Tom Thayer
b. 1970, Chicago Heights, IL Lives and works in New Jersey
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
| 2024 | I Want to Climb Through the Windows of My Eyes and Become Static Electricity, Matt Hoyt & Tom Thayer, Bureau, New York, NY |
| 2022 | What you wonder about is what you know– as well as the other way around., Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2020 | Soul Thrown Images, Derek Eller Gallery Online Viewing Room, New York, NY |
| 2019 | Einig, Matt Hoyt & Tom Thayer, Stations, Berlin, Germany |
| Make a Pinch Pot Out of Your Mouth, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY | |
| 2017 | Van Winkle’s Oblivion, Miko + Thayer, 11R, New York, NY |
| 2014 | Superrational Searching, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2013 | Baseless Legion of Architects Rent Asunder, Miko + Thayer, Eleven Rivington, New York, NY |
| 2012 | Crossing the Methane River, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2011 | Scenographic Play, Tracy Williams Ltd., New York, NY |
| New World Pig, Dave Miko & Tom Thayer, The Kitchen, New York, NY | |
| Adam Marnie & Tom Thayer, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2026 | Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Queens, NY (forthcoming) |
| 2024 | Inaugural Group Exhibition, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY |
| A unity of time and place with other times and places, Stations, Berlin, Germany | |
| Le Contre-Ciel, organized by Olivia Shao, Empty Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 2022 | Some Kind of Monster Roster, Analog Diary, Beacon, NY |
| 2019 | Nurikabe, Tetsuo’s Garage, Nikko, Japan |
| I got the Moon in the Morning and the Sun at Night, organized by Giangiacomo Rosetti, WallRiss Gallery, Fribourg, Switzerland | |
| 2017 | The Enclosed Sun, organized by Elisabeth Ivers and Olivia Shao, Doyers Space, New York, NY |
| 2016 | Inaugural Exhibition, Romeo, New York, NY |
| 2015 | Afflict the Comfortable, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY |
| Archetypes, Power and Puppetry: Jonathan Baldock, Anne Chu, My Barbarian, Tom Thayer, Kara Walker and Wayne, White, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH | |
| 2014 | Something Blue, Artspace, New Haven, CT |
| 2013 | Organzied, curated by Robert Janitz, Sobering Galerie, Paris, France |
| 2012 | Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, curated by Jay Sanders and Elizabeth Sussman, New York, NY |
| Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX | |
| The End, curated by John Connelly and Michael Bühler Rose, Vogt Gallery, New York, NY | |
| Matt Hoyt, Dave Miko, Tom Thayer, Doyers Space, New York NY | |
| In Practice: You’ll never look at me from the place from which I see you, curated by Kristen Chappa, SculptureCenter, New York, NY | |
| White Columns Benefit Exhibition + Auction, White Columns, New York, NY | |
| The Space Between, Dave Miko & Tom Thayer, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| 2011 | The New Yorker Passport to the Arts, Benefit Art Auction, Hudson Studios, New York, NY |
| 2010 | Betwixt & Between, curated by Liza Statton, ARTSPACE, New Haven, CT |
| The Space Between, Dave Miko & Tom Thayer, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA | |
| ITWAN, curated by Jay Sanders, organized by Matt Williams, International Project Space, Birmingham, UK | |
| Zone Zero, Port d’Or, Brooklyn, NY | |
| Punctuation Programme, curated by Matt Williams, Limoncello Gallery, London, UK | |
| A Lettuce Slaughter in the Woods, organized by Dave Miko, Real Fine Arts, Brooklyn, NY | |
| Knight’s Move, curated by Fionn Meade, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY | |
| Dave Miko in the Company of Friends, Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York, NY | |
| 2009 | Holiday Shop, Doyers Space, New York, NY |
| 2008 | Looking Back: The White Columns Annual, selected by Jay Sanders, White Columns, New York, NY |
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
| 2025 | Tom Thayer: Circadian Plays, Blank Forms, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2024 | Adonija (Matt Hoyt) & Smoke Shoveler (Tom Thayer), Bureau, New York, NY |
| Tom and Henry Thayer Performance, organized by Barry Weisblat, Prospect Series, New York, NY | |
| 2023 | *Tom and Henry Thayer Performance for Abasement 66, organized by Joe Frivaldi, Artists Space, New York, NY |
| 2021 | Matt Hoyt and Tom Thayer Performances, Loong Mah, New York, NY |
| 2018 | Corps of Discovery, Doyers Space, New York, NY |
| Corps of Discovery, Pocono Summer Gathering, organized by Mark Van Yetter, Stroudsburg, PA | |
| 2016 | L.GRAY + T.THAYER present An Evacuation Music, curated by Lawrence Kumpf, Issue Project Room, New York, NY |
| 2015 | Tom Thayer: IT’S HOUSE, (in collaboration with Keith Connolly) organized by Michael Krebber, Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany |
| T.THAYER / L.GRAY for Abasement 5, organized by Joseph Frivaldi, Max Fish, New York, NY | |
| Tom Thayer, IT’S HOUSE, (in collaboration with Keith Connolly) curated by Lawrence Kumpf, Artists Space, New York, NY | |
| 2013 | An Evening with Tom Thayer, Modern Mondays, curated by Stephanie Webber, MoMA, New York, NY |
| NNCK Gitanjali Release (in collaboration with Keith Connolly and John Jines), MoMA PS1 Print Shop, Long Island City, NY | |
| Tony Conrad / Amen Dunes & Tom Thayer / Lee Noble, Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain (in collaboration with Zander Duell and John Jines), organized by Triple Canopy, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY | |
| 2012 | The Haunted Studio (workshops/performance of Grotowski’s Beehive exercise with the Whitney Youth Insight Program), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY |
| Glass Hymn Cycle (in collaboration with Zander Duell and John Jines, organized by Triple Canopy for Cultural Studies*, a benefit for Triple Canopy), Grand Harmony, New York, NY | |
| Show and Tell event for the Fifth Season of the Artist’s Institute: Haim Steinbach, The Artist’s institute, New York, NY | |
| Performance: Tom Thayer, Two, Seven Hour Performances for the 2012 Whitney Biennial, May 20 and 27th, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY | |
| 2011 | The Future Has Two Faces, a benefit for Triple Canopy, Picture Ray Studio, New York, NY |
| PRODIGIUM minimus: performance for NUMINA lente, curated by Keith Connolly and Jay Sanders, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, New York, NY | |
| Inchoative Listening + Centerless Portrayal: Yuji Agematsu, Circuit Des Yeux, Tom Kovachevich, Mother Earth, and Tom Thayer, curated by Keith Connolly and Jay Sanders, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY | |
| Keith Connolly and Tom Thayer, performance, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY | |
| 2010 | Tom Thayer, Performance for Dave Miko’s Greater New York 2010 Exhibition, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY |
| 2008 | Hair Stylistics/Masaya Nakahara, Tom Thayer, Hot Garbage, Ei Arakawa/Michiko, curated by Keith Connolly and Jay Sanders, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY |
| Amolvacy (music) Tom Thayer (video), Monkey Town, Brooklyn, NY | |
| 2007 | Amolvacy, Tom Thayer, The Living Theater, New York, NY |
| 122 for $122, PS122 Gallery, New York, NY |
SELECTED SCREENINGS & BROADCASTS
| 2018 | Tom Thayer, BUREAU_AUDIO, Bureau, New York, NY, www.bureau.audio |
| 2014 | Summerjam Music Video Mix, screening, Electronic Arts Intermix EAI, New York, NY |
| 2013 | Tom Thayer, Phantasmagoria & Other Works, screening, Spectacle, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2005 | Sound Collage by Tom Thayer, Mixing It, BBC Radio 3, (programmed by journalist, Robert Sandall and musician, Mark Russell) London, UK |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| 2024 | Ammirati, Domenick, “Matt Hoyt and Tom Thayer, molto Mangiones, and compositions on Paul Klee. Plus Oyster Bay for the holidays”, Spigot, December 13, 2024 |
| Estiler, Keith, “Olivia Shao’s ‘Le Contre-Ciel’ Exhibit Pushes Boundaries of Chinese Aesthetics,” HYPEBEAST, May 23, 2024 | |
| Xinyi, Ye, “Resisting Order and Power in ‘Le Contre-Ciel’,” ArtAsiaPacific, May 16, 2024. | |
| Liu, Di, “‘Le Contre-Ciel’ at Empty Gallery,” Spike, May 16, 2024. | |
| 2019 | Fateman, Johanna, “Tom Thayer,” The New Yorker, September 27, 2019. |
| 2016 | Smith, Roberta, “The Lower East Side as Petri Dish,” The New York Times, April 21, 2016. |
| 2015 | Rosenberg, Karen, “The Rise of the Projected Painting: 5 Artists Who Fuse Canvases and Circuitry,” Artspace Magazine, October 2, 2015. |
| Berry, Ian, Robert Boyers, Peg Boyers, Sarah Miller, Hillary Reder, and Marc Woodworth, Afflict the Comfortable, New York: Tang, 2015. (exhibition catalogue). | |
| 2013 | “Tom Thayer: Ad Intium”, The Harvard Advocate, Winter 2013, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA. |
| Issue Project Room, “In Pictures: Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain,” December 06, 2013. | |
| Dillon, Noah, “Dave Miko and Tom Thayer,” Art in America, June/July 2013: 162. | |
| Lindquist, Greg, “Network of Relative Objects: Transgression+Painting,” The Brooklyn Rail, June 3, 2013. | |
| Belcove, Julie, “Art Show: Tom Thayer,” Elle Decor, May 2013: 104-06. | |
| Zevitas, Steven, “Must-See Painting Shows: March 2013,” The Huffington Post, March 8, 2013. | |
| Ammirati, Domenick, “Dave Miko and Tom Thayer, Eleven Rivington,” Artforum, March 2013. | |
| “Studio Tracks: Dave Miko & Tom Thayer, The creative duo share their studio playlist,” Modern Painters, February 2013:26. | |
| “Dave Miko & Tom Thayer at Eleven Rivington, New York,” MOUSSE, February 19, 2013. | |
| “Weekend Guide: ART: Dave Miko and Tom Thayer: Baseless Legion of Architects Rent Asunder,” Paper Mag, February 17, 2013. | |
| 2012 | Pulitzer, Sam, “Dave Miko,” Artforum, May 2012. |
| Jovanovic, Rozalia, “Puppets and Black Sabbath: Tom Thayer’s Genuine Gesture,” Modern Painters, April 2012. | |
| Johnston, Paddy and Benjamin Sutton, “5 Art Stars You Need to Know,” The L Magazine, April 13, 2012. | |
| Schjeldahl, Peter, “Not Like the Other Ones, A surprising Whitney Biennial,” The New Yorker, March 12, 2012. | |
| Vogel, Carol, “Biennial Tweaks Its Boundaries,” The New York Times, February 17, 2012. | |
| Saltz, Jerry, “Leaving Babylon,” New York Magazine, March 1, 2012. | |
| Sussman, Elizabeth and Jay Sanders, “Whitney Biennial 2012” (catalogue), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. | |
| “Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage on View at the MFAH,” DallasArtNews.com, January 19, 2012. | |
| 2011 | Zevitas, Steven’ “12 Painters to Watch in 2012,” huffingtonpost.com, December 27, 2011. |
| Davis, Ben, “Dave Miko and Tom Thayer,” Modern Painters, February 7, 2011. | |
| Smith, Roberta, “Dave Miko and Tom Thayer: New World Pig,” The New York Times, February 4, 2011. | |
| Sherwood Pundyk, Ann, “Adam Marnie, Tom Thayer and Ruby Sky Stile,” The Brooklyn Rail, February 3, 2011. | |
| Smith, Roberta, “Tom Thayer Scenographic Play,” The New York Times, January 28, 2011. | |
| Saltz, Jerry, “Up Close and Personal,” New York Magazine, January 21, 2011. | |
| “Goings on About Town: Art, Dave Miko and Tom Thayer,” The New Yorker, January 2011. | |
| “Goings on About Town: Art, Short List, Tom Thayer,” The New Yorker, January 2011. | |
| Russeth, Andrew, “Tom Thayer, Scenographic Play at Tracy Williams, Ltd,” 16 Miles of String, January 18, 2011. | |
| 2010 | Johnson, Paddy, “Art fag City: The Artist as Chess Piece,” The L Magazine, May 20, 2010. |
| “Goings on About Town: Art, Knight’s Move,” The New Yorker, July 20, 2010. | |
| Meade, Fionn, Knight’s Move, New York: SculptureCenter (catalog), 2010. | |
| Russeth, Andrew, “Tom Thayer at Sculpture Center, Queens,” 16 Miles of String, May 7, 2010. | |
| 2008 | Coley, Byron, and Thurston Moore, “Bull Tongue,” Arthur Magazine, July 2008. |
TEACHING Professor of Painting, Drawing, and Diverse Media at The City College of New York, CUNY
COLLECTIONS Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL