Thomas J Price

I have a confession to make - I don’t really understand art! I studied languages at school, but the more you learn languages you realise that you’re really only learning the basics to get by - how to ask for directions, how to order a beer at a restaurant! That’s how I feel about art- my understanding feels very surface level. But the right person will open up your understanding to see things in a new way. Thomas J Price did just that as he walked me through his practice.

A multi-disciplinary artist Thomas works across the mediums of sculpture, film, photography and performance. He studied at Chelsea College and received an MA from the Royal College of Arts in 2006. His work is ‘a wider exploration of racial and social identity, perception and representation’.

There’s a deliberateness, a decisiveness about Thomas’ work - but it’s in the ordinary his figures don’t stand boldly, they’re not muscular with their chests out in a heroic stance, no, they have their hands in their pockets, or they’re playing with their phone, they may even be slouching, their expressions are blank. But here’s the thing, it’s the monumentalising of the ordinary that critiques what we consider important, what we consider valuable, what we give public space to.

We talk about his journey into the arts, from a potential career in the Royal Marines to artist, notions of identity, of black male identity and taking space unapologetically. We talk about removing or replacing racially charged public monuments. How does art speak to culture, how does art challenge, why does it challenge? And of course, we talk about music.

Guest: Thomas J Price

Title: Thomas J Price - Critiquing the monumental

Website: http://www.thomasjprice.com/

IG: @thomasjprice_

Twitter: @TJPStudio

Album on playlist: Abdullah Ibrahim, Senzo

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