Welcome to the official website of the artist Johan Thom
'Lid/ Selfportrait on Wagner's Grave, Bayreuth, Germany', 2010. Photo credit: Hans Wilschut
My work concerns materiality, meaning how we communicate through materials & how, in turn, this influences our understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit. I wish to suggest that materiality may be understood as a conceptual framework through which we may rethink the function and form(s) of art. For example, Charles Darwin may be considered the father of material thought (perhaps along with such figures as Friedrich Nietzsche and Niels Bohr).
I understand the world as essentially a violent place with rare moments of poetic clarity punctuating the otherwise aimless timelines of our existence. I am for art, the unexpected, rupture, excitement, emotion and real experiences. I believe we can critically evaluate and make sense of these experiences only by carefully observing the exact manner in which they link the body, the mind and the material world as part of a singular, performative plane.(J. Thom, 2011)
Short Biography: Johan Thom
Johan Thom (b 1976, South Africa) is a contemporary visual artist, currently living and working in London.
Well known for his performances, videos and video installations Thom often subjects the body to extremes in a quest to map its ongoing transformation as part of the material world. His works are both enigmatic and playful, subverting preconceived notions about identity, the body, politics and knowledge.The result is a provocative and often darkly humorous exploration of the material relationship between art, subjectivity, knowledge and the body.
Keywords: the body; performance art; video art and installations; actions; dark humor; violence; agency; spirituality; materiality; subversion; provocation; anarchy; camouflage; the unseen; the animal
'Ani-Male' - Production still from a series of works produced at the Royal Veterinary College's Museum, Johan Thom, 2010
Thom has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions and has been the recipient of a number of fellowships, awards and residencies including the Ampersand Foundation Fellowship, Nirox Foundation Residency, CRIC/Pro-Helvetia Residency, SASOL/New Signatures Judges Award, and more recently a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission Fellowship for the completion of his PhD at the Slade School of Art (UCL), London. He has also presented a number workshops on performance and video art and his works have featured in various journals, media articles and press reviews. He occasionally contributes to written publications and is currently researching the relationship bewteen art and materiality (understood in a neo-Darwinian manner). Before becoming a full-time artist in 2006 Thom taught performance art, African and South African Art Theory and Postmodern Theory at various universities in South Africa. From 2006-2008 Thom was based at the Fordsburg Artist Studios (commonly known as the Bag Factory) in Johannesburg .
(On the subsections down below you can access more detailed information regarding the artist by clicking on each of the subheadings).
Sales inquiries
With the the exception of works sold prior to 2009, no artworks are currently for sale.
Copyright
All information on this site is © Johan Thom or as acknowledged. You may access the Site solely for your own personal use. You may not use any content of the Site for any commercial or illegal purpose (including the reproduction of any material, written or otherwise contained herein). Except as expressly authorised by the artist Johan Thom or relevant third parties, you may not to copy, download, adapt, alter, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works of any content of the Site for commercial purposes or public display, in whole or in part.
This page has the following sub pages.
