Kendall S. Thompson is a young artist hailing from Galesburg, Illinois. Born in the suburbs of Chicago, he and his family moved to Galesburg in 1999. He attended Monmouth College, graduating in 2017, with a bachelor’s degree in art. He is currently employed at the Galesburg Civic Art Center where he installs exhibitions and coordinates educational programs. He is also a part-time art educator for local elementary and middle school students. 

 

Thompson's inspiration comes primarily from a childhood love of cartoons. These kind of images have influenced his choice of color, pattern, and design in painting. Different colors and color combinations that appear in his work are also reminiscent of team logos in professional sports. A love of sports and competition is another aspect of Thompson's life experience that is subtly worked into his art-making process. The act of art-making is very important to him. Thompson uses his art as a way to connect with others around him. He works primarily in acrylic and creates compositions using heavily geometric forms and bold, contrasting colors. Most of Thompson's work is highly abstracted, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret the meaning of each piece. By allowing different interpretations, Thompson is able to connect with each viewer in a new way.

 

Thompson's work is currently on display in our James Keefe gallery through the end of February.

Website: ksthompson.weebly.com
Instagram: _kendallt_
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We kick-off our 30th anniversary of the arts with our 2019 exhibition season featuring the photography of Spiffy Tumbleweed January 15 - March 1, in the BCA gallery. OFTA gallery talk is 10am Wednesday, January 16. This exhibit spotlights the process of merging historic pinhole photography with new digital technology. Working under the name Spiffy Tumbleweed, the artist lives and works in South Austin, Texas, and is active with a variety of photographic processes. He had a primary interest in pinhole photography for many years and worked with a variety of different formats and materials. Tumbleweed spends most Sunday afternoons in an old school wet darkroom, and while he enjoys experimenting with a variety of alternative photographic processes, and works in both digital and film, he has a decided preference for black and white film.

 

Tumbleweed enjoys pinhole photography because he likes to take the gear out of the equation. The image that he makes with pinhole photography is a creation of his eye, his mind, and his understanding of the light and the materials he is using, not his equipment. He likes the surreal look that he can sometimes achieve with pinhole and his most satisfying recent work results more in representation than reality.

He designs and builds his own cameras because he can, and because it brings him great satisfaction to create an image from a device he's also created. Pinhole photography forces him to be deliberate, and to be very much in the moment when he visualizes and then exposes an image. He uses film, paper, and Polaroid, and the material he is shooting strongly influences what and how he shoots, and vice-versa.

Artwork: Night Bloom