Philip Ridley

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Philip Ridley (born 29 December 1964 in London) is a British artist working with various media. His work is characterised by a mix of the menacing and the magical.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London, England, where he still lives and works. He studied painting at St. Martin’s School of Art and his work has been exhibited throughout Europe and Japan. He started as both a performance artist and the creator of a long sequence of charcoal drawings called The Epic Fail of Oracle Foster. One drawing from this sequence, "Corvus Cum", portraying a man ejaculating a black bird, was exhibited at the ICA in London while Ridley was still a student and – with calls for it to be displayed behind a curtain – became a cause célèbre. Ridley also started his own theatre group as a student, acting in many of the productions, and made several short 'art' films, including Visiting Mr Beak which starred the veteran actor Guy Rolfe. His short film for Channel 4, The Universe of Dermot Finn, was officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival, where it was a critical success and went on to receive theatrical distribution.

Ridley has written three books for adults, Crocodilia, In the Eyes of Mr. Fury, and Flamingoes in Orbit; the screenplay for The Krays[1] feature film; five adult stage plays: The Pitchfork Disney, the multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Ghost from a Perfect Place, Vincent River, the controversial trilogy Mercury Fur, Leaves of Glass and Piranha Heights: plus a further five plays for young people: Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece, Sparkleshark and Brokenville.

He has also directed two feature films from his own screenplays: The Reflecting Skin – winner of 11 international awards – and The Passion of Darkly Noon[2] (winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival) and one short film, The Universe of Dermot Finn.

His children's books include Scribbleboy (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal), Kasper in the Glitter (nominated for the Whitbread Prize), Mighty Fizz Chilla (shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award), ZinderZunder, Vinegar Street, and Krindlekrax (winner of both the Smarties Prize and WH Smith’s Mind-Boggling Books Award), the stage play of which – adapted by Ridley himself – was premièred at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in the summer of 2002. His most recent children's novel is Zip's Apollo, published in 2005.

He is also a photographer — he created the cover images for Ridley: Plays 1 and Ridley: Plays 2, (published by Methuen) and regularly exhibits portraits of friends and images of East London, the two main themes of his photographic output – and a poet (his work has appeared in several collections). He co-wrote, with Nick Bicat, two songs that appeared in his film The Passion of Darkly Noon, ('Who Will Love Me Now?', sung by P.J. Harvey - later covered by Sunscream - and "Look What You've Done" sung by Gavin Friday). Ridley has won both the Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer to British Film and Most Promising Playwright Awards. He is the only person ever to receive both prizes.

Ridley's third film as writer-director, Heartless, premiered at the Frightfest horror film festival in London in August 2009. The film stars Jim Sturgess, Clemence Poesy, Noel Clarke, Eddie Marsan, Luke Treadaway and Timothy Spall, and is due for UK release on 17 February 2010. In addition to this, a new collection of his adult plays has just been published by Methuen (including Vincent River, Mercury Fur, Leaves Of Glass and Piranha Heights, with a new introduction by Ridley). An opera for teenagers titled Tarantula In Petrol Blue (with libretto by Ridley and music by Anna Meredith) was recently premiered by Aldeburgh Music.[3]

[edit] List of works (incomplete)

[edit] Literature

  • 1987 - Leviathan (short story)
  • 1988 - Crocodilia (novel)
  • 1989 - In the Eyes of Mr. Fury (novel)
  • 1989 - Mercedes Ice (children's novel)
  • 1990 - Flamingoes in Orbit (short stories)
  • 1990 - Dakota of the White Flats (children's novel)
  • 1991 - Krindlekrax (children's novel)
  • 1994 - Meteorite Spoon (children's novel)
  • 1995 - The Hooligan's Shampoo (short story for children)
  • 1995 - Kasper in the Glitter (children's novel)
  • 1996 - Alien Heart (short story)
  • 1997 - Scribbleboy (children's novel)
  • 1998 - Wonderful Insect (short story)
  • 2000 - Vinegar Street (children's novel)
  • 2002 - Mighty Fizz Chilla (children's novel)
  • 2005 - Zip's Apollo (children's novel)
  • 2007 - Love Songs for Extinct Creatures (poetry reading)

[edit] Theatre

Adult Stage Plays

Plays for Young People

The Storyteller Sequence

  • 1996 - Fairytaleheart
  • 1996 - Sparkleshark
  • 2003 - Brokenville
  • 2004 - Karamazoo
  • 2004 - Moonfleece


  • 2008 - Feathers in the Snow

Plays for Children

  • 2002 - Krindlekrax
  • 2004 - Daffodil Scissors

Libretto

  • 2007 - on such a day (concert piece)
  • 2009 - Tarantula in Petrol Blue (opera)

[edit] Film

[edit] Songs

From The Passion of Darkly Noon (music Nick Bicat)

[edit] Exhibitions

Group Shows

  • 1981 - New Contemporaries, ICA, London.
  • 1982 - New Contemporaries, ICA, London.
  • 1983 - Christie's Student Show, Christie's, London.
  • 1984 - The Leicester Exhibition, Leicester.
  • 1985 - Open Drawing Exhibition, Tettenhall Gallery, Wolverhampton.
  • 1985 - Open Exhibition, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 1986 - Ten Painters, 7th Floor Gallery, St. Martin's School of Art, London.
  • 1986 - Summer Exhibition, Bernard Baron Gallery, London.
  • 1987 - Group Show, Tom Allen Centre, London.
  • 1987 - Selected Show, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 1987 - Young Contempories, Birch & Conran, London.
  • 1988 - Decency, Discretly Bizarre Gallery, London.
  • 1988 - Selected Show, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 1988 - Mendacity, Discretly Bizarre Gallery, London.
  • 1988 - Magical Cats, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 1988 - Art Jonction International, Nice, France.
  • 1988 - Bergamo Art Fair, Bergamo, Italy.

Solo Shows

  • 1985 - The Roaring Dreams Show, Tom Allen Centre, London.
  • 1985 - The Feeling Landscapes Show, Bernard Baron Gallery, London.
  • 1985 - The Glittering Gargolyes Show, The Fallen Angel, London.
  • 1986 - Mermaids, Monsters and Sleeping Moons, Mermaid Theatre, London.
  • 1986 - Recent Images, The Fallen Angel, London.
  • 1986 - The Epic of Oracle Foster, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 1987 - Shy Moon, The Garden Gallery, London.
  • 1989 - The Vingegar Blossoms, Lamont Gallery, London.
  • 2007 - Recent Portraits (photography exhibition)
  • 2007 - East End (photography exhibition)
  • 2008 - Recent Portraits 2 (photography exhibition)

[edit] Works in anthologies etc (incomplete)

  • Poem 'The Silver Hat' in collection 'Love' (edited by Fiona Waters)
  • Poem 'The Prince and the Snail' in collection 'The Works 4' (edited by Gaby Morgan)
  • Three poems in collection 'Poems For The Retired Nihilist' (edited by Graham Bendel)

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Ridley's image 'Rainbow Kiss' was used on the cover of the short story collection Oranges and Lemons (edited by Davis Rees and Peter Robins)
  • Ridley designed the poster image for the uk release of The Passion of Darkly Noon
  • Ridley designed the badge (of butterflies with heart-shaped wings) used to promote the world premiere of his play Fairytaleheart (Hampstead Theatre, London)
  • The song "Fury Eyes" (from The Creatures' second album, Boomerang) is dedicated to Ridley's novel In the Eyes of Mr. Fury.
  • Ridley's charcoal drawing The Conversation was used as the cover to cult band Blowzabella's 1988 album "Pingha Frenzy".
  • Ridley was one of 25 contemporary British writers asked to contribute a scene to NT25 Chain Play, celebrating 25 years of the Royal National Theatre in London.
  • Ridley's song Who Will Love Me Now? (as sung by P.J. Harvey) was selected as Favourite Film Song by Radio 1 in 1998.
  • Ridley's song Who Will Love Me Now? was covered by the techno/house band Sunscreem and entered the top 40 UK chart.
  • Ridley's song Who Will Love Me Now? (as covered by Sunscreem) was used in the film South West 9.
  • In 1996 Hungary's The Titanic Film Festival had a major retrospective of Ridley's work.
  • The Canadian musician Phil Western used dialogue samples from The Reflecting Skin on his 1998 album The Escapist.
  • Buju Banton's music track Murderer features dialogue samples from the film The Krays.

[edit] Awards won (incomplete)

[edit] Award nominations (incomplete)

[edit] Awards won - Associated (incomplete)

[edit] Awards associated - nominations (incomplete)

[edit] Selected quotes of Ridley

  • "I'm creating rituals to make sense of a world that scares the shit out of me."
  • "I open the window and demons fly in."

[edit] Selected quotations from Ridley's works

  • "Shall I tell you my dream?" (from The Krays)
  • "The glamour is fear." (from The Krays)
  • "Sometimes terrible things happen quite naturally." (from The Reflecting Skin)
  • "Innocence can be hell." (from The Reflecting Skin)
  • "It's a short leap from kissing to killing." (from The Reflecting Skin)
  • "No miracles. Nothing. Just freak accidents and freaks." (from The Pitchfork Disney')
  • "I've seen photographs of what happens to people when they fall in love. Their skin falls off. Like they've been in a nuclear war or something. It's terrible, Mr Chocolate." (from The Pitchfork Disney)
  • "Fitness has got fuck all to do with it. It's survival of the sickest." (from The Pitchfork Disney)
  • "Who gives a fuck about my insides? I can have a gut full of maggots for all I care, so long as I've got a suntan." (from The Fastest Clock In The Universe)
  • "We're all as bad as each other. All hungry little cannibals at our own cannibal party. So fuck the milk of human kindness and welcome to the abattoir." (from The Fastest Clock in The Universe)
  • "Sometimes I wonder if it's worth having a face at all." (from The Fastest Clock In The Universe)
  • "I bet you could put a bird through a mangle feet first and the look on its face wouldn't change one jot." (from The Fastest Clock In The Universe)
  • "The heydays are like a perfect place for me. A perfect place I visited once, but can never visit again." (from Ghost From A Perfect Place)
  • "You strike me as a pinacolada sort of woman." (from Ghost From A Perfect Place)
  • "It's what you do to skin that matters." (from Ghost From A Perfect Place)
  • "No faith without blood." (from The Passion of Darkly Noon)

[edit] Selected press quotes

  • "Ridley is a visionary." ''Rolling Stone
  • "Ridley is the master of modern myths." The Guardian
  • "Ridley is fast becoming a cult figure." The Daily Telegraph
  • "Philip Ridley is a marvellous writer ... he solders humour and fear." The Observer
  • "A major literary talent who pulls new poetry out of the literary jungle." The Independent
  • "There is often a jagged lyricism and a savage beauty about Ridley's plays. He is a writer who sees not only the worst but also the best in humanity; he has a genuine faith in the possibility of redemption. When he puts the audience through the nightmare, it is to show us that stars still shine." (Lyn Gardner, The Guardian)
  • "Ridley has to be Dahl's successor." Books For Keeps
  • "One of the most imaginative writers in British Theatre." (Aleks Sierz from In-Yer-Face Theatre)
  • "Ridley is a singular writer, a prolific polymath, probably a genius, and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years." Time Out
  • "Ridley is delving into a sulphurous imagination for some of the most potent and indelible images you're likely to find this side of sleep." Scotland on Sunday
  • "Philip Ridley's work is compelling, original and about as nasty as you can get... it should be burnt by the public executioner." Daily Telegraph
  • "Philip Ridley uses theatre as a vehicle for the imagination. His rooms are claustrophobic crucibles, in which the modern age disgorges its most hideous imagery." from The Full Room by Dominic Dromgoole
  • "One of today's most exciting writers." The Bookseller
  • "Ridley is the Pied Piper of contemporary children's fiction." The Big Issue
  • "A god amongst storytellers." Blackwell's Student Choice
  • "I rely on Philip Ridley to leave me shaken and shocked. His considerable imagination reaches places I prefer not to visit, unless escorted by a writer of his moral seriousness." Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard
  • "Philip Ridley doesn't write plays so much as dark hallucinations in which the world is skewed through his penetrating vision, so we look at it through new eyes..." The Guardian
  • "Philip Ridley...his writing is among the very sharpest in British theatre.’ Time Out
  • "Few writers have dug into the dark recesses of our unsettled times as Ridley. But, although he has achieved a certain notoriety for the incidental atrocities that can be found in his work...his real forte is the ability to find love and humanity in the unlikeliest places. Out of Ridley’s darkness comes a twinkle of light, like compressed carbon producing diamond. It’s a light born of a ferocious honesty and an instinctive understanding of the transformative power of the theatre." Aleks Siers (author of In-Yer-Face Theatre)
  • "Ridley reveals himself most welcomely as a genuinely innovative film maker, untrammelled by conventions and with an individualistic imagination firing on all cylinders." The Evening Standard

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Krays film http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,1471235,00.html Retrieved 19/09/07
  2. ^ Sitges '09: My Sitges Story - Part 5
  3. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ridley"
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