Thomas Houseago is a British

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

ist. He lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and also has American citizenship. Much of his work has been figurative sculpture, often on a large scale, in plaster,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

or aluminium; his large plaster ''Baby'' was included in the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

in 2010. He has also made architectural installations.

Life and career

Houseago grew up in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, where his mother was a teacher. He did his

foundation year A foundation programme, foundation program, foundation year, foundation year programme or foundation year program is a one-year introductory course to a full multi-year degree curriculum offered by many universities in the Commonwealth and elsewher ...

at Jacob Kramer College in Leeds, and in 1991 went to

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

in London. He then studied at

De Ateliers De Ateliers (formerly Ateliers '63) is an independent art school in located in Amsterdam. It was founded in Haarlem in 1963, among others by Ger Lataster, Mari Andriessen, Nic Jonk, Theo Mulder and Wessel Couzijn. This "group of established art ...

in Amsterdam, where he came into contact with figurative artists such as

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter currently based in the Netherlands. Life and work Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father had ...

Thomas Schütte Thomas Schütte (born 16 November 1954) is a German contemporary artist. He sculpts, creates architectural designs, and draws. He lives and works in Düsseldorf. Education From 1973 to 1981 Schütte studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf al ...

and

Luc Tuymans Luc Tuymans (born 14 June 1958) is a Belgian visual artist best known for his paintings which explore people's relationship with history and confront their ability to ignore it. World War II is a recurring theme in his work. He is a key figure ...

. He lived for eight years in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

before moving to

in 2003. Houseago held his first solo exhibition, titled ''Serpent'' (2009), in the United States at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles, which was also the gallery's inaugural show. In the

Frogtown Frogtown is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul in the United States, U.S. state of Minnesota. Built around University Avenue (Minneapolis-St. Paul), University Avenue, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is colloquially known as Frogt ...

district of Los Angeles, his studio complex occupies four single-story industrial buildings along the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

. Donald and Mera Rubell, art collectors from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, bought several of his works in 2006. His large plaster ''Baby'' was included in the

in 2010, and in 2011 ''L'Homme Pressé'', a tall bronze figure of a walking man, was installed in front of

Palazzo Grassi Palazzo Grassi (also known as the Palazzo Grassi-Stucky) is a building in the Venetian Classical style located on the Grand Canal of Venice (Italy), between the Palazzo Moro Lin and the campo San Samuele. History First owners During the 16th cen ...

on the Grand Canal in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

during the

Biennale Biennale (), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularis ...

. In 2022, he collaborated with

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

for an exhibit at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in

Tampere, Finland Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa Regions of Finland, region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the Tampere u ...

entitled ''We''.

Art market

Houseago is represented by Xavier Hufkens Gallery,

Gagosian Gallery Gagosian is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are 16 gallery spaces: five in New York City; three in London; two in Par ...

and

Hauser & Wirth Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery. History Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by co-president Marc Payot. In 2020, Ewan Venters was ap ...

. Early in his career, Houseago began a relationship with Xavier Hufkens Gallery in Brussels. He later began showing with

Michael Werner Gallery In 1963, Michael Werner opened his first gallery, Werner & Katz, in Berlin, Germany with the first solo exhibition of Georg Baselitz. Galerie Michael Werner was later established in Cologne in 1969. Since then, Galerie Michael Werner has worked w ...

in New York. He was previously represented by David Kordansky in Los Angeles.

Personal life

During his time at De Ateliers, Houseago met the American painter

Amy Bessone Amy Bessone (born 1970) is an American contemporary visual artist based in Los Angeles. Bessone studied at De Ateliers in Amsterdam, Parsons Paris School of Art and Design in Paris, and Barnard College in New York City. Education 1995 De Ateli ...

with whom he lived until 2013. Since then he has been in a relationship with art therapist Muna El Fituri.Susan Morgan (January 31, 2018)
Inside the Healing L.A. Studio of Artist Thomas Houseago, Where Ghosts (and Brad Pitt) Roam
'' W''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houseago, Thomas 1972 births Living people British sculptors British male sculptors English contemporary artists Artists from Leeds