Thomas Houseago

I wanted to find out where the figure is, what has happened to it, and it’s fantastic to search through this history of representation-figuration.
—Thomas Houseago

Gagosian is pleased to present Psychedelic Brothers – Drawn Paintings by Thomas Houseago. This is the first exhibition to focus on Houseago’s two-dimensional works on canvas.

Known for his monumental sculpture based on the body and architecture, Houseago has produced sculptures that function like dwellings, such as Masks (Pentagon), installed at Rockefeller Center in 2015, which can be entered and experienced from within. Questions surrounding the nature of embodiment and the play between the mental and physical selves pervade Houseago’s art in all its forms.

Shifting between historical allusion and seemingly impulsive gesture, Houseago explores sculptural and pictoral paradigms in terms of the uncertain realities of the present. Often forgoing traditional materials, he secretes stylistic nuances from a broad range of influences—including classical Greek sculpture; African, American, and Pacific tribal art; Renaissance and Modern interpretations of the figure; musical performance; and anime, sci-fi, and cyborg characters. In this particular series, psychedelia is expressed through high-volume coloration and loose lines. The immediacy of the medium of painting and its immersive quality allow Houseago to create new planes of consciousness. The faces of the linked “brothers” embody the psychic recesses of the creative process, giving legibility to hallucination.