about
Debra Thompson (b. 1955, Miami, Florida) is a visual artist based in Palm Springs, California and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Thompson's culturally divergent background, has contributed to the development of a strong socio-political voice. Her work incorporates ordinary objects, materials or words to signal a particular social or political dilemma. Using the American flag as a template, her collective work creates an important chronicle of American discourse.
Currently Thompson is working on a new body of work which embraces both racial and women's issues.
Her work has been exhibited at the Palm Springs Art Museum (ACE), Palm Springs, CA, Archangel Gallery, Palm Springs, CA and Venus Studios Gallery in Palm Desert, CA. Selected work from Thompson's Visual Discourse series is slated to be included in a traveling exhibit: Embedded Messages: Truth, Justice and the American Way, opening at the University of Redlands, Redlands, CA (October - November 2016) traveling to Highlands Gallery, Chicago, IL (May, 2017).
Newton 26, a flag that presents the gun control issue and honors the 20 children and 6 adults lost during the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacure, received best in show at the Palm Springs Art Museum Annual ACE Exhibition, juried by Christian Hohmann, (2015) Palm Springs, California.
Thompson received her Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida and her Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Marine Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
Master of Fine Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017 Embedded Messages: Truth, Justice and the American Way, The Art Center, Chicago IL
2016 Embedded Messages: Truth, Justice and the American Way, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
2016 United Artists, Charles Krause Reporting Fine Art, Washington, DC
2015 Annual ACE Exhibition, Juried by Christian Hohmann, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
2015 Archangel Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
2015 Encaustic Exhibition, Venus Studio, Palm Desert, CA
2013 Annual ACE Exhibition, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Bibliography
Pleasant, Amy. Embedded Messages, Debating the Dream: Truth, Justice and the American Way, The Huffington Post February 17, 2017
Gomez, Sergio. Eight Female Artists Throw Political Punches, Amplified Art Network, February 1, 2017
Jenkins, Mark. In the galleries: Trump in poncho and sombrero, Clinton as a suffragette, Washington Post, October 22, 2016
Spraol, Suzzanne. Current events at the heart of Pepper Art Gallery’s ‘Embedded Messages’, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Awards
2015 Best In Show, Annual ACE Exhibition, Juried by Christian Hohmann, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Affiliations
Board of Directors, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York, New York 1992
Member, Palm Springs Art Council 2013-current