art.wikisort.org - Artist

Pippa Garner (born 1942 outside of Chicago, Illinois[1]), formerly known as Philip Garner, is an artist and author known for making parody forms of consumer products as well as custom bicycles and automobiles. Notable publications written by Garner include The Better Living Catalog[2] and Utopia—or Bust! Products for the Perfect World.[3]

Pippa Garner
Born	Philip Garner 1942 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Known for	Drawing, Performance, Sculpture
Movement	Funk art, Nut art

Biography

After serving in Vietnam as a combat artist,[4] Garner began her career in the 1970s in Los Angeles as a performance artist. A Chevrolet she modified was featured in Esquire Magazine in 1975 and noticed by the San Francisco art collective Ant Farm, and she subsequently began a collaboration with Chip Lord.[5] As Philip Garner, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the Merv Griffin Show and other talk shows showcasing her satirical consumer product "inventions", and her art has appeared in Car & Driver, Rolling Stone, Arts & Architecture and Vogue, among other publications.[6]

In the 1980s, Pippa began her transition to a different gender as part of what she considered an "art project to create disorientation in my position in society, and sort of balk any possibility of ever falling into a stereotype again."[7] Pippa Garner participated in Trappings, an artwork by Two Girls Working: Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki. During her interview for the project, she described her transition from male to female as a form of artistic expression.[8][9]

Pippa has also appeared on the show Monster Garage as a guest artist in a few episodes.[10]

In 1997, Garner showed in "Hello Again!", a recycled art focused show which opened at the Oakland Museum[11] and travelled throughout North America. The show, curated by Susan Subtle, featured Garner alongside Mildred Howard, Leo Sewell, Clayton Bailey, Claire Graham, Jan Yager, Remi Rubel, Mark Bulwinkle, and others.

In 2017, Garner had a solo show at Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles where she presented sculptures, drawings, and videos.[12] She lives in Long Beach, California.[1]

Her work has been described as a "critique of car culture", reflecting on the US fascination with overbuilt, supersized machines.[13]

Immaculate Misconceptions

Garner is known for her Immaculate Misconceptions projects that she has been creating throughout her artistic practice. The series consists of hundreds of inventions, most of them involving repurposing household consumer products into gadgets or absurd devices. For example the ironic "Hurl-A-Burger" machine is a type of catapult designed to "promote cultural exchange" by launching fast food over international border walls.[14][15]

Collections

Garner's work is in the collection of the Audrain Auto Museum of Rhode Island,[13] a selection of her photographs are held in the Contemporary Art Library archives.[16]

Published works

Better Living Catalog

Philip Garner's Better Living Catalog: 62 Absolute Necessities for Contemporary Survival was published in 1982 by Putnam Publishing Group[17]

Utopia—or Bust! Products for the Perfect World

Utopia—or Bust! Products for the Perfect World was published in 1984 by Putnam Publishing Group.[18]

Garner's Gizmos & Gadgets

Garner's Gizmos & Gadgets was published in 1987 Perigee Trade.[19]

See also

• Ant Farm
• Chip Lord

References

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