The Devil and His Blues: James Son Ford Thomas
June 9, 2015 – August 7, 2015
80WSE Gallery, NYU Steinhardt
80 Washington Square East
Manhattan
Celebrated as a major figure in the evolution of the Mississippi Delta style of blues music, James ‘Son Ford’ Thomas’s songs chronicled rural life in Leland, Mississippi. Thomas’s uncle, who taught him to play music beginning at a young age, simultaneously taught him to sculpt. Thomas’s output in both creative practices now exist as a life-long autobiographical narrative, connecting mortality, community, and the culture of the region in which he lived.
Taking its title from cultural historian William Ferris’s seminal text on James ‘Son Ford’ Thomas’s work, the exhibition will include 100 unfired clay objects and will be the first institutional solo presentation of Thomas’s sculpture to take place since the artist’s death in 1993.
For more information about the exhibition, please contact the gallery at 212-998-5751 or email 80wsefrontdesk@nyu.edu. 80WSE Gallery is located at 80 Washington Square East, between West 4th Street and Washington Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10:30AM-6PM.