Mungo Thomson    Sep 11 - Oct 16, 2004

Margo Leavin Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of recent projects by Mungo Thomson. This exhibition, Thomson’s third solo show at the gallery, will feature works by the artist in a variety of media and will be on view at the gallery from 11 September through 16 October 2004.

In this exhibition, Thomson continues his exploration of Americana, spirituality, popular music, and folk culture. Several new works will explore the spiritual and counter cultural movements of the past and their fallout in the present as New Age culture, recovery programs, and classic rock. These include an upside-down American flag made entirely from used blue-jeans; a collection of custom-made piñatas of President George W. Bush commissioned by the artist; a drawing of a levitating Pentagon; hanging Coin Lamps made of US currency; a suite of black wind chimes; and a black Yoga Brick Wall. The show will also include a new work called Empire (Eclipse), a slide show of photos taken by tourists on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

Folk Jam, a sculptural research project produced in collaboration with American and Ecuadorian craftsmen, was the centerpiece of Thomson’s recent exhibition at the Cuenca Bienal in Cuenca, Ecuador. Taking as its point of departure the mid-19th century ceramic whiskey jug favored by Southern jug bands and the pre-Incan ceramic botella-silbato (whistle-bottle) of Ecuador, Folk Jam is an investigation into what comprises, what fuels, and what explodes ‘folk’ culture, spinning an associative web that incorporates religion, music, advertising, and schizophrenia.

Mungo Thomson has recently participated in group exhibitions at Sculpture Center and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York City, Jack Hanley Gallery in San Francisco, and at Studio Voltaire in London. In April 2004, Thomson represented The United States at the 8th Bienal Internacional de Cuenca in Cuenca, Ecuador. In November, Thomson will have a solo Centric Series exhibition at University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach. His work can also be seen this fall in the 2004 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art, in the exhibition 100 Artists See God at Laguna Art Museum, and at 2048km at OR Gallery in Vancouver.