The History of the World
Nov 18, 2016 – Dec 17, 2016
Paintings By Tom Judd
Tom Judd’s paintings are acts of accumulation. They reclaim visions from the past. The show, comprised of Judd’s recent paintings, explores the mythic patterns of post-war American society. More specifically it probes our uneasy relationships with nature and culture, and the memory of modernism. Drawing on influences such as Chicago Imagist Jim Nutt and the early work of David Hockney, his painting call attention to the interplay of narratives, both historical and artistic. What stories do we create to make sense of the past? What are the interactions between myth, memory, and painting? This show invites the viewer to bring his or her own meaning, understanding and associations to bear when interpreting the work. As Judd says, “ask a stranger what his life is about and he will talk about your life. Alas, the history of the world!”
Tom Judd was born in Utah and was studied at University of Utah and the Philadelphia College of Art. For his first show, he was part of a survey of contemporary drawing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has since shown both paintings and installations internationally, is part of the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and has received fellowships from Tandem Press and MacDowell Colony. He lives in Philadelphia.