Art Thompson, Jr. - Drawings + Paintings

ART THOMPSON, JR.

When I first moved to New York in 1988, I spent as much time as I could exploring a city I only knew about through movies such as Mean Streets, Manhattan, Fort Apache - The Bronx, The Out of Towners, Saturday Night Fever, etc. I wanted to dispell both the grime and the glamour and discover my own unique vision of this city. One of my favorite hikes took place beneath Grand Central Station in the lower-level tracks of the Metro North. I covered several miles underground over the next winter, writing and making drawings of everything (and everyone) I saw. I found it fascinating how so many people could inhabit, if only briefly, so much geographic space and never see it. These concrete and stone arteries moved millions of people everyday and yet they were cold, lonely and lifeless most of the time. These paintings are about that place.

« Go Back