Thomas Gleaner
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BIO
Thomas Gleaner (b. 1969, Mount Airy, NC) received a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He obtained his MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in 2020 and received a 2020 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Gleaner’s paintings and sculptures strive to illustrate the complexities of balancing one’s own personal welfare in the throes of an increasingly chaotic, information-saturated world. Known as the Refrain series, these works incorporate entangled transcriptions of popular axioms and idioms. In this instance, the term “refrain” implies a double meaning: an oft-repeated expression (like words of wisdom or a mantra) or to prohibit oneself from doing something.
Painted or fabricated in materials such as hand-cut textiles and mirrored stainless steel, words from classic works of literature, philosophy, and his own writings descend down canvases and walls like cascading vines. Syntaxes are destabilized, rendering the quoted refrains illegible so as to undermine any value or perspective they may have to offer. While the knotted calligraphic forms acknowledge the pernicious presence of cognitive discord, they also seek to illuminate a sense of harmony within the dissonance.
Gleaner’s commissioned works have been featured at the North Carolina Museum of Art, The Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, and The Mint Museum. His works are held in numerous private and public collections including the Cameron Art Museum, Davidson College, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He is a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship and was honored in 2015 with UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award.