The American artist, Tom Sanford, was born in New York in 1975 and spent his formative years in the United Kingdom. He has lived in Harlem since 1994. While generally considered a recluse, he has exhibited art work internationally over the course of the past two decades.
Anyone seeking evidence of the 21st century’s inherent degeneracy need look no further than the brain-squirtings of Tom Sanford. The artist fancies himself a chronicler of modern life—training his perverted eye on local neighborhood nobodies as well as pop-cultural icons and other artists more justifiably famous than he is, like Alex Katz or Nicole Eisenmann. What are we to make of these graceless grotesques? If the role of the artist is to hold a mirror up to society, then this mirror should make civilized people everywhere want to puke. Sanford’s rubbery faced avatars make me appreciate this past year of quarantine, when I could just hibernate in my apartment and forget the human pageant that New York City normally is. Maybe he loves this stuff—the thrill of encountering ‘a total character’ at one’s local ‘dive bar,’ say—but Sanford’s paintings mainly remind me of why it’s safer to stay indoors. -Scott Indrisek, former art magazine editor-in-chief, now a total sell-out working for an insurance startup
Over the course of a career spanning the 21st century, Sanford has exhibited in New York, London, Los Angeles, Rome, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Naples, Chicago, Madrid, Barcelona, Singapore, Tokyo and a few places you may not have heard of. While Sanford has rarely been photographed (the above picture of the artist at work in his studio being a notable exception). He does frequently depict himself, rather masterfully, in his work. Below are some examples of the artist likeness over the years. These pictures, while questionable with regards to fidelity, do give the public some idea of where this enigmatic genius’ head has been at over the course of his “career.”
CV (un) available upon request.
