I live and work in San Francisco. Born and raised in the South Bay, I received my MFA from San Jose State University after working for several years in the Silicon Valley as an equipment engineer for various high tech companies.
For nearly twenty years, I have focused primarily on paintings of old neon signs that have somehow avoided the wrecking ball—signs that have lived. I see these sculptural signs as historically and emotionally charged metaphors for unrelenting time. I strive to reveal the hidden beauty of these banal, rusty relics, by rendering them in oil paint.
I also paint various "Pop" culture products that contain interesting typography and graphics on the packaging. Text is the common thread that runs through this work and most of my sign paintings. I also exhibit my photography. Even though my photographic work is often more abstract than my paintings, they relate because the subjects are typically derived from an urban landscape. Within my photographs I explore the interplay of form, color, pattern, and texture; and just as in my sign paintings, I try to find beauty in the often-overlooked.
MFA, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
BA, Studio Art (pictorial) Summa Cum Laude, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
BS, Industrial Technology (design & technical drawing) San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
AS, Electronic Technology, San Jose City College, San Jose, CA
Words & Pictures, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Dive Motels and Cheap Eats, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Rich Text, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Signs of Life, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Everything is Electrified, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA
Recent Work, ArtZone 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Streets of San Francisco, Caffe’ Museo, SF MOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Terry Thompson - New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Roadside Art, The California Museum for History, Women & the Arts, Sacramento, CA (Catalog)
Recent Work, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA
Neon Nights, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
New Work, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
Recent Paintings, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
Cityscapes, d.p. fong galleries, San Jose, CA
Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
Summer National Juried Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA
Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
The Cityscape Show IV, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Red Dot Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Miami, FL
Palm Springs Fine Art Fair
(George Billis Gallery), Palm Springs, CA
Cover to Cover: A Survey of Artist Members' Photo Books, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
artMKRT, San Francisco Contemporary Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Three Artist Exhibition: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
Contemporary Realism Biennial 2012, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (Catalog)
San Francisco Fine Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
Chain Reaction, Artists Consider the Bicycle, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Photographs by Terry Thompson, Stanford Art Space,
Stanford University, CA
The 4 Day Show, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Fine Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
16 @ 49, ModernBook Gallery, San Francisco, CA (photography)
San Francisco Fine Art Fair, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
Contemporary American Realism, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (Catalog)
The Seduction of Duchamp, Los Gatos Art Museum, Los Gatos, CA (Catalog)
The Seduction of Duchamp – Bay Area Artists’ Response, 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles Art Show (George Billis Gallery), Los Angeles, CA
A Sense of Place, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Environments (photographs), Louie Meager Art Gallery, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA (Catalog)
Contemporary American Realism: 2008 Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN (Catalog)
City Light - A Cityscape Group Show, George Billis Gallery, NY, NY
Building a Team: 11th Annual Art of Baseball Exhibition, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles Art Show (George Billis Gallery), Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA
Friends and Artists, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA
San Francisco Scenes, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Pop Realism, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Red Dot Art Fair (George Billis Gallery), New York, NY
City Life, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Last Picture Show, F8 Fine Art Gallery, Austin, TX
ICA 26th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Lift Off, SJSU MFA Graduates, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
New California Masters, WORKS Gallery, San Jose, CA (statewide, juried)
ICA 25th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Fresh Strokes, Heritage Fine Arts Collaborative, San Jose, CA
ICA 24th Annual Fall Art Auction, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Introductions 2004 b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA (Catalog)
Landscapes & Cityscapes, d.p. fong Galleries, San Jose, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
de Saisset Museum of Art, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
The California Museum of History, Women and the Arts, Sacramento, CA
University of Alabama Art Museum, Tuscaloosa, AL
VISA Corp., San Francisco, CA
IBM Corporation, San Jose, CA
Metro Newspaper, San Jose, CA
Jaccarino, Pamela, “2015 Gold List” Luxe Interiors & Design, Los Angeles,
Vol. 13, Issue 1, 2015. Print.
Hernandez, Jo Farb. A Celebration of 100 Years of the Department of Art. San Jose, Natalie & James Thompson, SJSU Art Dept. 2013. Print
Contemporary Realism Biennial - 2012, exhibition catalog, Aug, 2012 , Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Lamson, Eliza, Chain Reaction & Clunker to MTBs, Metro Newspaper (9 May, 2012)
Contemporary Realism Biennial - 2010, exhibition catalog, Sept, 2010,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Environments - Photographs by Bay Area Art Educators, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA
Rose, Joshua, “Banal Beauty” - American Art Collector (July, 2009)
Contemporary American Realism - 2008 Biennial, exhibition catalog, Sept, 2008, Donald Kuspit,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Elliott, Amy, “January Art Fair Preview”, American Art Collector (January, 2008)
Rose, Joshua, “Signs of the Times”, American Art Collector (July, 2007)
Dalkey, Victoria, “Critic’s Pick”, Sacramento Bee (March 24, 2006)
Swanson, Ben, et al, The Santa Clara Review – Volume 93, no.1 2006, Santa Clara University
White, Tim, “Urban Images” Sacramento News & Reviews (July 22, 2004)
Gant, Michael S., “Neon Notions,”, Metro Newspaper (22 August, 2002)