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.

Education

2005

MFA, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

2003

BA, Studio Art (pictorial) Summa Cum Laude, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

1995

BS, Industrial Technology (design & technical drawing) San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

1988

AS, Electronic Technology, San Jose City College, San Jose, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2017

Words & Pictures, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2015

Dive Motels and Cheap Eats, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2013

Rich Text, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2011

Signs of Life, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Everything is Electrified, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA

2010

Recent Work, ArtZone 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009

New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

The Streets of San Francisco, Caffe’ Museo, SF MOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007

Terry Thompson - New Paintings, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2006

Roadside Art, The California Museum for History, Women & the Arts, Sacramento, CA (Catalog)

Recent Work, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA

2005

Neon Nights, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2004

New Work, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

Recent Paintings, Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2002

Cityscapes, d.p. fong galleries, San Jose, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018

Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2016

Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2015

Summer National Juried Exhibition, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA

Art Palm Springs – George Billis Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2014

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

2013

Cover to Cover: A Survey of Artist Members' Photo Books, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA

artMKRT, San Francisco Contemporary Art Fair, San Francisco, CA

2012

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

2011

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)

2010

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

2009

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)

2008

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

2007

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

2006

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

2005

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

2004

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

Public Collections

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

Bibliography

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)