Art Thompson, Jr. - Drawings + Paintings

ART THOMPSON, JR.

For "100 People Printed," I set out to document one hundred persons, in groups of ten, whose faces have at one time and for any number of reasons appeared on the printed page. They each experienced a momentary significance, one that ensured their names and faces would be viewed with an accompanying emotive response. Some of them appeared, no larger than a vitamin pill, as testimonials for products or services while others garnered fame or infamy with their actions. Some were in the right place at the right time while others the wrong place at the wrong time. Nevertheless, these individuals' faces served an illustrative purpose in being committed to print. Culled from within several old, discarded newspapers, ladies' journals and men's magazines, my goal was to try to "normalize" their appearances by using brush and ink while categorizing them in order of their relevance to one another and their espoused significance to their intended audience. Each page serves as a sort of yearbook to their original intent though, in all likelihood, these individuals never met or even knew of each other's existence.

In addition to the finished drawings, I am creating 10 hand-made artist's books containing 10 digital prints, one of each finished drawing, on heavy-weight, archival paper along with an introductory essay.

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