Ian Thomas on the Newtown ArtSeat
Artist biography
In a 20+ year career, Ian Thomas has staged 15 solo exhibitions and had works included in numerous group shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Working with mixed media, he produces vigorous, witty, rough-edged abstract works referencing music, film, travel and literature.
Ian's paintings are held in private and corporate collections in Australasia, Europe and the USA, having been purchased by such varied collectors as renowned fashion designer Colette Dinnigan and Melbourne's five star Grand Hyatt hotel. He is also a featured artist in the new Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Sydney.
Ian has been selected to show at The Other Art Fair on six occasions, both in Sydney and Melbourne and will show at the London Fair later this year.
He was nominated in Vogue Living as one of five talents to watch at the latest Melbourne fair and has been chosen as a feature artist by the Chief Curator at Saatchi Art. Ian’s work has appeared in many publications including GQ, Home Beautiful, Real Living and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Artforms used
Mixed media paintings, collage and assemblage. ‘All the Things We Never Talked About’ consists of nearly 400 postcard sized boards in a tiled format that have been photographed and digitally manipulated for installation into the lightbox at Newtown ArtSeat by John McRae.
‘All the Things We Never Talked About’ on the Newtown ArtSeat
‘All the Things We Never Talked About’ explores a reimagined gay adolescence of freedom, nostalgia and ceremony. With this work, I’ve tried to reconnect with my sixteen year old psyche and create a safe space where I can finally acknowledge all my teenage crushes, my hopes and dreams and innermost thoughts - the kinds of things I may have stuck on my bedroom wall if I wasn’t desperately trying to hide the fact that I was a queer kid.
What I didn’t know way back then is that life is a good time when you come out and celebrate who you really are and this work is my opportunity to shout that from the street – just in time for Mardi Gras.
You can view Ian's work on the Newtown ArSeat from: Newtown ArtSeat from February 6 2019 until 2 April or at
The Other Art Fair 14-17 March 2019, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh.
Website and social media links
Website: WWW.IANTHOMASART.COM.AU
Social media: @IANTHOMASART on instagram