Cloaked #13

To purchase this item framed, please add both the print and the framing option from the drop down menu. The artist has chosen custom hand built Black Ash Floating Frames for the series Cloaked. With this option, the print comes face mounted behind Museum Grade non-glare 1/8" Plexi, with a backing of 3/16" plexi. The frame face measures 1/2" by 2" deep with the art floating 3/8" from the frame edge, creating a clean look that focuses on the art yet finishes and protects the piece. The frame adds 7/8” to each side of the piece. Please feel free to email the studio with any questions.

A pale white figure appears before us, trapped under a textured black surface. At an intersection of performance and photography, Thomas Card embraces the tension between eroticism and modesty, as stoic serene feminine forms take on vulnerable poses.

 

A continuation of Card’s monumentally scaled prints, in conjunction with his use of shooting with an 8x10 view camera onto large chrome transparencies, his series “Cloaked” becomes a constant juxtaposition between mystery and revealing hidden truths. The oversized nature allows for the intricacies of the human form and its inherent power to emerge from the darkness, simultaneously being laid bare and concealed.

 

The dichotomous nature of femininity and womanhood is central to “Cloaked”. A balance of power and subjugation that runs through the lineages of history, art, and society as a whole takes on a visual form in Card’s figures. From the reverence of a fertility goddess to the modern plight for women’s equality, the female form stands as a debated symbol. Embracing the sexualized nature of femininity, Card conceals the identity and covers her form, and yet, all the subtleties of the body still reveal themselves.

 

Card challenges contemporary discourse as he invites us on a provocative examination of how one responds when confronted with this overt display of sexuality. Are we stunned, terrified, or even inspired when confronted by the mystery and power of the complexities of femininity?

Thomas C. Card is an American artist based in New York. Card has always seen the world through the lens of art, questioning how to elevate the most simple and mundane aspects of life into their most aspirational state. And similarly, how to make the most fanciful and whimsical elements communicate their most profound meaning. Underlying Card’s work you will find mathematical formulas and symbolism that draw on scientific theories and art history alike.

 

Born in Johnson City, Tennessee and raised in Decatur, Illinois, Card rose out of the rough and tumble industrial environment through his achievements in art. Card’s work gained national attention even before graduating from high school, landing him a scholarship to the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Within a short time after graduation, Card had already developed a reputation as a master printer working for top photographers in New York City. By the age of 23, his own work was published in international magazines.

 

Card’s large-scale landscape photographic collages, entitled “Alone Together,” form the central focus of his most theoretical work. With this work, Card uses the single image as a mark playing with repetition, sequencing, context, and tonal values to create complex layers of coded meaning. By repeating the print images in collage form, the role of the singular image changes, no longer solely functioning as an isolated representation but rather a part of a larger meaning. The image continues to convey a singular meaning, but enhanced by a contextual meaning, further enhanced through sequencing and finally through repetition. The form and pattern emerge with balance and assigned values, all referencing historical norms, while playing with new context and symbols.

 

Card’s first book and multi-media show, “Tokyo Adorned,” explores the expression of individuality and self through intimate studio portraits of Tokyo’s fashion tribe members. Work from this sold-out book has been seen in multiple shows across the country. Tokyo Adorned received high praise from major media outlets, and Card was interviewed repeatedly regarding his process and experiences surrounding the book and the show.

 

Card has been featured in numerous international publications including American, German and French Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, the London Sunday Times, Vogue Gioiello and the New York Times Magazine. His sense of beauty, wit, and whimsy permeates his style of storytelling and can been seen in his collaboration on numerous advertising campaigns including Gucci, Ferragamo, Issey Miyake, Baume & Mercier, Marc Jacobs, Apple and more.