Following ‘30 under 30,’ BLINK success, Michael Thompson ’21 returns to Thomas More University’s Eva G. Farris Gallery

To say that Michael Thompson has had a busy year would be an understatement. From being honored by Forbes as one of Cincinnati’s top innovators under 30, to helping create a mural honoring the Hit King in just five days, to winning an underground art battle during BLINK – you could say that, in 2024, Michael Thompson is having a moment. We know he’s just getting started.

As Thompson returns to Thomas More University for his new exhibition, “Prologue to KINFOLKLORE,” running now through Dec. 6, 2024 at the Eva G. Farris Art Gallery, Moreover caught up with Thompson about what he’s been up to – and where he’ll be soaring to next.

Moreover: Michael, can you tell us a bit about “Prologue to KINFOLKLORE” and what visitors to the gallery can expect?

Thompson: I titled this show a prologue because it’s an intermediary between my last exhibition, “The Kool-Aid Wino,” which focused on nostalgia and memory, and my upcoming show, “KINFOLKLORE,” which will explore family stories, urban legends, and the importance of cultural understanding through storytelling. Both shows look at the ways that art preserves the human spirit, and I wanted this show to act as a bridge between the two.

This exhibit can almost be considered a double feature. It includes an even mixture of new and old works, re-curated in a new environment. The gallery has been transformed to allow you to experience part of my artistic evolution and act as a door to what is to come.

Moreover: Can you tell us more about what you’ve been up to lately?

Thompson: I started off the year with my most recent solo show, “The Kool-Aid Wino,” that I debuted at Studio San Giuseppe Gallery after a six-month residency at Mount St. Joseph University. I followed that up by spending my summer muraling in Walnut Hills, working on Art in Bloom [the annual spring fundraiser of the Cincinnati Art Museum], and serving as the curator for ArtsWave’s Truth and Innovation Showcase. The past few months have been filled with travel, commissions, public projects, collaborations, and making new work in Studio Beechmont, my collaborative studio shared with fellow artist, Jim Tucker. Some other notable highlights have been painting the Pete Rose “14 Forever Mural” and winning the Secret Walls art battle at BLINK, designing a special bourbon bottle for New Riff to support the arts in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, being honored by the Urban League Young Professionals, and being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in Cincinnati.

Moreover: Wow! What does it feel like to be returning to the Eva G. Farris Gallery at this point in your career?

Thompson: Back in 2020 when I was a rising senior, I remember spending the entire summer of the pandemic planning and preparing my senior exhibition, “Strange Fruit” with the hopes of convincing my professors that a college student was capable of pulling of a solo exhibition. Much to my delight, they granted my request. I also remember momentarily thinking, “What did I just get myself into?” and the year of work, late nights, and lots of assistance from my professors and peers to help me pull it off. 

Looking back on that show and that time, I hadn’t really developed a style, habits, or artistic practice yet; I was just really passionate about my work and about telling stories I thought needed to be told. Now as a full-time artist (although I’m still developing and changing), I realize how integral that process was to forming the way that I currently work and think. Bringing multiple mediums into the same space to immerse the viewer, superimposing the historical with the imaginative, and thinking about the space that art holds within both the personal and societal landscapes. 

One morning the week before my senior exhibition, I was preparing gallery labels in the classroom where my professor, Liz Neal, was getting ready for class. We were talking about the show and how I was feeling about it, and discussing the nervousness and excitement of putting your ideas out into the world. At one point I said, “Who knows, maybe in 10 years I’ll have another show here when I’m a professional!” Three years later, I’m so grateful to be back in the gallery where I was first able to call myself an artist.

Not only does it mark my return to campus as a professional, but it also marks the first time I have shown my work in the same gallery twice. Re-curating a space that has previously held my work will be both an exciting challenge and a nostalgic moment. I can’t wait to see what the next three years will hold and I’m looking forward to continuing my relationship with Thomas More and the many people that made it so special for me for four years and everything that has unfolded thereafter. Go Saints!

The Eva G. Farris Gallery at Thomas More University is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Mondays – Fridays 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Sundays 2 p.m. – 8 p.m. It is located in the Benedictine Library and can be found on the campus map here.

Explore more of Michael Thompson’s work on Instagram @michaelthompsonstudios and at michaelthompsonstudios.com.