Iowa City artist Barry Phipps will perform a pop-up version of the Barry Phipps Shop throughout Witching Hour Festival, inviting visitors to engage with his unique array of creative projects including hand made denim bags and book binding aprons, his recently released books of Iowa Photographs, and his most recent works in film: "Iowa Field Recordings." As founder of Tight Ship Records, Phipps will offer a collection of records and keep his DJ setup on hand, just in case a dance party feels like it might break out.
Barry Phipps is an Iowa City based multimedia artist. Since graduating from The Kansas City Art Institute in 1990, he has spent nearly three decades as a working artist.
In the 90's he was a member of Chicago indie rock group The Coctails, appearing on MTV, performing at Lollapalooza and touring across the US and Japan. He was a resident DJ for several years at Chicago's Smart Bar. He founded Beep Media, Inc. in late 90s, a mobile DJ business with a staff of ten DJs.
In the 2000's he founded North Branch Recording Studio and the Tight Ship Records label. He currently runs The Barry Phipps Shop, a pop up gallery, performance and retail space and The Barry Phipps Apparel Company, a line of handbags and industrial work aprons.
For the past ten years he has worked as a professional photographer in Chicago and Iowa City. He has photographed weddings nationally and abroad, including Paris, Italy, Sweden, San Francisco, Texas, Chicago and Iowa.
His first published book of photographs Between Gravity and What Cheer: Iowa Photographs will be published in May 2018 by The University of Iowa Press.