Tom Holland
Although Tom Holland’s early work was traditional oil on canvas, it was when he began to work with aluminum in his early years teaching at UCLA in Los Angeles that he really achieved critical acclaim. In the 70's Holland began using materials that were light and strong, but did not require a frame. Using fiberglass and aluminum, making pieces of color which hang on the wall like stiff tapestry, the thin edges allow Holland's paintings to become a part of the space occupied. Using simple materials and a unique approach that combines painting and sculpture, he cuts thin sheets of aluminum or fiberglass, building either a painting or free standing form. Holland considers the landscape and his attachment to the natural world to be the basis and constant inspiration for his long career of over 50 years as a California painter.
His work has been described as inspired by Cubism, Futurism, and Constructivism, and he has been called one of California's most important contemporary artists. His work has been labeled exhilarating and visually challenging, playing games and distorting the three dimensional space.
Beyond his larger sculptural pieces, Holland occasionally cuts and bends paper, fiberglass, and aluminum to make small figures …
Although Tom Holland’s early work was traditional oil on canvas, it was when he began to work with aluminum in his early years teaching at UCLA in Los Angeles that he really achieved critical acclaim. In the 70's Holland began using materials that were light and strong, but did not require a frame. Using fiberglass and aluminum, making pieces of color which hang on the wall like stiff tapestry, the thin edges allow Holland's paintings to become a part of the space occupied. Using simple materials and a unique approach that combines painting and sculpture, he cuts thin sheets of aluminum or fiberglass, building either a painting or free standing form. Holland considers the landscape and his attachment to the natural world to be the basis and constant inspiration for his long career of over 50 years as a California painter.
His work has been described as inspired by Cubism, Futurism, and Constructivism, and he has been called one of California's most important contemporary artists. His work has been labeled exhilarating and visually challenging, playing games and distorting the three dimensional space.
Beyond his larger sculptural pieces, Holland occasionally cuts and bends paper, fiberglass, and aluminum to make small figures such as heads or animals, which are playful exercises with color, form, and materials. He contracts with a potter to make ceramic plates that he paints using images inspired by the landscape, and has done a series of paintings often etching on thin copper sheets. His work was chosen by John Elderfield of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for a show of work on paper which encouraged Holland to continue exercising this creative form. He also makes lithographs and has made prints with Cirrus Editions, Nuristani Prints and Crown Point Press. He works on marble, copper, paper, and clay and uses watercolor, acrylic urethane, and ceramic glazes.
Tom Holland has recently displayed his work at solo shows at Samuel Lynne Galleries in Dallas, Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, California, David Richard Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Smith Anderson Gallery in Palo Alto, California, Art Foundry in Sacramento, California, and Charles Cowles Gallery in New York. Additionally he has contributed pieces to group exhibitions at the Orange County Museum of Art in California, The Richmond Art Center in California, the Palm Springs Art Museum in California, American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, Tucson Museum of Art in Arizona, The National Academy in New York, and San Francisco International Art Exposition in California. Holland has been commissioned to install permanent large scale works at the Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California, UCLA’s Doumani House in Los Angeles, Kaiser Hospital in Roseville, California, and the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. His work can be found in the collections of the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio, the Berkely Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, Chicago Art Institute, the Guggenheim Museum, Los Angeles County Museum, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Seattle Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Courtesy of the Artist