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Artist’s Bio Deborah Mills Thackrey was born on Route 66 in the Texas Panhandle town of Amarillo in 1953. Frequent childhood road trips throughout the Southwest with its dramatic sunsets, neon signs, roadside snake shows, and desert national parks impacted her visual style. At the age of 20 she joined the migration of youth to San Francisco to seek a more progressive and art-friendly environment. Her passion for photography was inspired in childhood by photojournalists covering the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War. She worked as a photographer for her junior high and high school yearbooks, and took many photo classes in college to get darkroom time. As a career Thackrey became an art director working at companies such as Apple directing top commercial photographers. Around the year 2000, she picked up a camera after a long absence from shooting. Thackrey and her husband, photographer Tom Thackrey, began spending time in the historic Carmel, CA photography community. They got to know and worked with the families of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Wynn & Edna Bullock. After her first group show in Monterey she was offered a solo show. Many shows and a few years later she won a coveted Fellowship from the Arts Counsel of Silicon Valley which led to her first museum show. It has been said of her work that she sees things overlooked by most people; standing near a much photographed tourist’s vista of the Seattle skyline, she shot her first compelling series of abstract reflections on the Lake Union surface. After 40 years in Northern CA she recently moved to upstate NY to better pursue her arts career. The streets of Manhattan offering her a return to the street photography that was her original inspiration. Corporate and Private Collections - Adobe Corporation (purchased 5 prints for their permanent collection) - Karen and Dan Pritzker, Marin County, CA (purchased 7 prints) - Atlantic Aviation (purchased 3 large prints) - Charlene and Dave Weiner, Woodstock, NY - Ollie Dwiggins (former costume designer for Edith Head), Carmel, CA - Actor Lance Guest & producer Danna Hyams, Los Angeles - Rick Kugler, San Francisco - Jim Kasson, Carmel, CA (head of the Board of Directors at the Center for Photographic Arts in Carmel) - Deb and Perry Goetz, San Jose - Craig and Andrea Firpo, San Francisco - Gary Blumsack, theatre producer, Los Angeles - Michael Spencer, Tucson, AZ (former photo instructor at RIT) - Luis Gutierrez, painter, Los Gatos, CA Bibliography 2008 - “Deborah Mills Thackrey is a visual artist who uses photography to move beyond its traditional borders.” Digital Giraffe - 7X7 Magazine, June. Published the photo”Visage Studio”. 2005 - Palo Alto Weekly, June. Cover photo. “Shapes of Things, a monochrome world thru the camera’s eye. - Willow Glen Resident, January. Feature story “Seeing the World Through Colored Lenses.” By Alicia Upano, Photograph by Vicki Thompson LINK: http://dmt-art.com/index.php?page=press 2011 Man As Object: Reversing the Gaze, Women’s Caucus for Art, SOMA Arts. Essay and photo published Media coverage 2014 ArtBridge NYC & Chronogram Magazine hosted a reception launching their second exhibition in Hudson Valley’s art hub, Kingston, NY featuring the work of local & emerging artists, Deborah Mills Thackrey is interviewed by TimeWarner cable. LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VefL3u1Kq7M Grants - Journeys, Winner of the 2009 Arts Council Silicon Valley Fellowship Grant for Photography. Included Thackrey’s first museum show in the Triton Museum’s atrium lobby, Sunnyvale, CA - Recipient of a 2009 Creative Entrepreneur Project Encouragement Grant, sponsored by the Center for Cultural Innovation, Los Angeles, CA Awards 2006 - Slide Slam, San Francisco Photo Alliance. Juror: Frish Brandt, director the Frankel Gallery. (Won a Holga Camera for receiving Honorable Mention). - Photo/Sculpture Show, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA. Juror: Helen Golden, First Place. Her comments "This imaginative and innovative photo stands out as both a personal and universal statement. The skillful composition works technically and the elements of color, line and pattern are in total harmony. The repeated and rhythmic curved forms create a mysterious mood and invite the viewer to ask questions about what is happening. It is a creative success because it manages to be emotionally satisfying at the same time that it is challenging and provocative. This is like the heartbeat of the image and that goes beyond technical competence as it gets to the essence of what a visual statement is about.” 2005 - Juried Group Show, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA. Juror Mark Citret. His comments "A really fine example of a photograph finding 'hidden messages' in the everyday world. A lyrical and clever photograph.” - AV Artfest at the Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA. Prizes: Merit Award "Glass Brick-Dream Landscape"and Merit Award "Almaden Fountain” 2004 - AV Artfest at the Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA. Prizes: Award of Excellence for "On the Road.” Merit Award for "Who Says Oil and Water Don't Mix” - Open Juried Show 2004. Los Gatos Museum of Art, Los Gatos, CA. Juror: Phil Linhares - Chief Curator, Oakland Museum of CA. Prize: 2nd Place. "On the Road #2". His comments: "Very capable piece, appealing use of color and very dynamic". Solo Exhibitions 2015 - Solo Show, The Storefront Gallery, Kingston, NY (upcoming, month of Sept. 2015) 2014 - Street Scenes, Trends, Kingston, NY 2011 - The Art of Abstraction, Axis Art Gallery, San Jose, CA 2008 - The Photography of Deborah Mills Thackrey. The Hayworth Art Space, Los Angeles, CA - New Works, Deborah Mills Thackrey. The Red Rock Art Space’s inaugural show, Mountain View, CA. 2006 - Reflections, Palo Alto Art League, Palo Alto, CA: Included a live performance art piece projecting Thackrey’s images onto dancers. Juror George Rivera, The Triton Museum’s comments: “Strong compositions and design, vibrancy of imagery”. 2005 - A Photographer’s View, The Hayworth Art Space, Los Angeles, CA 2002 - Abstraction, The Photography of Deborah Mills Thackrey. The Stefani Esta Gallery, Monterey, CA Public Art Commissions 2014 Lighthouses of the Mid-Hudson, from Manhattan’s ArtBridge, a 90 ft. banner over Kingston, New York’s Broadway rail bridge 2011 Luke Jerram’s Play Me I’m Yours, Zero1 Festival, San Jose, CA. Decorated a piano for the public to play in Santana Row. Group Exhibitions 2015 - 2015 International Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. Juror Douglas Marshall, director Peter Feterman Gallery 2014 - Honored Animal: The Hummingbird, Storefront Gallery, Kingston, NY - Spring Auction, ArtBridge / The Highline Loft, New York, NY - Art Along The Hudson Exhibit at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory Gallery - Honoring Women’s Rights, Steinbeck Museum, Salinas, CA 2013 - The Petroleum Paradox: For Better or Worse?, Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA, Juror: Eleanor Heartney, Contributing Editor to Art in America and Artpress. 2012 - The Petroleum Paradox: For Better or Worse?, Denise Bibro Fine Arts, Chelsea, NYC - Multiple shows, Axis Art Gallery, San Jose, CA - Statewide Photography Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, Juror: Brian Taylor - Momentum Leap, Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA - 2012 Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. Jurors: Brian Taylor and Bryan Yedinak, Modernbook Gallery - The Guerrilla Show, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2011 - Censorship: an Artist’s Dialog, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA, curated and chaired an artist’s talk on the subject - Man As Object: Reversing the Gaze, Women’s Caucus for Art, SOMA Arts. - The Guerrilla Show, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Valentine’s Show, Psycho Donuts, Campbell, CA - 2011 Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. Jurors Ted Orland, Huntington Witherill and Karen Sinsheimer (Santa Barbara Museum of Art, curator of photography) - Dollhouse, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juror: Jack Fisher of the Jack Fisher Gallery 2010 - Silicon Valley Artists’ Collaborative Annual Group Show, Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA - Multiple shows, Axis Art Gallery, San Jose, CA - Harmonic, corporate art show, Sunnyvale 2009 - Art in public spaces, Art@Axis, San Jose, CA - It Will Explode, Nohspace Theatre, San Francisco, CA. Projected my work onto Ishika Seth’s modern dancers as they improvised to my imagery. - Artist’s Studio Inventory Sale, Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA - Momentum, Silicon Valley Artists’ Collaborative Group Show, Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA - The Body Eclectic, The Hayworth Art Space, Los Angeles, CA. Showed my nudes with my husband Tom Thackrey’s in tandem with a rock opera about Linda Lovelace. 2008 - Annual Benefit Auction, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA - Current Events, Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA - Despatches, Bonnafont Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Art in Public Places, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 2007 - Duo, Borders. Sunnyvale, CA with Tom Thackrey - Saratoga Library paired with painter Michael Oliveri - Housewarming, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA. Exhibited video installation “Bobbi” - Figures - Human & Anatomical, Palo Alto Art League, Palo Alto, CA - Body of Works, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA - Invitational Exhibit & Benefit Auction, 1212 Gallery, Burlingame, CA. Showed both prints and a video installation - Inaugural Show, Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, CA. One of two featured artists in a new gallery space. 2006 - Group Photography Show, Synopsys Corp., Sunnyvale, CA - Body Parts; Anatomical Creations Both Graphic & Subtle, The Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Miniatures Show, Monterey Museum of Art - We Are Family, San Jose Museum of Art. San Jose, CA - Nature Made & Manmade, Synopsys Corp., Sunnyvale, CA - 36 Flavors, Keeble & Shuchat Gallery, Palo Alto, CA - Snap to Grid, LACDA Group Show, Los Angles Center for Digital Art - Captured Light, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA - Photo San Francisco expo, Pacific Art League booth. My photo “Kim Weston Washing His Skylight” was used in publicity for the event. - Group Show, Members of Pacific Art League and Society of Western Artists. Synopsys Corp., Sunnyvale, CA - Recent Works, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA - Texas Photographic Society’s 21st Annual Show, curator Richard Newman, Calumet Photo. Shows in San Francisco at the Calumet Photo Gallery and at FotoFest 2006 in Houston, TX 2005 - Blues Bash, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA - Slide Slam, San Francisco Photo Alliance - AV Artfest at the Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA 2004 - Miniatures Show, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA - Blues Bash, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA - Annual Auction, The Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA - AV Artfest at the Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA - Art of the Sun Gallery, group show, San Jose, CA - Open Juried Show 2004. Los Gatos Museum of Art, Los Gatos, CA 2003 - Miniatures Show, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA - National Pinhole Photography Day Exhibit 2002 - Annual Auction, The Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA - West End Celebration, Juried Show, Monterey, CA |
