Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt (born 1948) is an American artist who took part in the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

History

Lanigan-Schmidt's artwork incorporates materials such as tinsel, foil, cellophane, saran wrap and glitter, embracing

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

and intentionally tacky. His work has been compared to that of Florine Stettheimer, who used cellophane in her sets for the Gertrude Stein/ Virgil Thomson opera '' Four Saints in Three Acts''; his art was included in an exhibit of artists influenced by Stettheimer. His work has also been likened to the religious-themed tinfoil-covered thrones of

art brut Art Brut are a Berlin-based English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, '' Bang Bang Rock & Roll'', was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, ''It's a Bit Complicated'', released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Je ...

artist James Hampton. He is sometimes grouped with the

Pattern and Decoration Pattern and Decoration was a United States art movement from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The movement has sometimes been referred to as "P&D" or as The New Decorativeness. The movement was championed by the gallery owner Holly Solomon. The ...

art movement, though he says that is "retrospective craziness". His art is noted for its incorporation of Catholic iconography. Joe Brainard is also cited as a forerunner with his use of decorative collage and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

and religious themes. Lanigan-Schmidt attended

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in 1965-66, was rejected by

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

, and attended School of Visual Arts. Lanigan-Schmidt began by exhibiting his art in his own apartment; an early major exhibit in 1969 was titled ''The Sacristy of the Hamptons''. Another home exhibit was titled ''The Summer Palace of Czarina Tatlina''. In these early home exhibits, and also in at least one later recreation of an early exhibit, he guided visitors through the exhibit in drag in character as art collector Ethel Dull. While Lanigan Schmidt's art is not widely known, he has received critical acclaim. He has been referenced as an antecedent to Jeff Koons in the intentional use of kitsch in art. Lanigan-Schmidt's work has been included in major art museum survey exhibits. His art was in the 1984

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, and his trip there inspired his 1985 ''Venetian Glass Series''. His foil rats and

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

produced in the 1970s were included in the 1995 exhibit "In A Different Light" at the Berkeley Art Museum, which was curated by

Lawrence Rinder Lawrence R. Rinder is a contemporary art curator and museum director. He directed the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) from 2008 to 2020. Education Rinder received a B.A. in art from Reed College and an M.A. in art history fro ...

and

Nayland Blake Nayland is a village and former civil parish in the Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of the border between Suffolk and Essex in England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 938. In 1881 the civil parish had a population of 901. Hi ...

. His art was included in the 1991

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 ...

as well as the Whitney Museum's survey of

20th-century art Twentieth-century art—and what it became as modern art—began with modernism in the late nineteenth century. Overview Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism ( Les Nabis), Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century ...

, "The American century: art & culture 1900-2000." Lanigan-Schmidt was an associate of the underground filmmaker Jack Smith. He participated in at least one of Smith's performances, "Withdrawal from Orchid Lagoon". He was interviewed in the documentary ''

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis ''Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis'' is a documentary film that premiered in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. It is a collection of interviews and clips by and about the revolutionary artist Jack Smith. It was directed by Mary Jordan and ...

''. Another member of Lanigan-Schmidt's circle was

Charles Ludlam Charles Braun Ludlam (April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright. Biography Early life Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie (née Braun) and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raise ...

. Lanigan-Schmidt, who is openly gay was present at the Stonewall riots, a seminal moment in gay history, and is one of the few recognized veterans still living. Shortly after the riot started, he was photographed with a group of other young people by photographer

Fred W. McDarrah Frederick William McDarrah (November 5, 1926 – November 6, 2007) was an American staff photographer for ''The Village Voice'' and an author. He is best known for documenting the cultural phenomenon known as the Beat Generation from its incep ...

. Lanigan-Schmidt appears in the film ''

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

'' in a documentary segment. An installation art piece by Lanigan-Schmidt, ''Mother Stonewall and the Golden Rats'' commemorated the events at the Stonewall Inn. In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Lanigan-Schmidt was among those invited to the White House to meet with

Michelle Michelle may refer to: People * Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottis ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. He is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts Lanigan-Schmidt worked as a 1960s Linden youth doing "odd jobs to help support his family and was bullied by high school thugs," moving to New York City as a young man. As a child in 1950s Linden, after Lanigan-Schmidt was assigned to decorate the school bulletin board in his Catholic elementary school, he built a detailed model of a church altar. The impressive model was featured in a local paper while Lanigan-Schmidt was a student at St. Elizabeth School at 170 Hussa Street. The school closed in 2014; it is a part of the campus of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church in Linden. From November 18, 2012 to April 7, 2013, Lanigan-Schmidt's art was the subject of a retrospective at MoMA PS1.

Exhibitions

*"Pattern, Crime & Decoration", thematic exhibition at

Le Consortium Le Consortium is a contemporary art center based in Dijon founded by Xavier Douroux & Franck Gautherot, among others, from the association Le Coin du Miroir (The Corner Mirror). The center was run by Douroux, in collaboration with Gautherot and Er ...

, France, Dijon, 2019. *"Tenemental (With Sighs Too Deep for Words)", Howl, New York, New York, November 16-December 19, 2018 *"Ecce Homo: Thomas Lanigan-Schmit and the Art of Rebellion", Pavel Zoubok, June 6-August 9, 2013 *"Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt: Tender Love Among the Junk," MoMA PS1, October 2012- April 2013 * "The True Praxis of Dotty Page, Willy Nilly & the Book of Roof, Read Daily by Savant in the Cathedral of St. Anamnesis, & the Sacred Dentures of Emma Street," The Front Room, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 2010 * "Tenement Symphony," Pavel Zoubok, September 10-October 10, 2009 * "Placemats and Potholders (Memory & Desire)," Pavel Zoubok, 2006 * "Collage: Signs and Surfaces," Pavel Zoubok, 2005 * "Stapled to the Soul," Pavel Zoubok, 2005 * "The American Century: Art & Culture 1900-2000", Whitney Museum, 1999 * "Hidden Treasures,"

Holly Solomon Gallery Holly Solomon Gallery opened in New York City in 1975 at 392 West Broadway in Soho, Manhattan. Started by Holly Solomon - aspiring actress, style-icon, and collector - and her husband Horace Solomon, the gallery was initially known for launching ...

, 1999 * "Love Flight of a Pink Candy Heart,"

, 1996 * "In a Different Light," Berkeley Art Museum, 1995 * "Byzantine Neo-Platonic Rectangles," Holly Solomon Gallery, 1994 * "1969: A Year Revisited," New York University's Grey Art Gallery, 1994 * "The Summer Palace of Czarina Tatlina, 1969-70, a reconstruction," Holly Solomon Gallery, 1992 * Whitney Biennial, 1991 * "The Center Show," Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, 1989 * "Halfway to Paradise," Holly Solomon Gallery, 1988 * "A Theology of Glitter: An Aesthetic of Poverty",

Walters Art Gallery The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

, Baltimore, MD, 1986 * "Venetian Glass Series," Holly Solomon Gallery, 1985 * Venice Biennale, 1984 *"The Preying Hands", Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, 1983 *"New York Now", Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, 1982 * "Religion Into Art", Pratt Manhattan Center, 1981 *"Grace and Original Sin: Saints and Sinners," Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY, 1980 * "10 artists/artists space," Neuberger Museum, SUNY Purchase, 1979 * "Iconostasis", Holly Solomon Gallery, 1978 *"Thomas Lanigan Schmidt, James Biederman, Charles Simonds", Artists Space, December 7–28, 1974 *"The Summer Palace of Czarina Tatlina", 266 E. 4th Street, 1969-1970 *"The Sacristy of the Hamptons", 266 E. 4th Street, 1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanigan-Schmidt, Thomas 1948 births Living people People from Linden, New Jersey Artists from Elizabeth, New Jersey Artists from New York City Gay artists LGBT people from New Jersey American LGBT artists Pratt Institute faculty