TERRY THOMPSON (b. 1963, American)

In Thompson's oil paintings of neon signage, he renders wires, rivets and other minutia because of his appreciation for how these hand-made signs are built. This may be a result of the many years he spent as an equipment engineer in Silicon Valley prior to earning his MFA at San Jose State University.

Terry is primarily drawn to older, unique signs that have somehow avoided the wrecking ball. Thompson says, I see these signs as historically and emotionally charged metaphors for beating the odds. When I render rust, faded paint or broken neon, I'm imbuing my paintings with a sense of humanity and history. Text is prominent in most of Thompson's paintings and he often amplifies its ambiguity by aggressively cropping. This results in disjointed text and words that confront the viewer, begging to be read or deciphered.

Thompson finds his subjects while exploring the forgotten back streets of cities. This discovery process, coupled with being in the presence of these signs, is important for his method which coalesces into paintings that are geometrically, contextually, and formally interesting; paintings which reveal a hidden beauty in the mundane and banal.

Thompson's work can be found in private collections throughout the world and in the permanent collections of: The San Jose Museum of Art, The Nevada Museum of Art, The California Museum of Sacramento, The de Saisset Museum of Art of Santa Clara University, and The Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

Education

2005 MFA, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

2003 BA, Studio Art (pictorial) Summa Cum Laude, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

1995 BS, Industrial Technology (design & technical drawing) San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

1988 AS, Electronic Technology, San Jose City College, San Jose, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2015 Dive Motels and Cheap Eats, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2013 Rich Text, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2011 Signs of Life, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2011 Everything is Electrified, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA

2010 Recent Work, ArtZone 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2009 The Streets of San Francisco, Caffe’ Museo, SF MOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007 Terry Thompson - New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2006 Roadside Art, The California Museum for History, Women & the Arts, Sacramento, CA (Catalog) Recent Work, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA

2005 Neon Nights, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2004 New Work, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA Recent Paintings, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2002 Cityscapes, d.p. fong galleries, San Jose, CA Selected Group Exhibitions

2017 Art Market San Francisco – George Billis Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016 Palm Springs Fine Art Fair – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2015 Summer National Juried Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA Palm Springs Fine Art Fair – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2014 The Cityscape Show IV, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2014 Red Dot Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Miami, FL

2014 Palm Springs Fine Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Palm Springs, CA

2013 Cover to Cover: A Survey of Artist Members' Photo Books, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA

2013 artMKRT, San Francisco Contemporary Art Fair, San Francisco, CA

2012 Three Artist Exhibition: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial 2012, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (Catalog)

2012 San Francisco Fine Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

2012 Chain Reaction, Artists Consider the Bicycle, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

2012 Photographs by Terry Thompson, Stanford Art Space, Stanford University, CA

2011 The 4 Day Show, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011 San Francisco Fine Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

2011 16 @ 49, ModernBook Gallery, San Francisco, CA (photography)

2010 San Francisco Fine Art Fair, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

2010 Contemporary American Realism, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (Catalog)

2010 The Seduction of Duchamp, Los Gatos Art Museum, Los Gatos, CA (Catalog)

2010 The Seduction of Duchamp – Bay Area Artists’ Response, 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 Los Angeles Art Show (George Billis Gallery), Los Angeles, CA

2009 A Sense of Place, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

2009 Environments (photographs), Louie Meager Art Gallery, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA (Catalog)

2008 Contemporary American Realism: 2008 Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN (Catalog)

2008 City Light - A Cityscape Group Show, George Billis Gallery, NY, NY

2008 Building a Team: 11th Annual Art of Baseball Exhibition, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2008 Los Angeles Art Show (George Billis Gallery), Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA

2007 Friends and Artists, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA

2007 San Francisco Scenes, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007 Pop Realism, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2007 Red Dot Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), New York, NY

2007 City Life, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2006 The Last Picture Show, F8 Fine Art Gallery, Austin, TX

2006 ICA 26th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2006 Lift Off, SJSU MFA Graduates, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2005 New California Masters, WORKS Gallery, San Jose, CA (statewide, juried)

2005 ICA 25th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2005 Fresh Strokes, Heritage Fine Arts Collaborative, San Jose, CA

2004 ICA 24th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2004 Introductions 2004 b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA (Catalog)

2004 Landscapes & Cityscapes, d.p. fong Galleries, San Jose, CA

Public Collections

San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN

de Saisset Museum of Art, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

The California Museum of History, Women and the Arts, Sacramento, CA

University of Alabama Art Museum, Tuscaloosa, AL

VISA Corp., San Francisco, CA IBM Corporation, San Jose, CA

Metro Newspaper, San Jose, CA

Bibliography

Jaccarino, Pamela, “2015 Gold List” Luxe Interiors & Design, Los Angeles, Vol. 13, Issue 1, 2015. Print.

Hernandez, Jo Farb. A Celebration of 100 Years of the Department of Art. San Jose, Natalie & James Thompson, SJSU Art Dept. 2013. Print

Contemporary Realism Biennial - 2012, exhibition catalog, Aug, 2012 , Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN

Lamson, Eliza, Chain Reaction & Clunker to MTBs, Metro Newspaper (9 May, 2012)

Contemporary Realism Biennial - 2010, exhibition catalog, Sept, 2010, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN

Environments - Photographs by Bay Area Art Educators, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA

Rose, Joshua, “Banal Beauty” - American Art Collector (July, 2009)

Contemporary American Realism - 2008 Biennial, exhibition catalog, Sept, 2008, Donald Kuspit, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN

Elliott, Amy, “January Art Fair Preview”, American Art Collector (January, 2008)

Rose, Joshua, “Signs of the Times”, American Art Collector (July, 2007)

Dalkey, Victoria, “Critic’s Pick”, Sacramento Bee (March 24, 2006)

Swanson, Ben, et al, The Santa Clara Review – Volume 93, no.1 2006, Santa Clara University

White, Tim, “Urban Images” Sacramento News & Reviews (July 22, 2004)

Gant, Michael S., “Neon Notions,”, Metro Newspaper (22 August, 2002)