Hedone
Lyons Wier Gallery is pleased to present “Hedone”, an exhibition of recent work by Austin, Texas artist Terri Thomas. An investigation of the taboo, Thomas’ manipulated self-portraits and Swarovski crystal encrusted object-trophies explore the motivations and contradictions of physical and material desire. Playful, precisely rendered, laden with sexual implications and symbolism, the work in Hedone combines frivolity, fantasy, escapism and pleasure with paradox, self-analysis, media-influence and artifice.
Thomas uses the theme of Hedone, the Greek word for “pleasure” or “delight,” to question how we might, as a media driven culture, individually pursue pleasure. Today, Hedone, the root word of “hedonism”, usually implies a short sightedness and disregard for future consequences. The Ancient Greeks’ notion of pleasure was divided. Some believed the highest pleasure was tranquility and could be reached through an ascetic, intellectual philosophy. Others believed that bodily gratifications were the supreme good and they lauded immediate gratification without regard to long-term gain. Through the narrative of Hedone, Thomas explores the origins of our desires through wildness, freedom, beauty and power. Her work is crafted with a glaring precision that often illuminates the irony of these ideas as much as it supports them in their role as things to be desired.
“Thomas’ paintings and sculptures are simultaneously appealing and appalling, and mesmerize viewers who feel a little embarrassed for looking so closely at images similar to those more conventionally viewed in private. But Thomas is not embarrassed and frankly reveals herself and in doing so, unveils things about the society in which we live and the secret life of the individual in the context of the cognitive dissonance produced by normative expectations.” – Joseph Bravo, art critic, San Antonio, TX.
Terri Thomas received her BFA from the Corocoran College of Art & Design in Washington D.C. Her work is currently included in the exhibition, Reflected Gaze at the Torrance Art Museum, L.A. Hedone is Terri Thomas’ first solo exhibition in New York