Thomas Barger

Thomas Barger is a sculptor based in New York City. He grew up in the small, conservative, and religious town of Mattoon, Illinois, and studied architecture and landscape design. Drawn to New York, where he can freely express his homosexual identity, Barger focuses on the differing environmental experiences as a central theme in his works. He internalizes and transforms contrasting concepts felt in rural and urban settings, tradition and innovation, and control and release into his creations. Starting in 2016, Barger has been building his unique sculptural language by adding paper pulp to discarded furniture, hardening it, sanding it smooth, and applying layers of color repeatedly. His works evoke a plush sensation with their free lines and soft colors, but they are actually very solid and robust. His distinctive style includes sweet hues, flowing curves, and meticulously arranged elements like orderly holes. Straddling the line between furniture and sculpture, his works sometimes seem to disrupt the world of design, creating the illusion of being in a furniture shop. The fact that some pieces can actually function as furniture adds a unique aspect to Barger's work. His creations navigate the boundaries of furniture and sculpture, embarking on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey imbued with humor.

Artworks

CV

Thomas Barger (b. 1992)

Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

SOLO EXHIBITION

2022ㅤㅤWholesome, Thomas Barger, Salon 94 Design

2021 ㅤㅤThomas Barger, Heaven Bound at Hancock Shaker Village Museum, Salon 94 Design

GROUP EXHIBITION 

2024ㅤㅤAdrift on the Lonely Etheric Ocean - Curated by Brooke Wise, The Hole

2023ㅤㅤSILVER LINING, Galerie HeA, Seoul, Korea

2022ㅤㅤSummer Selects, Salon 94 Design

2021ㅤㅤA House is Not a Home, Pangée

2017ㅤㅤThe Paperweight Show, Fisher Parrish Gallery

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ  Ghost Dog, Johnson Trading Gallery

FAIR BOOTHS

2021ㅤㅤProjet Pangée at Art Toronto 2021, Pangée