{"id":486879,"date":"2026-05-16T00:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/486879\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:22:14","slug":"a-nuclear-explosion-of-happiness-graphic-artist-jim-phillips-opens-first-solo-gallery-in-santa-cruz-santa-cruz-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/486879\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A nuclear explosion of happiness\u2019: Graphic artist Jim Phillips opens first solo gallery in Santa Cruz \u2013 Santa Cruz Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CRUZ \u2014 Jim Phillips, the creator of some of Santa Cruz\u2019s most iconic imagery, has opened his first solo art gallery in his hometown at 81 years old.<\/p>\n

The show, titled \u201cJim Phillips: New Fine Art Prints and Classic \u201970s and \u201980s Pen and Ink Drawings,\u201d opened Friday at the R. Blitzer Gallery on Santa Cruz\u2019s Westside, and features 15 new large scale art prints and 30 hand-dipped pen and ink drawings from 1971 to 2026.<\/p>\n

Phillips, a lifelong Santa Cruz resident, has been creating art since his childhood. He spent many of his days in school drawing on his notebooks in classes, where he originally came up with the vision for his now-famous work, the \u201cScreaming Hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got into it in high school or junior high,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cI thought it was expressive \u2014 I had that angst, that teenage angst.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA 3D “Screaming Hand” is included in Jim Phillips\u2019 show at the R. Blitzer Gallery. (Shmuel Thaler \u2014 Santa Cruz Sentinel)<\/p>\n

In 1985, when tasked with designing a logo for Santa Cruz Skateboards and NHS Inc., Phillips solidified his \u201cScreaming Hand\u201d design. With the help of licensing through NHS, the design blossomed into stickers, skateboard wheels, T-shirts and endless copies worn in 85 countries around the world.<\/p>\n

Central to the show are Phillips\u2019 \u201cHand Wave\u201d and \u201cScreaming Hand\u201d pieces, but it will also feature works throughout his career from as early as the 1970s. At its core, the gallery is a retrospective of Phillips\u2019 life and artistic ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the greatest thing because I put a lot of time into this art and it (the gallery) gives it its rightful time to shine,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n

Phillips grew up as a surfer kid in Santa Cruz, which influenced much of his early work. His first published art piece was printed in Surfers Quarterly in 1962.<\/p>\n

Much of Phillips\u2019 art is tied to Santa Cruz\u2019s surf and skate culture, as well as his time producing rock posters for artists like The Doors, James Brown and Neil Young, who Phillips has had a connection with throughout his career.<\/p>\n

Phillips worked alongside Young in the mid-1970s, when he was asked to create a poster and potential album cover for Young\u2019s band, The Ducks. However, the album was never released due to contract issues with Young, and Phillips\u2019 art for the project laid dormant until the album was finally released in 2023 with Phillips\u2019 art as the cover.<\/p>\n

Phillips\u2019 work has also been shown in numerous art exhibits worldwide, including a celebration of the \u201cScreaming Hand\u201d in 2016, where over 50 global artists contributed their own renditions of the hand for a show that traveled to galleries across North America, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

\"JimJim Phillips hung his show at the R. Blitzer Gallery last week. (Shmuel Thaler \u2014 Santa Cruz Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Through his licensing agreement with NHS Inc., Phillips\u2019 work has also appeared in collaborations with \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants,\u201d \u201cStar Wars\u201d and Marvel Comics.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The idea for the gallery came from Richard Reilly, who manages Phillips\u2019 fine art sales.<\/p>\n

When Reilly moved back to Northern California from Manhattan in 2012, one of his main objectives was to meet Phillips, as he had been collecting Phillips\u2019 work, but noticed the market for his art was hard to track down. Once he started working with Phillips in 2020 with their company ArtByrne, Reilly helped him get his work turned into prints and out to a broader audience. Until recently, Reilly said, people could only buy Phillips\u2019 fine art online sporadically \u2014 there was no centralized market for his fine art.<\/p>\n

Phillips said the gallery is a natural extension of Reilly\u2019s love for collecting art.<\/p>\n

Phillips\u2019 works have been collected and passed around the world, being seen by people everywhere except in an art gallery in his hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mind-blowing that Jim has never had a single solo, one-man show in his hometown, which was a shocker to me,\u201d Reilly said. \u201cSo we put one together.\u201d<\/p>\n