At first appearance, Thom O’Connor’s quiet and subtly nuance relief prints seem to belong to the tradition of monochromatic abstraction; in fact their compositions recall nothing so much as the constructivist tradition of solitary lines stretching across stark planes of single colors. The overall title of his current series, however, is The Road North, which seems to indicate that he is interested in at least the possibility of representation. As our eye follows the movement of the white line, the introduction of a tributary branching off in a different direction suggests distance, direction and even topography. Once we have accustomed ourselves to seeing O’Connor’s work as residing midway between the openness of abstraction and the specificity of mapping, we also begin to explore the idea that many of our images of ‘reality’ are in turn based on the kinds of geometrical traditions that began the century, and that the separations between abstraction and representation are no longer as clear-cut as they seemed.(excerpt from Dan Cameron's catalog essay, click to see full text)
Education M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art
One Person Exhibitions1993 Haenah-Kent Gallery, New York, New York 1992 Haenah-Kent Gallery 1991 Albany Center Galleries, Albany, New York 1990 Taidegraphik, Helsinki, Finland 1988 Taidegraphik, Helsinki, Finland
Sarajevo Academy Gallery, Yugoslavia
Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, Yugoslavia1985 Gallery Strindberg, Helsinki, Finland 1984 Kalundborg Art Center, Denmark 1983 University Art Museum, University at Albany
Selected Group Exhibitions1996 Printwork ‘96, Barrett House Galleries, Poughkeepsie, New York
Beyond Boundaries, Richmond Art Center, California
Mini Print Internacional Cadaques, Barcelona, Spain
Thom O’Connor, Allen Grindle, Roger Bisbing, The Rice Gallery, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York
Graphica Creativa, Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyvaskyla, Finland
Sapporo International Print Biennale
Light Aberrations, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas
1995 Boston Printmakers, Duxbury Arts Center, Massachusetts
Monotype Biennial, Lahti Museum, Lahti, Finland
Small Prints, Joensuu Museum, Finland1994 International Graphic Triennale, Krakow, Poland 1993 Works on Paper, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
American Prints, University of Texas1992 Monotype Biennial, Lahti Museum 1989 Integrafik ‘89, Berlin, Germany
Awards and Grants Fellowship, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles
Creative Artist in Public Services (C.A.P.S.) Grant, New York State
National Endowment for the Arts
Research Fellowship, University at Albany
Rissanen Prize, Kuopio, Finland
Fulbright Award, Yugoslavia
Public Collections (selected) Museum of Modern Art, New York
Detroit Institute of Arts
Smithsonian Institution
Brooklyn Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art
San Francisco Art Institute
Pushkin Museum, Moscow
Philadelphia Museum
Pasadena Art Museum
Albany Institute of History & Art
Publications Night Dreams (1985); Dreams of Kuopio (1984); Daydreams (1983); Witches of Salem (1972); Wizards, Cabalists, Mystics and Magicians (1966)
Art Department
(518) 442-4020
art@cnsunix.albany.eduUniversity at Albany
State University of New York
1400 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12222