Timothy Tompkins
Encyclopedia
Timothy Tompkins received his BFA, in 2003, from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. He now lives and works in Los Alamitos
, California
.
In his 2007 solo show, Left Overs, at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Tompkins displayed seven still lifes inspired by the remaining products on Target department stores clearance racks. He said he was inspired by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s still-life paintings that capture peasant pottery along side silver tumblers and copper pots. Tomkins’ still lives are composed of wreaths, synthetic flowers, candles, and glass vases arranged on metal store shelves. The bright red sales stickers are sometimes painted onto objects but appear to be attached to the surface of the painting itself. These works seem to call attention to the history between art and commerce.
Tompkins’ 2007 Media Series is derived from images taken from newspapers with the purpose of creating a longer life for these images of consumption. In his Rocket Blast Series, Tompkins represents several launches of different nations. He focuses on the fuzzier areas of these photos to highlight the mystery found within the images.
During the 2008 exhibition, First Line, at the Museo De Las Americas in Denver, Tompkins was asked to respond to a horizon line drawn across the wall of the Museo. The result was his Interstate Sublime series that captures several scenes of the new American landscape- the highway. The perspective of these works is from behind the wheel of a vehicle as it approaches the horizon. Tompkins’ paintings illustrate the American landscape today as one in which nature and the built environment cannot be separated.
Group Exhibitions:
Public Collections:
Los Alamitos, California
Los Alamitos is a small city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,449 at the 2010 census, down from 11,536 at the 2000 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Technique
Tompkins digitally alters his own or found photographs, breaking down the image to about a dozen core colors and blurring the contours. This image is then projected onto a large aluminum panel so that the artist can create an under-drawing. The painting is then executed using high gloss commercial enamel sign paints.Work
Tomkins uses hyper-real colors inspired by Southern California. In the 2005 exhibition, Natural Selection, at the Davidson Galleries in Seattle Tomkins exhibit several works including “Samsung, Noon Effect”. This piece replicates a L.A. building with the Samsung logo stacked on above. Tomkins uses light creams, bright blues and mauves to capture the scene. His work is void of people, it focuses instead on the created environment.In his 2007 solo show, Left Overs, at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Tompkins displayed seven still lifes inspired by the remaining products on Target department stores clearance racks. He said he was inspired by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s still-life paintings that capture peasant pottery along side silver tumblers and copper pots. Tomkins’ still lives are composed of wreaths, synthetic flowers, candles, and glass vases arranged on metal store shelves. The bright red sales stickers are sometimes painted onto objects but appear to be attached to the surface of the painting itself. These works seem to call attention to the history between art and commerce.
Tompkins’ 2007 Media Series is derived from images taken from newspapers with the purpose of creating a longer life for these images of consumption. In his Rocket Blast Series, Tompkins represents several launches of different nations. He focuses on the fuzzier areas of these photos to highlight the mystery found within the images.
During the 2008 exhibition, First Line, at the Museo De Las Americas in Denver, Tompkins was asked to respond to a horizon line drawn across the wall of the Museo. The result was his Interstate Sublime series that captures several scenes of the new American landscape- the highway. The perspective of these works is from behind the wheel of a vehicle as it approaches the horizon. Tompkins’ paintings illustrate the American landscape today as one in which nature and the built environment cannot be separated.
Solo Exhibitions
- DCKT ContemporaryDCKT ContemporaryFounded in 2002, by Dennis Christie and Ken Tyburski, DCKT Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in New York's Lower East Side. The gallery represents emerging and established contemporary artists. Its programming ranges from, but is not limited to, painting and sculpture to video art...
, New York, New York - Temporal Arcadia, Studio La Città, Verona, Italy *
- Timothy Tompkins e Giorgio Morandi: After Still Life, Maria Livia Brunelli Gallery, Ferrara, Italy *
- Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
- 101 California Street101 California Street101 California Street is a 48-story office building completed in 1982 in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. The tower providing of office space is bounded by California-, Davis-, Front-, and Pine Streets near Market Street....
, San Francisco, CA - DCKT ContemporaryDCKT ContemporaryFounded in 2002, by Dennis Christie and Ken Tyburski, DCKT Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in New York's Lower East Side. The gallery represents emerging and established contemporary artists. Its programming ranges from, but is not limited to, painting and sculpture to video art...
, New York, New York - Left Overs, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles ProjectsSusanne Vielmetter Los Angeles ProjectsSusanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects is a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles and Berlin, founded by Susanne Vielmetter in 2000.The Gallery was established in 2000 and moved to its current location in Culver City in 2010...
, Culver City, CA - Left Overs, La Nuova Pesa, Centro Per L’Arte Contemporanea]], Rome, Italy
- Left Overs, Studio La Città, Verona, Italy *
- Manifest DestinyManifest DestinyManifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
, DCKT ContemporaryDCKT ContemporaryFounded in 2002, by Dennis Christie and Ken Tyburski, DCKT Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in New York's Lower East Side. The gallery represents emerging and established contemporary artists. Its programming ranges from, but is not limited to, painting and sculpture to video art...
, New York, New York - pow-er, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles ProjectsSusanne Vielmetter Los Angeles ProjectsSusanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects is a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles and Berlin, founded by Susanne Vielmetter in 2000.The Gallery was established in 2000 and moved to its current location in Culver City in 2010...
, Culver City, CA - New Paintings, DCKT ContemporaryDCKT ContemporaryFounded in 2002, by Dennis Christie and Ken Tyburski, DCKT Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in New York's Lower East Side. The gallery represents emerging and established contemporary artists. Its programming ranges from, but is not limited to, painting and sculpture to video art...
, New York, NY - Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, CA
Group Exhibitions:
- INCOGNITOIncognito-Computing and video games:* Incognito , a Linux livedistro providing secure anonymous Internet surfing as its main feature* Incognito Entertainment, a defunct video game development company...
, Santa Monica Museum of ArtSanta Monica Museum of ArtThe Santa Monica Museum of Art is an independent non-collecting art museum located in Santa Monica, California. It exhibits the work of local, national, and international contemporary artists....
, Santa Monica, CA - Elements of Nature, Brevard Art Museum, Melbourne, FL
- OsCene 2010: Contemporary Art and Culture in OC, Laguna Art MuseumLaguna Art MuseumThe Laguna Art Museum is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California on Pacific Coast Highway.An exhibition titled ...
, Laguna Beach, CA - Photos and Phantasy: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Beverly Hills Municipal Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
- Elements of Nature, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA
- Open Mind(s), Villa del Grumello, Como, Italy
- Contemporary Exoticism, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy
- Photos and Phantasy: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard CA
- Rogue Wave ’07: 12 Artists from Los Angeles, LA Louver, Venice, CA
- The Eclectic Eye: Selections of Fantasy and Illusion from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA
- Otis: Nine Decades of Los Angeles Art, Los Angeles Municipal Art GalleryLos Angeles Municipal Art GalleryThe Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery is located in the Barnsdall Art Park in Los Angeles, California. It focuses on the arts and artists of Southern California.-Main building:...
, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, CA - he 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan
- Crude Oil Paintings, White ColumnsWhite ColumnsWhite Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit space and one of its most prestigious. White Columns is known as a show case for up and coming artists....
, New York, New York; Akus Gallery, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT - New American Talent: The Eighteenth Exhibition, Arthouse at the Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas; traveled to: University Gallery, Texas A & M University,Commerce, TX; Landmark Gallery, Texas Tech University School of Art, Lubbock, Texas; Arlington Art Museum, Arlington, Texas
Public Collections:
- Frederick R. Weisman Art FoundationFrederick R. Weisman Art FoundationThe Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is a non-profit arts foundation located in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, in Southern California. modern and contemporary art works in the Frederick R...
, Los Angeles, CA - Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA