Louise Thomas
In this new series of paintings, Louise Thomas offers various levels of representation: from afar, the work can be read as abstract, whereas upon closer inspection, the viewer can discern portrait paintings beneath the translucent layers of paint and large fluid brushstrokes. Inspired by portraits of Gainsborough and Sargent, Louise Thomas has reinterpreted sections as well as entire paintings by these artists, reclaiming and rendering explicit the landscape characteristics implicit in the original works.
Although known primarily for their portraits of wealthy patrons and their families, Gainsborough and Sargent often expressed in their private correspondence the desire to return to the pleasurable but unprofitable landscape painting of their early careers.
Enhancing the patterns of light and colour found within the folds of the female sitters' clothes, Thomas transforms the source materials into new mountainous landscapes that embody the opulence of the wealthy sitters in the original portraits.
The presence of these once-powerful women can still be found within these paintings, yet with their faces veiled behind layers of paint they return as apparitions, faded with the patina of time, or submerged beneath deep pools of water. Their luminous hands and fallen bodies re-emerge as stone relics within a sublime and monumental landscape.
Louise Thomas (b.1984) lives and works in London.
Although known primarily for their portraits of wealthy patrons and their families, Gainsborough and Sargent often expressed in their private correspondence the desire to return to the pleasurable but unprofitable landscape painting of their early careers.
Enhancing the patterns of light and colour found within the folds of the female sitters' clothes, Thomas transforms the source materials into new mountainous landscapes that embody the opulence of the wealthy sitters in the original portraits.
The presence of these once-powerful women can still be found within these paintings, yet with their faces veiled behind layers of paint they return as apparitions, faded with the patina of time, or submerged beneath deep pools of water. Their luminous hands and fallen bodies re-emerge as stone relics within a sublime and monumental landscape.
Louise Thomas (b.1984) lives and works in London.
Born in 1984, London. Lives and works in London and Berlin.
Education
Education
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2007
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BA Fine Art, University College Falmouth
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2004
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Art Foundation, Kingston University
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Forthcoming Exhibitions
| 2013 | Solo show, BISCHOFF/WEISS, London |
Solo Exhibitions
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2010
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Everybody is a Lake, BISCHOFF/WEISS, London
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2007
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Ferdynand Zweig Scholarship, Poly Arts Center, Cornwall
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Selected Group Exhibitions
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2013 2011 |
The Dark Rooms, Passmore Edwards Institute, curated by Jesse Leroy Smith, Helston
(in)visible, Edel Assanti, London
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| 2010 |
The Winter's Wayzgoose, Copped Hall, Epping
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Ingleside Arts Festival, Oxfordshire
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Idle Women, T1 2 Gallery HIVE projects
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2009
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Art Brussels, BISCHOFF/WEISS, London
One Can Often be Thwarted by Some Antidisestablishmentarianism, Primo Alonso, London |
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2008
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Louise Thomas, James Fisher & James Pimperton, Campden Gallery, Gloucestershire
Zoo Art Fair, BISCHOFF/WEISS, London
Kapellmeister Pulls a Doozy, Seven Seven Contemporary, curated by Richard Meaghan, London
Interiors, 10g Gallery, New York
Sunspot Mirage, BISCHOFF/WEISS, London
Sweet Monument, The Sassoon Gallery, Peckham Rye
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2007
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Concrete Hole You Clench my Soul, PZ Gallery, self-curated, Penzance
Second X-Posure, Revolver, PZ Gallery, curated by Jesse Leroy Smith and Volker
Stox, Penzance New Sensations, Truman Brewery/Brick Lane, organized by the Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4, London
Sunrise with Sea Monsters, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
Falmouth Graduate Show, Woodlane Campus, Falmouth, Cornwall
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2006
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Shelflife, The Gallery, curated by Jonathan Stubbs and the artist, Surrey
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Residencies and Awards
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2010
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NES Artist Residency, Iceland (October 2010)
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2009
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Florence Trust Residency, London (August 2009 -July 2010)
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2007
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Celeste Painting Prize (Shortlisted, Artists Category)
4 New Sensations (Shortlisted), organized by the Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4
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2006
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Ferdynand Zweig Memorial Travel Scholarship
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