Xipe Tótec, 2010, LED neon flex, aluminum, and electrical hardware, Exterior of 24-story building, Commissioned by Tlatelolco University Cultural Center (CCUT), UNAM, Mexico City.
Thomas Glassford, Siphonophora (Installation view), 2016. Museo Universitario Del Chopo, Mexico DF
Aster 350 T12/5000K, 2001, Fluorescent light, acrylic, ballasts and wiring, 145 × 145 dia. in., in the permanent collection of Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH).
Thomas Glassford, Yisus, 2018. Lacquer on MDF, 47 7/32 x 35 13/32 inches.
Thomas Glassford, Compound, 2018. Lacquer on MDF, 47 3/16 x 35 3/8 inches.
THOMAS GLASSFORD
[1963, Texas]
Thomas Glassford studied art at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his BFA. He moved to Mexico City in 1990 and joined a young avant-garde group of Mexican, European, and American artists living in the city. Since the early 1990s, Glassford has used everyday materials--ranging from gourds to broomsticks, anodized aluminum to melamine plates--to create architectural or installation-scale works. He transforms these materials into rhythmic and often abstract creations, reminiscent of Minimalist sculpture and Op Art paintings of the 1960s.
Glassford has had his work shown in numerous important solo exhibitions, including Xipe Totec, Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico (2010); Arteria, Curare: Espacio Crítico para las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico (1992); Obra Nueva, Estudio Licenciado Verdad, Mexico City, Mexico (1990); The Privilege to Contemplate the Theories of Black Holes,ExpoArte ’98, Guadalajara, Mexico (1998); Thomas Glassford, Il Ponte Contemporanea ShowCase, Rome, Italy (2012); Event Horizon, Laboratorio Arte Alameda (LAA), Mexico City, Mexico (2003); Natural Acts, Moody Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (1993);Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico (2003); Autogol: Oaxaca, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO), Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico (1996); Fuente Parabólica, Festival International Cervantino (FIC), Museo Regional de Guanajuato (Alhóndiga de Granaditas), Mexico (2000); Autogol Monterrey, Museo de Monterrey, Mexico (1995); Afterglow, Museo Experimental el Eco, Mexico City, Mexico (2010), Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (2013);
Cadáver Exquisito, Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Artes (MUCA), UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico (2006); Siphonophora, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico (2016); Implosion is Compulsory, Quint Gallery, San Diego, California, USA (2008); Solar Plexus, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, California, USA (2015); Neoprene Dreams, Sala Diaz, San Antonio, Texas, USA (1998); and ASTER, La Torre de los Vientos, Mexico City, Mexico (2001), among others.
Glassford’s works are represented in several major collections including ArtCenter/Istanbul, Borusan Sanat, Turkey; Associacao Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog da Silva (ABADHS), São Paulo, Brazil; Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Miami, Florida, USA; Colección FEMSA, Monterrey, Mexico;Colección Jacques y Natasha Gelman, Mexico City, Mexico; Colección Valdemarín, Madrid, Spain; Colección y Archivo de Fundación Televisa, Mexico City, Mexico; Collezione La Gaia, Busca, Italy; Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA; The Diane and Bruce Halle Collection of Latin American Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Jerry I. Speyer Collection, New York City, New York, USA; Lucille and Ronald Neeley Collection, San Diego, California, USA; Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo (MEIAC), Badajoz, Spain; Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Texas, USA; Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, USA; Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, USA; and Vergel Foundation, New York City, New York, USA.
2023
Thomas Glassford, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, USA
2018
Osculum, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
2017
Testigo/Witness: Popular Fiction and the Dismembered Object, Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA, USA
2016
Siphonophora, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico
2015
Solar Plexus, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, USA
2014
Thomas Glassford: Afterglow, Arts Brookfield, Houston, TX, USA
Afterglow, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2013
Afterglow, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2012
Thomas Glassford, Galeria Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
2011
Pteridomania, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2010
Xipe Totec, Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
Afterglow, Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico
2008
Implosion is Compulsory, Quint Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, USA
Between Earth and Sky, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2006
Cadáver Exquisito, Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Artes (MUCA), UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
2004
Thomas Glassford, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX, USA
Pleasure Garden, Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico
Desdoblamientos, Galeria Principal de La Escuela de Artes, UAEMéx, Toluca, Mexico
Thomas Glassford, Arcaute Arte Contemporáneo, Nuevo León, Mexico
2003
Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico
Event Horizon, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico
2002
Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX, USA
Stripes and Solids, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, USA
Fuente / Exhibition Agua, Wasser, Temple of San Agustín (Ex National Library), Mexico City, Mexico
2001
DESIRE, Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico
ASTER, La Torre de los Vientos, Mexico City, Mexico
2000
Fuente Parabólica, Museo de La Alhóndiga, Festival International Cervantino, Guanajuato, Mexico
1998
Neoprene Dreams, Sala Diaz, San Antonio, TX, USA
1997
Diversiones, Galeria de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
1996
Autogol: Oaxaca, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Mexico
New Work, Milagros Contemporary Art, San Antonio, TX, USA
The Privilege to Contemplate the Theories of Black Holes, ExpoArte ’98, Guadalajara, Mexico
1995
Autogol Monterrey, Museo de Monterrey, Mexico
1994
Autogol, Ex-Convento del Carmen, Guadalajara, Mexico
1993
Natural Acts, Moody Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
1992
Arteria, Curare: Espacio Crítico Para Las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico
1991
Laredo, Laredo Junior College Art Gallery, Texas, TX, USA
Hydraulics and Mechanics, N. No. O Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
1990
Obra Nueva, Estudio Lic. Verdad, Mexico City, Mexico
1986
Drawings and Wall Pieces, Flood Gallery, Austin, TX, USA
Art Center/Instanbul, Borusan Center for Culture and Arts, Turkey
Associacao Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog da Silva, Brazil
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA
Bruce and Diane Halle Collection, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Miami, FL, USA
Colección Valdemarín, Madrid, Spain
Collezione “La Gaia,” Italy
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, USA
Gelman Collection, Mexico
Jerry I. Speyer Collection
La Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
Miami Art Museum, FL, USA
Montblanc International Collection
Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Bajadoz, Spain
Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Artes (MUCA), Mexico
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), TX, USA
Neeley Collection
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ, USA
Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA
Televisa Collection, Mexico
The SPACE Collection, Irvine, CA, USA
The West Collection, Oaks, PA, USA
Vergel Foundation, New York, NY, USA
Do you really believe that? is an exhibition celebrating the power of Abstract and Minimalist Art and honoring the legacy of the public contributions, scholarship, and teaching of Dr. Frances Colpitt. This exhibition was organized by UTSA and Texas Christian University, and contributions were made by Artpace and Ruby City. Colpitt (1952-2022) was a professor at UTSA 1990-2005 and Texas Christian University 2005-2021. She was enormously influential in Texas and nationally.
Thomas Glassford's public art commission, Xipe Totec, for the 100th anniversary of the National University of Mexico.
