Thad Mosley Reviewed In Art In America November Issue

In spite of Pittsburgh's higher profile in the broader media, reviews of area shows in National Art Magazines are very rare-- perhaps more so than they were even in the 1980's and early 90's.

Thad Mosley's amazing mini retrospective at the Mattress Factory got a very nice review by Melisa Kuntz in this month's Art in America which doesn't seem to be online yet.

Taking a small chance-- I am typing in the first paragraph since I agree fully with her words.

"The work of Thaddeus Mosley might seem derivative at first glance: the influences of Noguchi, Brancusi, Giacometti and African Art are evident. Yey closer consideration of his prolific career reframes the work, and Mosley emerges as an artist driven obsessively to explore endless permutations of his chosen medium."

I'd steal more but -- here is her closing.

"Each of the 78 exceptional works is proof of his inexhaustible commitment to one medium and evidence that imitation does not preclude brilliance."

One great thing is that Thad is good at speaking for himself. In this video he talks about his process.



Anyway-- buy the issue.

Thad Mosley Talks About His Work

One of the coolest things in the two floor Thad Mosley Show at the Mattress Factory was the long film interview with him in which he talks a lot about his life as an artist and his work. I can't find anything but a few clips of it online but I thought the most interesting part was his thoughts on the connection between his art and music.

Thad is a "process oriented artist", which I think means that his work is not thought out before hand in any conceptual way, but builds out of the process of making with each piece feeding and riffing off the others as well as on the outside world- All the more so since many of his works involve the combining separate components.

His work also calls into question the weird relic of defining artists as "insider or outsider. Thad majored in I think, English Lit, and shows in the interview a knowledge of both visual art and extensive knowledge of Jazz music.He also talks a lot about issues of skill, chops and craft in a way musicians often do.

Please see this show which now has been extended till August 2nd.