Margaret R. Thompson is a painter living and working in northern New Mexico. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in International Studies and Visual Arts at Eckerd College with a concentration in Latin American studies. Filtering reality through her own mythology, she combines responses to books and music, explorations of personal rituals and symbols, and a reverence to the natural world into small to large narrative paintings. Each piece is a tapestry of observations from the artist’s daily life that she weaves into a story, inviting viewers to find their own tales within. Working closely to the Earth in the desert and often painting outside, Margaret infuses her oil paintings with wax, sand, soil, mica, ash, spices, and plant oils to radiate the essence of the land. The raw materials she collects and rubs into her paintings are an integral part of narratives that celebrate magic, wildness and environmental intimacy. Margaret’s paintings of figures, animals, moons, candlelight and shrines flow from her own expeditions and research in recurring symbols and archetypes throughout human history. She is seeking to communicate a universal language in her paintings that anyone can drop into and find themselves within. Humans fly. Horses dance. The sun is a monastic observer of the land. Shelters appear in wild boroughs inviting the viewer to find themselves at home within. Shells, fruits, desert flowers, wild reeds, and matches litter the ground. Shrines erupt with water, plants, and energy.
Each painting is both a joy and meditation on the possibilities of our shared existence. Margaret’s works beckon viewers in, encouraging curiosity and connectedness. They open doors to seeing what is behind the obvious, what could be in a world where mystery and awe are sacred.
Her paintings have been exhibited in London and Edinburgh, UK, Athens, Greece, Tel Aviv, Israel, Montreal, Canada, Mexico City, and New York, California, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee in the USA with forthcoming shows in Nashville, London, Bruton, Mexico and Spain.
C.V.
margaret-thompson.com
margaretthompsonstudio@gmail.com
1990 Born in Washington D.C.
Lives and works in the Lone Butte region of northern New Mexico
EDUCATION
2012 — B.A., International Studies and Visual Arts, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
2024
Solo Exhibition following Solo Residency, Bruton, England with Arusha Gallery, forthcoming September 2024
Contemporary Art Now (CAN) with Arusha Gallery, Ibiza, Spain, forthcoming June 2024
Dante’s Paradiso, Unit London, forthcoming September 2024
I Follow The Moon as a Fellow Traveler, Lamb Gallery, London, UK, forthcoming May 2024
Charlotte Keates, Frida Wannerberger and Margaret R Thompson, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
NYC Crit Club Canopy Program Group Exhibition, Studio 9D, New York City
Zonamaco with Red Arrow Gallery, International Contemporary Art Far in Mexico City, MX
2023
The Collective, Visionary Projects at the High Line Nine, New York City
The Moon Belongs to Everyone, Smoke The Moon, Santa Fe, NM
A Closed Door, A Den, Arusha Gallery, Bruton, England
Art Athina with Arusha Gallery, International Contemporary Art Fair of Athens, Greece
Seven Surfaces, Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville, TN
Portal, Arusha Gallery, London, UK
Reverdie, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 2023
Eidolon, Tyger Tyger Gallery, Asheville, NC
Secret Gardens, Wilder Gallery, London, UK
Hawthorn and the Feast of Julian, Arusha Gallery at the High Line Nine, New York City
Plural (Papier) Contemporary Art Fair, Duran Mashaal Gallery, Montreal, Canada
Soft, Smoke The Moon, Santa Fe, NM
Homecoming, Gallery II, Private Curation Sharon Golan Art Projects, Tel Aviv, Israel
Divination, Clown School Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2022
Golden Hour, My Pet Ram, Santa Barbara, CA
Regalos, Hecho Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Experimental Art Fest, Artist Abbey, Truth or Consequences, NM
Conversations in Color, Pilgrim’s Contemporary, London, UK
Out of the House, Concept Animals, Austin, TX
Taos Abstract Artist Collective Inaugural Exhibition, Stables Gallery, Taos Center for the Arts, Taos, NM
What’s In The Basket?, Betterday x Abstract Picnic, Santa Fe, NM
Garden Universal, False Cast Gallery, San Diego, CA
Brilliant Universe, The Poetry Yard, Santa Fe, NM
Liminal Realms, Title Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Circuits, Currents New Media Festival 2022, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
Flower Shop, Smoke The Moon Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Open Screen: 17 Wildly Eclectic Short Films & Videos, No Name Cinema, Santa Fe, NM
COP26 Collection Exhibition, Seattle NFT Museum, Seattle, WA
2021
Digital Art for Climate Change, COP26 Gallery, United Nations Climate Change Summit, Glasgow, Scotland
Wonders, BONFIRE Artists In Residence Gallery, Valencia, Spain
World of Co Group Exhibition, World of Co. Artists in Residence Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020
Figure It Out, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, California
In The House, Concept Animals, Austin, Texas
2019
Ephemera, San Francisco Friends Atrium Gallery, San Francisco, California
Blue Day Giddy-Up, Freeverbs Collective, Austin, Texas
Jackknife Artists in Residence Exhibition, Jackknife Studios, Oakland, California
2017
Artists in Residence Group Exhibition, Baltimore County Arts Guild, Baltimore, Maryland
COLLECTIONS
De Woody Collection, New York, USA
Arusha Collection, Edinburgh, UK
Sealy Collection, Alabama, USA
RESIDENCIES + PROGRAMS
2023 — The Canopy Program, Spring Mentorship Intensive, NYC Crit Club, Brooklyn, New York
2022 — NYC Crit Club Visiting Critic Program, Brooklyn, New York
2021 — Bonfire Artist Residency, Valencia, Spain, World of Co Artist Residency, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 — Jackknife Studios Artist in Residence, Oakland, California
2017 — Baltimore County Arts Guild Artist in Residence, Baltimore, Maryland
PRESS + PUBLICATIONS
2023
Five Artists On Our Radar, Artsy Editorial, June 2023
Reverdie | Arusha Gallery, Exhibition Essay by Rosalind Jana, July 2023
Favorite New Works by Emerging Artists: “In The Silent Country Where The Solitary Mind Exists” by Margaret R Thompson, Artsy, June 2023
EIDOLON an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Margaret Thompson + Jacqueline Shatz, Press Release by Curator Mira Girard, Tyger Tyger Gallery, Asheville, NC, June 2023
Hawthorn and the Feast of Julian in conversation with Vicky Mackenzie, Arusha Gallery, May 2023
2022
Margaret Thompson, Featured Contemporary Artist, ArtMaze Magazine Issue 27, London, UK
2021
Artist Feature: Margaret Thompson, Chromeart Magazine, Berlin, Germany, Digital Chroma Agency
Margaret Thompson, Fascinating Work by a Santa Fe Artist, Miriam Sagan, Santa Fe, NM, Miriam’s Well
PAINTING FEATURES
“In the Secret Country where the Solitary Mind Exists” Artsy feature, June 2023
“In the Meadow Where The Creek Used to Rise” Artsy feature, June 2023
“Night Vigil” Art Maze Mag feature, June 2023
“Conjuring Spring and Heart Medicine” ArtX Official with Everette Taylor, June 2023
“The Sound of Wind Instruments” Hopper Prize feature, May 2023
“In The Meadow Where The Creek Used to Rise” Art Maze Mag feature, January 2023
“Moon Gold” Art Maze Mag feature, November 2022
“Night Spell (Serpent, Love Flame)” Art Maze Mag feature, October 2022
Garden Series “Earth Garden” “Fire Garden” “Sky Garden” “Sea Garden” Art Maze Mag feature, September 2022
“Groundbreaking Two As One” Art Maze Mag feature, May 2022
“Seven Sisters” Art Maze Mag feature, April 2022
AWARDS + HONORS
2021
Finalist, DigitalArt4Climate Art Competition in conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I acknowledge and recognize Santa Fe as Oga Po’geh (white shell water place). The city where I live and work, and the land surrounding it, belong to the peoples of Northern and Southern Tewa (Tanos), Taytsúgeh Oweengeh (Tesuque Pueblo), Nambe Pueblo, Jicarilla Apache, Diné (Navajo), Cochiti, Taos, and Hopi Pueblos.