| My introduction to Thomas Campbell's work was via the Aaron Rose film, "Beautiful Losers" in the 1990s. I immediately connected to Campbell's distinct expression and interpretation of Do It Yourself (DIY) and to how it reverberated within the San Francisco Mission School of aesthetics and philosophy. I continue to be delighted by the strong, steady, and true creative impulse that beats and threads through all aspects of Campbell's life.
The artwork presented in this exhibition is the manifestation of a lively intelligence, unparalleled curiosity, and a warm heart that drives Thomas Campbell to learn, explore and experiment with various media and approaches. The work you see in the gallery represents decades of diligent practice and a willingness to embrace meanderings and detours until he locates the sweet spot in between imperfection and perfection. His art can, if we let it, inspire all of us to take the opportunity to put aside our fears and find the joyful flow generated from making art that translates into our own language and from our own observations. Join me in finding and riding a personal wave of inspiration via the spirit of DIY.
Susan Hillhouse Leask
Exhibition Curator
Thomas Campbell's work is imbued with the improvisational bebop-esque language of repeated patterns, riffs, and licks. Written in a script that is more than a scribble, less than a hieroglyphic, Campbell is always playing with language and form. No matter how many times his work shape-shifts, its common denominator is found in the vastness and depth of his creativity. His DIY sensibility flourishes in the rarified air between the spaces of thought and meaning, between doing and done, and between seeing and feeling. But make no mistake, as unpremeditated as his art may seem, he has learned the formal rules of artmaking—using them when appropriate and tossing them aside when he finds them irrelevant to his composition or message.
Campbell's art practice and way of life substantiate the claim that all art is autobiographical. He finds his way everywhere he wants to go and be. He is a loving father and generous friend. He is a noted filmmaker who started a publishing company, co-founded a record label, and has been one of the main subjects in a widely circulated art documentary. He is a self-taught sculptor, ceramist, painter, collagist, and photographer whose "street cred" was earned by being part of the graffiti outsider art world and the surf and skate cultures. His lively multimodality manifests itself in a curiosity about the ancient world, and his appreciation of all art forms has led him to visit many museums and galleries on several continents.
Thomas Campbell was born in Orange County, lives in Santa Cruz County, and has traveled extensively and attentively. He has had numerous exhibitions, countless film screenings, and has released scores of albums. In between making artwork, he skates and surfs and thinks and ponders and dances. He has not strategically or purposefully tried to attract attention to his work; nonetheless, it is known nationally and internationally and is critically admired.
Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. Following opening night, the galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and by appointment, through Feb 9.
The opening, talks, and gallery visits are free as part of the Center's focus on "Creating Community through Art".
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