FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thomas Campbell
YAR
April 1 through May 15, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 1, 5:00 - 7:30 pm
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:30-5:30 PM
Email: info@gregorylindgallery
Gregory Lind Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by California artist Thomas Campbell. This is the artist’s first solo show with the gallery and will consist of multi-paneled paintings, sewn paper pieces incorporating drawings, bronze sculpture, and wood cut-out sculpture with paintings; and a limited-edition, hand-painted print series.
An artist who perpetually introduces his audience to new stages of his own artistic evolution, Campbell blends together scribbles, scriptures, slogans, and anecdotes to assemble multilayered, interconnected works that draw from a symbolic system of meaning and associations. Known as one of the artists of Beautiful Losers–a bi-coastal collective inspired by various aspects of street culture associated with skateboarding, graffiti, punk, and hip-hop–Campbell’s defiantly animated assemblages pay homage to the roguishly creative spirit of urban signage.
“YAR” is a positive affirmational slogan that hails from sailing terminology and means “all is ready to go.” Campbell’s usage of personal slogans in his work and his colorful rendering of text and characters against bold graphical backdrops have long been an integral part of his personal and artistic vocabulary. Whimsical and abstract vistas of shapes and color give way to bubbly spouts of textual affirmation, as in If You Can (2010), a pastoral and playfully vulgar goulash that flouts the ideals of subversive art and features acrylic, gouache, and spray paint on canvas, wood panel and gourds.
<>Thomas Campbell has mounted solo exhibitions at galleries in New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Morocco. His recent exhibitions include solo shows at V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark; and Hetdomein Museum, Sittard, Netherlands. Group exhibitions include “Projections,” a festival of rare and hard-to-see films organized by Aaron Rose, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles; and New Image Art, Los Angeles. Campbell was featured in the groundbreaking touring exhibition, “Beautiful Losers” (2004-2008). He has been written about in numerous publications such as, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. In 2009, he completed his third feature-length surfing documentary film, “The Present.” Campbell also serves as creative director and part owner to independent record label, Galaxia, which has released recordings by contemporary artists Tommy Guerrero, Will Oldham, and Black Heart Procession. He lives and works in Bonny Doon, CA. Support for YAR was provided by Gravis.