David Thomas

The London Projects:

David Thomas’ work engages the viewer with issues of perception, time, light, space and colour in both a playful and serious manner. The work is informed by non-objective and conceptual practices and employs drawing, painting, photography, in a range of 2d and 3d works that encourage active looking and discovery.. His work employs monochromes and painted reflective surfaces as drawings, paintings, photopaintings and installations to address complexity, perception, and being amid time and space

During the residency at UAL the monochrome was exploited as an interval or break in the world to assist in seeing what surrounds it. These works take the form of drawings, paintings photopaintings and/or installations that use duration and timing to reconcile differing visual languages and forms.

The residency enabled further exploration series of the Dogs of London Series commenced in 2008-9 where photographs are layered with painted or drawn monochromes, timelines or circles as signifiers of time.

New projects includied the Timeline series as both photopaintings and interventions in actual space and time that pictorialised chosen zones and site, inside and outside the Centre for Drawing

Two new photographic series were made entitled: Taking a line for a walk and Taking a plane for a walk ( the movement of colour in time and space or the monochrome as an interval).

A small series of Shifting Portraits was commenced where the figure leaves the picture frame.

The artist would like to thank the staff, academic and staff and MA students of Wimbledon College of Art for their assisance during the residency, in particular Professors Avis Newman and Stephen Farthing as well as Tim, Maria, Grzesiek, Nick, Peter, Alex, Sabina, Katie, Min Sun, Nathan, James and Joss.

David Thomas was born in Belfast N. Ireland in 1951 arriving in Australia in 1958. Thomas studied art at the University of Melbourne, Monash University and RMIT University. He has travelled widely in Asia and lived in Europe. He holds a Ph.D from RMIT University where he is an Associate Professor of Painting, Director of the MFA Program (Coursework) for Australia and New Zealand., and Leader of the Art, Time and Space Research Cluster in the School of Art,. He has been awarded numerous grants including Australia Council, AGNSW, Arts Victoria International Development grants. He has undertaken several residencies at the Cité International des Arts, Paris in the 1990s.

He exhibits widely in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe . Selected recent exhibitions include:
2010 Shifting Continuities; Microstructures passages and Interventions with Christoph Dahlhausen ,Museum of Modern Art at Heidi Melbourne. Contemporary Encounters National Gallery of Victoria, Australia: Melbourne. From the collection in conjunction with Luminous Cities National Gallery of Victoria International, Amid It All ( Solo) Conny Dieztschold Gallery Sydney. RUND with Michel Verjux, John Armeleder and others Gesellschaft für Kunst und Gestaltung e.V., Bonn, Germany.
2009 David Thomas: Colour.Time (solo) Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne. Drawing Folio Curated by John Nixon and Justin Andrews, Block Projects, Melbourne. Shiloh Project curated by Dr Chris McCauliffe Ian Potter Museum of Art Melbourne University. MOVING LOCATIONS Beethoven Hotel Project curated by Christine Rühmann,, Sjaak Beemsterboer, Bonn, Germany.
2008 Moment Goddard de Fiddes Gallery. Perth, Western Australia. World Open Art Festival, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, S. Korea Drawn Together Centre for Drawing UAL, London UK, Event:The Attrium Project: Project Space RMIT University .A Collaborative Research Project between AUT NZ and RMIT Australia
The Attrium Project : The Buzzing Confusion of Things St Paul St Gallery AUT New Zealand. 2007-8 Australian Non Objective: Contemporary Non-Objective Art from Gesellschaft für Kunst und Gestaltung e.V., Bonn and Raum 2810 space for contemporary art, Bonn, Museum Kulturspeicher Wurzburg, Kunstahalle Dominikerkirche, Osnabrück, German.y.
2007 Licht- Glas -Transparenz with Christoph Dahlhausen Dan Graham, Dan Flavin, Regitte Kowanz , Spencer Finch, Brigitte Schumann at the Kunstahalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück, Germany.

His work is represented in private collections in Australia, USA, France, Germany, NZ, and the UK, and in public collections including: The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The Australian National Gallery, Canberra. Art Bank, Sydney and Melbourne. Trinity College, The University of Melbourne, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Western Mining Collection, Cripp’s Collection (Australia and UK), Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, N.Z., Canterbury University, Christchurch, N.Z., Lim Lip Museum, Gong Ju, S. Korea, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany.

He writes and curates exhibitions including the COLOUR light TIME. 10 international artists
Two Rooms Auckland NZ touring to Nellie Castan Gallery 2011. In 2007 he curated and participated Composite Realities Amid Time and Space: Recent Art and Photography Centre for Contemporary Photography Melbourne.11 artists from Germany, S. Korea, France, New Zealand and Australia, and Painted Spaces in 2000-2001 a travelling wall painting exhibition with 8 international artists at ACCA Melbourne, Auckland Art Gallery and Talbot Rice Gallery Scotland.
He is represented by Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne and Conny Dieztschold Gallery, Sydney.
www.nelliecastangallery.com www.artnet.com/conny-dietzschold-gallery

The London Projects