Augustus Thompson

Private Collection, Europe

Los Angeles, Steve Turner Gallery, Portrait of the Artist as a Visa Card, 2013

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the background is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals a faint and unobtrusive handling mark to the extreme lower left corner, and two extremely light drip marks to the extreme lower right corner. Visible only upon extremely close inspection, there are a few extremely faint and tiny media accretions scattered in isolated places elsewhere, some of which are likely to be original. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
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Drawing upon the industrial design and civil signage of Los Angeles, Thompson fashions a serial set of forms and symbols. The constant flow of daily information allows him to explore the balance between representation and a potential metaphysical experience. The title of the present lot Natural Order (#2) implies his pursuit of finding his own system of signifiers.  Minimalist profiles of buildings or bathroom interiors are painted in black ink on canvas, giving the forms a more fluid texture. The canvas has a seemingly symmetric structure yet the two sides vary slightly adding a different perspective to the elementary austere forms.  The Post minimalist misshaped canvasses of Steven Parrino spring to mind, however Thompson does not attempt to deconstruct history but rather record our history.

Whereas his previous works dealt with the blurring of the boundaries between digital existence and the material world, Thompson here continues a re-contextualization of his direct physical environment with a more traditional painterly approach.

As one of the Still House Group's most prominent artists in residence, Thompson has gained international acclaim, showing with the group on an international stage, most recently at Museum Dhont Dhaenens in Belgium and the Zabludowicz Collection in London.