Phil Jones may rightly be described as New Plymouth’s resident street artist working under the pseudonym, Suspect 4601 for many years.

In the early years, Phil had to ‘steal’ public space in order to show his art work.  Sometimes he made art on permanent materials and held the occasional exhibition. These exhibitions were always successful and his art works can be found in many homes throughout New Zealand.

However he has rapidly transitioned into a full-time artist producing collectible works and is highly sought after for private and corporate commissions.

By making this shift to a full-time artist, Phil’s reputation has blossomed, despite these successes though, he struggled still yet to truly value  his work and see it as ‘art’.

Over the past 5 years, Phil has begun to practise under his own name. By shaking off his ‘anonymity’ he signals a positive shift in his art work, moving from a ‘devil may care’ attitude to understanding that his work has meaning and value, and appeals to a growing audience.

Phil Jones has been one of the resident artists for the Taranaki Arts Festival. Showcasing visual art installations for the Festival Of Lights and creating temporary creative zones within WOMAD festival, working collaboratively with another local artist, to create a live arts wall or decorate the VIP area with large colourful murals.  Based on these experiences, he has also been selected to contribute to the art installations at both Splore and Wanderlust festivals, as well as showcasing a body of work at the New Zealand Art Show in 2016, where he had great success.

Phil’s work now has a more permanent and prominent position within New Plymouth, with large scale murals scattered throughout the CDB. He also works closely with the council to hold creative events such as Newtopia in his Gallery/Studio ‘Down Low’ in the Huatoki Plaza.

He is currently working on a solo exhibition “These Four Walls” which he will hold in his gallery within the next few months.

More of Phil’s work can be seen on his Facebook page Phil ‘Suspect’ Jones