PHILIP EMDE

Emde’s work negotiates a balance between playfulness and critical observation, creating immersive visual environments where imagery, text, and sculptural elements interact. He frequently integrates irony and storytelling into his compositions, crafting multilayered spaces that invite viewers to engage both intellectually and emotionally. Through his use of bold color, fragmented narratives, and performative elements, Emde challenges conventional boundaries between medium and content, forging a personal language that is at once humorous, provocative, and deeply reflective.

His work has been featured internationally in solo and group exhibitions across Europe, the United States, and Asia, and is included in public and private collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York (Artist Book Collection), the Tate Library, London (Artist Book Collection), and the Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art, Rizhao, China.

Emde has received notable grants and residencies, including the Rainer Funke Stiftung Prize (2018) and the Balmoral New York Fellowship (2013).

Emde will present for the first time in Africa, at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in 2026 with THK Gallery.

Courtesy THK Gallery, Cape Town/Cologne.