Bill Thompson

Artist Bio Artist Work

Artist Statement

For the past thirty years, my primary focus has been on the evocative power of color. As a painter with instinctual leanings toward Minimalism, the monochrome has served me well as a format for color exploration. Though my approach has changed dramatically over the years, my fixation on the objectness of a painting has remained steadfast. Early iterations included thick, textured paint applications on wood panels, followed by pristine rolled acrylic surfaces on plywood. In the late nineties, I began altering and carving the substrate itself in an attempt to further activate the color experience. Gradually, I abandoned the square and rectangular format altogether, and in the process, emancipated the support from its geometric constraints. This allowed for a more physical embrace of color's expressive potential and, in turn, forced a radical change in materials.

The forms that I have been creating for the past fifteen years are hand-carved from dense polyurethane blocks (HDU) and then spray-coated with roughly twenty layers of automotive primer, custom-mixed color, and clear acrylic urethane. They are typically wall mounted and, in some cases, grouped in constellations. In recent years, the dimensions of my work have gradually increased, but the resulting forms remain on a human scale. All of the work is executed in my studio and done without the aid of design software or industrial cutting machines.

I make no apologies for embracing the ideal of natural beauty and, like many artists, don’t consider myself to be aligned with any particular movement. If I can create a unique and evocative object – one that offers a self-charging visual energy source – then I am content. Throughout my entire career, I have searched for new ideas with a restless and at times, impatient spirit – loath to repeat myself, and always anxious to explore new territory.

Education

1975–77 Painting and Sculpture at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Collections

The Abbey Group, Boston, MA
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
Art Bank Program, US Department of State, Washington, DC
Art Enterprises, Chicago, IL
Au Bon Pain Corporation, Boston, MA
BankBoston, Boston, MA
Bernkoff, Goodman & Baseman, Boston, MA
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, Washington, DC
Brown, Rudnick, Freed, & Gesmer, Boston, MA
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Gabriele and Eberhard Ehrhardt, Munich, DE
Eliot Hotel, Boston, MA
Fidelity Management and Research Company, Boston, MA
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Gund Collection, Cambridge, MA
Hotel Prince, Seoul, KR
Hyundai Corp., Seoul, KR
Intercontinental, Boston, MA
List Visual Art Center, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA
Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
Millennium Partners, Boston, MA
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Neiman Marcus, Natick, MA
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Nine Zero Hotel, Boston, MA
Perez Museum, Miami, FL
PerkinElmer, Inc., Waltham, MA
Private Collection, Frankfurt, DE
Quad/Graphics, West Allis, WI
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Rudnick & Wolfe, Chicago, IL
SandRidge Energy, Inc., Oklahoma City, OK
Song-Eun Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul, KR
Taylor-Winfield Corp., Brookfield, OH
University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Agathe and Maximilian Weishaupt, Munich, DE
Wellington Management Company, Boston, MA, and London, GB

Awards

2017

Finalist in Sculpture, Massachusetts Cultural Council

2016

Prix de Print, Art in Print Jan-Feb, juried by Roberta Waddell

2014

Finalist in Painting, Massachusetts Cultural Council

2009

Finalist for Pilar Juncosa & Sotheby’s Award, Joan Miró Foundation, Palma de Mallorca, ES

2003

Mid-career Artist Award, International Association of Art Critics, NE Chapter

1999-2008

Studio Residency, Loft Nota Bene, Cadaqués, ES

1996

New England Foundation for the Arts/NEA Regional Fellowship

1975

A. K. Oliver Scholarship Grant, National Scholastic Art Awards (NSAA), NSAA Scholarship to Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

1974–75

Hallmark Honor Prize for Massachusetts

1973–75

NSAA Gold Medals

Solo Exhibitions

2020

Fluoridescent (with Regine Schumann), Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE

2017

After Image (with Maria Lalic), Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE

2016

In Dialogue (with Tianli Zu), Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, AU

2015

Romp, Galería Miguel Marcos, Barcelona, ES

2014

Tool Box, Ana Serratosa Arte, Valencia, ES
Object Painting (with Robert Sagerman), Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE

2013

Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
20 Years of Printmaking at CSS, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Solo Project/Galerie Renate Bender, Basel, CH
Coro, Galería Miguel Marcos, Barcelona, ES

2012

Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Galerie Hollenbach, Stuttgart, DE
Vis à Vis (with Jus Juchtmans), Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Art Karlsruhe/Galerie Renate Bender, Karlsruhe, DE

2011

The Columns, Seoul, KR

2010

Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, AU
Galería Miguel Marcos, Barcelona, ES

2009

Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Ana Serratosa-Arte, Valencia, ES

2008

The White Gallery, Seoul, KR

2007

Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA

2006

The Columns, Seoul, KR

2005

Seomi & Tuus, Seoul, KR

2004

Star Tower Gallery, Seoul, KR

2003

Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA

2002

Star Tower Gallery, Seoul, KR

2001

The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

2000

Space Kitchen, Seoul, KR

1999

Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA

1998

Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, Portland, ME
Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

1996

In Khan Gallery, New York, NY
Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA
Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Center Street Studio, Boston, MA

1995

The Butler Institute of American Art, Salem, OH
Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA

1994

Morie Club, Hamamatsu City, JP

1993

Galerie Mourlot, Boston, MA
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

1992

Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA

1991

Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA

1990

Frick Gallery, Belfast, ME
Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

Loft Nota Bene: 35 Años de Creación, Galeria Cadaqués, Cadaqués, ES
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES
Less Than Usual, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

2023

Center Street Studio: Translations in Print, UMass Boston, MA
What’s Out There? Five American Artists, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE

2021

Curated by Heiner Thiel, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Neopolitan, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Balancing Act, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Purple Rain, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2020

Home for the Holidays, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Revisando la Escultura del S. XXI, Galería Ana Serratosa, Valencia, ES
Medici Museum of Art, Warren, OH

2019

Embodying Colour, Museum-Wilhelm-Morgner, Soest, DE
Housewarming, VSOP Projects, Greenport, NY
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES
Weiss, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE

2017

We Dream – Beauty Beyond and Beneath, Suffolk University Gallery, Boston, MA
Sleeping Beauty, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2016

Plastic Imagination, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA
Carroll and Sons, Boston, MA
Fifty Shades of Red, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Transformations: Beauty, Color, Form; Endicott College, Beverly, MA

2015

Works On & With Paper, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Schwarz auf Weiss, Sammlung Weishaupt, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, DE
Kunststoff, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES
The Physicality of Color, Museum of Art, UNH, Durham, NH

2014

Embodying Colour, Vasarely Múzeum Budapest, Budapest, HU
Faszination Farbe, Kunsthaus Fürstenfeldbruck, Fürstenfeldbruck, DE
25 Years Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, AU
Wiedersehen Wiesbaden, Edition Multiplart, Zürich, CH
Projektraum/OUT-LOOK, Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, DE

2013

Monocromáticos, Galería Adora Calvo, Salamanca, ES
Interplay, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, AU
Embodying Colour, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, DE
Boston-Como, Como, IT
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES

2012

Sense of Colors, Keitelman Gallery, Brussels, BE
Arise, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
Topography of Painting, Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Surface Tension, Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2011

Kunststoff Skulptur, Kreissparkasse, Rottweil, DE
Sculptural Forms, Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie, AU
Morphologies, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Art Stage Singapore SG

2010

Art Now, The Columns, Seoul, KR
Monochrome 1, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Art Hong Kong
Contemporary American Woodcut Prints, Art Bank Gallery, Washington, DC
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES

2009

Kaleidoscope, Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zurich, CH
Minimal Variety Forms, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, AU
Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Art Dubai/Art Hong Kong
Galería Miguel Marcos, ARCO Madrid, ES

2008

Una Mirada, Galería Miguel Marcos, Barcelona, ES
The Fascination with the Colour Red, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, DE
Galería Cadaqués Dos, Cadaqués, ES
The Columns, Art Cologne, Cologne, DE
Flow, Centre Cultural Andratx, Mallorca, ES

2007

Polished & Pressed, Bill Thompson/Peter Weber, Thatcher Projects, NY
The Columns, Art Cologne/Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, ES
Temptation, The Columns, Seoul, KR

2006

The Scent of Korea, Daegu, KR
Painterly Sculpture, The Columns, Seoul, KR

2005

Today’s Voice, Neuhoff Gallery, New York, NY
Resurfaced, Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
Gleam & Glory, Renate Schröder Galerie, Mönchengladbach, DE
Thirty Ways to Make a Painting, Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
New Paintings, Chac Mool Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

2004

Paine, Thompson, Werner; The Salt Queen Foundation, Southampton, NY

2003

Unisono, Renate Schröder Galerie, Cologne, DE
Visions and Revisions, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Boston Abstraction Now, OSP Gallery, Boston, MA

2002

Painting in Boston: 1950–2000, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Edge, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2001

Estrada-Vega, Pastine, Thompson; Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2000

Painting Pushed to Extremes, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
Color, Virginia Lynch Gallery, Tiverton, RI
Rapture, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA

1999

Planes of Color, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
Retinal Fetish, The Gallery @ Green Street, Jamaica Plain, MA
A Quiet Revolution, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

1998

Summer Show, Debs & Co., New York, NY
Invitational, Wenham Museum, Wenham, MA

1997

The Drawing Show, Mills Gallery, Boston, MA
Synergy, Robert Clements Gallery, Portland, ME
Blue, In Khan Gallery, New York, NY
Geometry and Flow, Gallery Seomi, Seoul, KR

1996

In Black & White, Numark Gallery, Washington, DC

1995

The Drawing Show, Mills Gallery, Boston, MA
Single Fire, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA

1994

Large Scale Paintings, Mills Gallery, Boston, MA

1993

Hankyu Ltd. Presents L’Atelier Mourlot, Hankyu Gallery (Ginza), Tokyo, JP

1992

5th Year Anniversary Invitational, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA

1991

Homage to Wood, Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
Ten Years of Boston Art, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
Collection Notes, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Black and White, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY

1989

Artist’s Choice, Newton Arts Center, Newton, MA
The Drawing Show, Mills Gallery, Boston, MA

Selected Bibliography

Brody, Jacqueline. “Prints Published.” The Print Collector’s Newsletter, July/August, 1994.
Bufill, Juan. “Volúmenes de Color.” La Vanguardia, 12 May 2013
———. "Esculturas Concretas." La Vanguardia, 6 April 2015
Martínez Clarà, Jesús. “Duende y Fulgor.” La Vanguardia, 12 May 2010
Carter, Matthew. “Top Ten Picks.”Artforum, February 2014
Chambers, Christopher Hart; “The Object of Painting.”Sculpture, June 2014
Clemmer, David. “Bill Thompson: Prints & Paintings.” THE Magazine, May 1996.
Flórez, Fernando Castro. “Aunque algunos piensan…” Ana Serratosa-Arte, May 2009
Frost, Andrew. “A Couple of Peas in a Pod.” Sydney Morning Herald, October 2010
Heartney, Eleanor. “Bill Thompson at In Khan.” Art in America, April 1997
Heise, Rüdiger. "Farben erforschen." APPLAUS, April 2017
Hoving, Thomas. “Art for the Ages.” Cigar Aficionado, summer 1995.
Hrbacek, Mary. “Weber and Thompson at Margaret Thatcher Projects.” NY Arts Magazine, Jan-Feb 2008
Joe, Yonghee. “A Monochromatic World of Vivid Color.” International Herald Tribune, January 3, 2001
Kim, Mi-hee. “Altered Flats and Nodes.” The Korea Herald, January 1, 2001
Lloyd, Ann Wilson. “Bill Thompson at Barbara Krakow.” Art in America, March 2004
———. “Natural Beauties.” Art.es, Spring 2009
Marxen, Patti M. “Three Artists, Three Moods on Display at Frick Gallery.” Camden Herald, July 5, 1990.
Miller, Francine Koslow. “Bill Thompson: Minimalist Prints With Attitude.” The Print Collector’s Newsletter, March/April 1996.
Narrett, Eugene. “Bill Thompson: Dimensional Paintings.” Art New England, May 22, 1990.
Parks, Addison. “A Sense of Humor.” catalog essay, Nielsen Gallery and Butler Institute of American Art, December 1992.
———. “Paintings That Are All Muscles and Armor.” Christian Science Monitor, June 20, 1991.
Perrott, Jeffrey. ”Bill Thompson’s Edge.“ Stuff Magazine, October 1996
Plagens, Peter. “Bold Perceptions in Color.” The Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2012
Protzman, T. Ferdinand. “Minimalists with Maximum Skill.” The Washington Post, June 8, 1996.
Pulkka, Wesley. “Glossy Works Reflect Sweat Equity.” The Albuquerque Journal, September 20, 1998.
———. “Artist Cuts Distracting Noise.” The Albuquerque Journal, March 17, 1996.
Sherman, Mary. “Painters Maximize Minimal Work.” Boston Sunday Herald, July 31, 1994.
———. “New Works Show Painter’s Sense of Balance.” Boston Sunday Herald, April 28, 1991.
Silver, Joanne. “Bill Thompson Transforms His Paintings.” Boston Herald, February 2, 1990.
Sontowski, Anke. “Art That Reflects a Speedy City.” The Korea Times, November 10, 2002
Stapen, Nancy. “Bill Thompson.” ArtNews, April, 1993.
———. “Minimalism Gets a Sense of Humor.” The Boston Globe, December 17, 1992.
Tarlow, Lois. “Profile: Bill Thompson.” Art New England, April, 1993.
Temin, Christine. “David, Stroud, Thompson: Pushing the Minimum to the Maximum.” The Boston Globe, July 27, 1994.
———. “No Illusions: The Art of Donald Judd.” The Boston Globe, January 18, 1990.
Yoon, Donghee. “Bill Thompson.” The Art Magazine, February 2001
Waddell, Roberta. "Edition by Bill Thompson", Prix de Print, Art in Paper, Jan-Feb 2016
“Working Proof.” On Paper, Volume I, #1, #5; Volume 2, #1.
Zevitas, Steven T. “New American Paintings,” The Open Studios Press, Summer 1996.
_ _ _ “New American Paintings,” Spring 2003