Thomas Houseago

The first publication on Houseago's new painting series, also featuring journal extracts and texts by Nick Cave

Leeds-born, Los Angeles-based artist Thomas Houseago (born 1972) is best known for his sculptures that combine traditional (wood, plaster, clay and bronze) and less conventional (steel cables, canvas and cement) materials. During the last couple of years, however, Houseago has started painting, with liberatory results. Vision Paintings charts his recent foray into the medium, presenting a wide selection of both figurative and abstract artworks created between 2020 and 2022. The book features various large-scale series (including the Vision Paintings, California Love Songs and Vortex Paintings). Thematically, Houseago is drawn to nature, drawing on landscapes in Malibu, Big Sur and Yosemite for evocations of cosmic unity and the cycle of life. The volume--the first entirely dedicated to his paintings--is punctuated by close-ups, citations, pages from the artist's journals and writing by the musician Nick Cave.