals a deeper insight into the human psyche.

With his concept of simulacra, Jean Baudrillard posits that modern society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs: human experience is a simulation of reality. An example of placeholders created by our society are the stuffed animals. The artist is aware that their owners bring them to life by projecting their own stories.

Philip Emde can be placed in the lineage of artists such as Mike Kelley, who reveals the ‘uncanny’ with mock figures and toy animals. Works like More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid and The Wages of Sin come to mind. From childhood to adulthood, the stuffed animals accompany their owners even in challenging times. Emde’s work humorously deals with the ambiguity of life and finds its own place in contemporary art.

Philip Emde lives and works in Cologne. He studied Drawing and Printmaking under Prof. Ellen Sturm and Prof. Jovica Veljovic at the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg (2007). His works have been exhibited internationally, including at Cuchifritos Gallery in New York (2013), Ludwig Museum in Budapest (2023), Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort (2023), SONG SONG in Vienna (2019), Galerie Chu in Cologne (2012), and Kunstverein NW in Neustadt (2016). He has received several awards and grants, including the Rainer Funke Stiftung Preis (2018), the Joseph-und-Anna-Fassbender Preis (2012), and the Balmoral New York Fellowship (2013). His work is held in public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, Artist Book Collection, New York; the Tate Library, London; and the Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art in Rizhao, China.