Chris Thorson
Boxed In (Oceano) (side detail), 2013
oil on hydrocal, acrylic on paper pulp, found cardboard box
14 1/4 x 19 3/4 x 15 3/8 in.
A master of trompe l’oeil illusion, Chris Thorson has made a name for herself in her faithful reproductions of objects. Long interested in items castoff, discarded, or forgotten by society, Thorson was inspired to make her Boxed In series when she came upon a group of abandoned produce boxes. After collecting these, Thorson decided to reproduce the fruits and vegetables that they would have transported in a perfect state of illusion. However, the fruits Thorson chose to recreate are blemished or slightly past peak ripeness — characteristics that would have found the fruits left behind in the box instead of being put out for sale. In doing so, Thorson questions the desire for perfection in the food system by companies and consumers, alike, while simultaneously raising questions about the food waste created by that desire.
Education
2004 MFA, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2001 BFA, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
2000 Yale at Norfolk Summer Painting Program, Norfolk, CT
Selected Awards / Commissions
2021 Juror’s Prize, Text and Visual Language, Saint Louis Artist’s Guild, St. Louis, MO
Juror’s Prize, California Contemporary Sculpture, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA
Facebook AIR Commission, Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, CA
2015 Honorary AIR Award, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2014 Investing in Artists Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation
2013 William and Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award, Young Sculptor’s Competition, Miami University
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2022 Blunt Instruments & Projectiles, Mama’s, Vallejo, CA
2019 Long Term Relationships, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA
2017 Tabula Rasa, Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA
2016 Strange Reprise, state, San Francisco, CA (with Maria Forde)
Time and Fragments, Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, St. Louis, MO
Uncanny, Des Lee Gallery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Recognition, Napa Valley Museum, Yountville, CA
2015 The Stranger, Startup Art Fair, Hotel del Sol, San Francisco, CA
Time and Fragments, Land and Sea Project Space, Oakland, CA
2013 Half-Life, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Paintings and Sculpture, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills, CA
Recent Group Exhibitions
2023 Twenty-Five Treasures, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Eat Me, Collarworks, Troy, NY
2022 New Sculpture, Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA
2021 Text and Visual Language, Saint Louis Artist’s Guild, St. Louis, MO
California Contemporary Sculpture, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA
2020 The Potion Room, Subsidiary Projects, London, UK
2019 Copycat, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Feast & Famine, Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University Newark Extension, Newark, NJ
2018 Ordinary, Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA
10 X 10 X 10, Borderline, San Francisco, CA
2016 Mistaken Impressions, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Lucky Draw, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Avant Garden, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2015 Concentrate, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Plain Airs, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
Nourish, Napa Valley Museum, Yountville, CA
Botanica, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
Im(material), Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Inaugural Show, Unexpected Projects at Artemis Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Lucky Draw, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Equilux, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2014 More Than One Way, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Material Matters, WoCA Projects, Fort Worth, TX
The Third Dimension: Four Artists, Sonoma State University Gallery. Rohnert Park, CA
Painting Now, Florence Quater Gallery, Southwest University of Visual Arts, Tucson, AZ
Object! Object!!, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
Dream Spheres, CULTUREHALL. http://culturehall.com/feature_issues.html?no=111
Managing Object Expectations curated by Sabrina Blaichman, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
As Night…, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY
Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
Smoke & Mirrors, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Where to From There?, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 This Will Never Work, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Sexual Souvenirs, MEEE (Pop-up by Naomi Miller), Brooklyn, NY
National Trompe l’Oeil Exhibition, John F. Peto Studio Museum, Island Heights, NJ
Miami University Young Sculptors Competition Finalist Exhibition, Hiestand Galleries,
Oxford, OH
Navigating the New, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
The Show, Unspeakable Projects, San Francisco, CA
The Culture of Curation, CULTUREHALL. http://culturehall.com/feature_issues.html?no=97
Parade, Southern Exposure’s Art Auction, San Francisco, CA.
ArtPadSF, Unspeakable Projects at the Phoenix Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Left-Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica CA
Alumni Exhibition, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2012 Point of No Return, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Arrest Me, Punch Gallery, Seattle, WA
FoodShifts, Interface Gallery, Oakland CA
Bay Area Currents, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
The Bridge Show, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Silver Era, Southern Exposure’s Art Auction, San Francisco, CA
Centering the Margin, Gallery 3175, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Select Bibliography
2019 Jayna Swartzman-Brosky. “Chris Thorson: Long Term Relationships at Ampersand International Arts.” Art Practical. November 20, 2019
2017 Hotchkiss, Sarah. “Strange Reprise Reflects on Noxious Nostalgia with Westerns and Stickers.” KQED online. January 25, 2017
2016 Chun, Kimberly. “Mistaken Impressions Explores the Inspiration of Trash”. San Francisco Chronicle January 7, 2016: E-5
Burlison, Dani. “Chris Thorson’s Recognition Isn’t What It Looks Like” KQED online. January 20, 2016. Available at http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/01/20/chris-thorsons-recognition-isnt-what-it-looks-like/
Malchionno, Angela. “Uncanny, Now at the Des Lee Gallery Invites Viewers to Give in to the Slippage.” March 16 2016. Available at http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/uncanny-now-at-the-des-lee-gallery-invites-viewers-to-give-in-to-the-slippage/Content?oid=3064518
2015
SFAQ online, Review: San Francisco’s Art Fair Weekend: Redux. Terri Cohn
ArtSlant Review: How Two New Satellites Challenge San Francisco’s Art Fair Scene.
Lenoa Lutz. Available at http://www.artslant.com/sf/articles/show/42937
Art Practical Review: (Im)material and The Marvelous Real. Lea Feinstein
Available at http://www.artpractical.com/review/immateriel-and-the-marvelous-real/
SF Art News Blog Review: (Im)material. Michael Yochum.
Available at https://sfartnews.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/immateriel-winter-group-exhibition/
2014 CULTUREHALL, Dream Spheres. Kelly Lynn Jones.
Available at http://culturehall.com/feature_issues.html?no=111
Erin C. Caldwell. New American Paintings Blog.” May 3. Available at http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/blog/studio-process-painting-chris-thorson
Featured Artist, Sculpture Center Notebook blog. May 23.
Available at www.sculpture-center.tumblr.com /post/86328811720
2013
New American Paintings, No. 109, Pacific Coast Issue, Juror: Janet Bishop
SFAQ online, Review: Life cycle of a juried show. Sarah Thibault
SFAQ online, Review: Chris Thorson’s Half-Life at Rena Bransten Gallery. Kathryn McKinney
Curiously Direct, “Rena Bransten // Chris Thorson Half-Life”. April 16.
Chris Thorson
Boxed In (High Country), 2012
mixed media on hydrocal, acrylic on paper pulp, found cardboard box
10 x 20 x 14 in.
Chris Thorson
Boxed In (Harvest Fresh), 2014
oil on hydrocal, acrylic on paper pulp, found cardboard box
9 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 13 3/4 in.
Chris Thorson
Boxed In (Oceano), 2013
mixed media on hydrocal, acylic on paper pulp, found cardboard box
14 1/4 x 19 3/4 x 15 3/8 in.
