V1 Gallery presents
Sunrise FM
A solo exhibition by B. Thom Stevenson
Opening: February 28, 5-9pm
Exhibition period: February 29 - April 4, 2020
Artist Talk with B. Thom Stevenson and Jason S. Wright: February 28, 5pm
Sunrise FM is visual radio. You flip through the channels on your way from one modus operandi to the next, from private to public and back again. It’s American radio; pop songs, commercials, talk radio, country music, metal, classic rock, oldies, call-ins, jazz, news – real and fake - preachers and politicians.
Sunrise FM is an exhibition of new works on canvas and paper by the formerly New York based, celebrated and prolific multidisciplinary artist B. Thom Stevenson, now a resident of Worcester, MA, or more specifically a sleepy town on its outskirts Sutton, population 9.000. Sunrise FM is transformation and transcendence. Engaging, infiltrating and distorting contemporary culture, Stevenson’s work does not segregate high and low but reveal their co-dependence. Jim Henson, Pablo Picasso, Star Trek, Woody Guthrie, Max Ernst, Anime, Henri Matisse, Cormack McCarthy, Sesame Street, punk flyers, Henri Moore, comic books, religious doomsday pamphlets and various source material enrich and inform each other. Counter- and over-the-counter culture side by side. Dandelion: Movement for a New Society (1973-83) activist newsletters are symbolized in Stevenson’s works by various renditions of dandelions paired with Picasso bootlegs, Kermit the Frog and a little recurring red devil named Eric. Sunrise FM is creative cycles. Drawn, xeroxed, painted, photographed, xeroxed, screen-printed, painted, drawn. Stevenson revisits his motifs repeatedly in various media, altering, disfiguring and detouring the composition. His process is meticulously planned and deftly improvised. Sunrise FM is an immersive trip comprised of poetic and poignant works with an accompanying mesmerizing soundscape arranged by the artist. The result is an accomplished, genuinely original, and curious exhibition - subtly subversive and revitalizing.
B. Thom Stevenson, born 1985, USA, lives and works in Worcester, USA. His practice is cannibalistic. Cycles of imagery of images of images. With each rendition they mutate, decay or ascend into new motifs. Text and imagery are culled from an eclectic selection of sources: other artists, living or dead, DIY culture, American, Japanese and Italian cult horror movies, vintage quilt templates, Celtic stone carvings, literature and politics. B. Thom Stevenson is a multifaceted artist that explores the intersections between cultures by boiling down their artefacts to juxtapose in visually impactful dialogues, pairing both original and sourced materials to form a unique vocabulary. His practice explores the use of language as imagery, and pictures as tools of communication. In September 2019, with Jason S. Wright, Stevenson founded Miracle Seltzer, a Fluxus-inspired consumer product and lifestyle brand. His upcoming book J.I.C. Survival Manual, a reference book for surviving in the post-Internet world, is published by Family Books, Los Angeles. Stevenson has recently shown at Half Gallery and The Journal Gallery, New York. He holds a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design, Sunrise FM is his third solo exhibition with V1 Gallery.
Artist talk: New Strategies for Artistic Practice
February 28, 5pm
A conversation between B. Thom Stevenson and Jason S. Wright moderated by Assistant Director Amanda Færk
An introduction to the artist's new exhibitions, influences, media strategies, self-publishing and peer networks
