Once upon a time in the art world if you started your career selling your work at a home furnishing chain store it might have been a career killer. In the past year Restoration Hardware has opened an Art Gallery in Manhattan showcasing a large stable of artists. One of them, Samantha Thomas, is doing work far beyond her years and really reminds me of some of the works by the late, great artist Antoni Tapies ( see image below).
OCRE I NEGRE AMB TELA ENCOLADA (OCHRE AND BLACK WITH PASTED ON CLOTH) by ANTONI TÀPIES (B. 1923). Image via Christies
Samantha Thomas has a more intimate relationship to fabric when sculpting it into bold, undulating abstract works that deftly and powerfully intersect the worlds of painting and sculpture in a series she calls: Landscapification. If she keeps up this type of amazing output my bet is she will not be at RH much longer…
All images via RH Contemporary
The Art of Samantha Thomas
