BIOGRAPHY
Kim Schmitt Thomas was born in 1970 in the Hell’s Kitchen area of NYC to two young actors, then later raised in nearby Bergen County, NJ, where she currently works and resides with her 8 year old twin girls, Dylan and Layla. Her early childhood was often spent drawing caricatures of flamboyant dancers and actors in theatre wings and dressing rooms, after being inspired by an Al Hirschfeld drawing of her mom, Lee Meredith, in The Sunshine Boys. She also spent many afternoons studying graffiti covered billboards on the streets of NYC while bar hopping for Shirley Temples with her babysitter, a retired longshoreman named Pat Flannery. Those colorful early years, along with her own extensive training in dance, acting, and illustration have had a great influence on the strong and dynamic line quality and use of vibrant color displayed throughout her work. Whether she is painting abstracts, or twisted and intertwined figures and faces, Kim’s work celebrates everyday life with all its twists and turns, ups and downs, joy and pain.
In the late 80s, Kim majored in Illustration at the University of Bridgeport, and then Montclair State University, but she will admit that her best education as an expressive painter came simply from a lifetime of self-reflection. Kim also attended the 2 year performing arts academy, The Neighborhood Playhouse, NYC, where she received rigorous training in acting and dance, while freelancing as an illustrator, designing program covers for small NYC theatre companies, as well as creating animated logos for the TV/film production company, Bert Stratford Productions. Kim also worked as an interior artist/muralist for many years, but since 2001, she has focused primarily on her studio work, which is her main passion. She is represented at CINQ Gallery in the Design District of Dallas, TX., Barsky Gallery in Hoboken, NJ, and The Art Collective in Rogers, AR. She also has a second studio at hOMe Store Hawthorne, NJ where she is employed as their in-house artist. Her work can also be found on artsy.net with Cinq Gallery. Kim’s paintings hang in both private and corporate collections across the country, and have been featured in The New York Times, Dallas Style & Design Magazine, The Bergen Record, and (201) Magazine.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
While stylistically influenced by graffiti, torn layers of city billboards, old building walls, I float between allowing a painting to organically determine its own direction and expression, and deliberately choosing subject matters that range from personal to controversial, painful to provocative, ironic to bizarre. I always have a very strong connection to the stories and subjects that I paint, whether they’re taken from the everyday lives of others, or from my own. Because the “everyday” is something that often gets overlooked or seen with indifference, I fill my paintings with controlled commotion and simplified exaggeration in order to grab the viewer’s attention and cause them to really observe, decipher, and hopefully see these everyday happenings from a new perspective.
With the use of latex, spray paint, pastels, pencils, crayons, joint compound and sometimes newspaper/magazines, I overlap and intertwine lines, figures, faces, shapes, text and objects. By doing this, I feel I have almost unlimited space within the confinement of the four walls of the canvas. My work is often filled with action and chaos, while still maintaining a certain balance and control, much like life itself.
RESUME
Born 1970, NYC, NY. Raised and currently resides in NJ.
EDUCATION
1988-89, University of Bridgeport, Illustration Major
1989-90, Montclair State University, Fine Arts Major
1990-92, The Neighborhood Playhouse, full-time performing arts conservatory, NYC
18 years of training in dance, 5 years of training in acting/theatre. Appeared in independent and student films, commercials, NYC
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
CINQ Gallery, Dallas Design District, Texas (2017- present) / artsy.net
Barsky Gallery, Hoboken, NJ (2021-present)
The Art Collective, Rogers, Arkansas (2020-present)
hOMe Store, Hawthorne, NJ- In-House Studio Artist (2021-present)
WALL Gallery, Dallas, Texas (2016-closing 2017)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019- Gallery at HACPAC, Without Adult Supervision (2 person- solo painter with sculptor), Hackensack, NJ
2017- CINQ Gallery, KIM WUZ HERE!, May 13- June 18, Dallas, Texas
2016- Intermezzo Gallery, Truth or Dare, Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ
2016- Gallery 691, Wyckoff, NJ
2006- The Park Avenue Club, Florham Park, NJ
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020-21 On-Going exhibition at The Art Collective, AR
2020- Virtual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, NJ- 2nd Place winner mixed media
2019- CINQ Gallery, Iris, Represented Artists Exhibition, Dallas, TX
2019- CINQ Gallery, Surface, Represented Artists Exhibition, Dallas, TX
2018- MAD Gallery, NYC pop-up exhibition, Chelsea, NYC
2018-CINQ Gallery, Coil and Catch, Represented Artists Exhibition, Dallas, TX
2018-CINQ Gallery, Legend, Represented Artists Exhibition, Dallas, TX
2018- Studio Montclair Galleries, State of the Art 2018, Montclair, NJ
2017- CINQ Gallery, Ember and Smoke, End of Year Gallery Artists' Group Show, Dallas, TX
2017- CINQ Gallery, Autumnation, Gallery Artists Fall Exhibition, Dallas, TX
2017- CINQ Gallery, Gallery Artists' Summer Show, Dallas, TX
2017- Pierro Gallery, Text Me, South Orange, NJ
2017- Studio Montclair Galleries, Members Exhibition, Montclair, NJ.
2016- Bergen County Winners' Exhibition, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Hackensack, NJ
2016- 52nd Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ- 3rd Place Winner in Mixed Media
2016- CAT Walk Arts Festival, Hackensack, NJ
2016- ART SLOPE Art Fair, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY.
2016- Studio Montclair Galleries@Academy Square, Back Story Exhibit, Montclair, NJ
2015- Studio Montclair's 18th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Viewpoints 2015, at Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
2015- 51st Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ
2014- 50th Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ
2013- 49th Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ (1st place mixed media winner)
2013- Bergen County Winners' Exhibition, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Hackensack, NJ
AWARDS, PUBLICATIONS, PRESS
2020- 2nd Place Winner Mixed Media, Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Virtual Show
2020- THE BERGEN RECORD, featured artist interview/photos, NJ
2020- (201) Magazine, photo of Franklin Lakes commission, Instagram re-post/backstory, August edition
2020- The Bergen Record, northern NJ newspaper, full page interview with photos, front page of Life Section, 3/23/20
2020- (201) Magazine, Bergen County monthly magazine, featured artist in February Arts Edition, interview with 3 pages of photos.
2018- Boston Voyager Magazine, interview 7/2/18 publication (please see Press/Gallery Pix for link to full article and photos)
2018- New York Magazine/The CUT, write-up for MAD Gallery NYC group exhibition in Chelsea
2017/18- DALLAS STYLE & DESIGN MAGAZINE, Winter Edition, photo of Chasing Rays used for CINQ Gallery.
2017- DALLAS STYLE & DESIGN MAGAZINE, Fall Edition, photo of Chasing Rays used for CINQ Gallery ad.
2017- DALLAS STYLE & DESIGN MAGAZINE, Summer Edition, photo of KIM WUZ HERE! used for CINQ Gallery ad.
2017- DALLAS STYLE & DESIGN MAGAZINE, Spring Edition, full page ad using Bell Bottom Blues for KIM WUZ HERE solo exhibition at WALL Gallery, Dallas, TX.
2016- 3rd Place Winner in Mixed Media, 52nd Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ; awarded by the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs
2016- THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sunday, August 14, METRO/ARTS/NJ section, published photo of THE BODYSNATCHER, publicizing solo exhibition, TRUTH OR DARE, at BERGEN PAC, Englewood, NJ.
2016- THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sunday May 22, METRO/ARTS/NJ section, published photo/info of THE BODY SHOP on display at Studio Montclair Gallery, Montclair, NJ.
2016-THE DAILY VOICE, interview, article and photo by Miriam Davenport, publicizing solo exhibition, TRUTH OR DARE, at BERGEN PAC, Englewood, NJ.
2016- BEST OF NJ. COM, photo of TWISTER, publicizing solo exhibition, TRUTH OR DARE, at BERGEN PAC, Englewood, NJ
2016- BROADWAY WORLD. COM, published photo of PAPER DOLLS, Biography and Artist's Statement, publicizing solo exhibition, TRUTH OR DARE, at BERGEN PAC, Englewood, NJ
2016- TIMES SQUARE GOSSIP. COM, published photo of THE RACE, Biography and Artist's Statement, publicizing solo exhibition, TRUTH OR DARE, at BERGEN PAC, Englewood, NJ.
2013- First Place Winner Award of Mixed Media, 49th Annual Bergen County Art in the Park Juried Show, Paramus, NJ; awarded by the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs
PUBLIC/CORPORATE WORKS
Firefly Modeling Agency, Los Angeles, California/Dallas, Texas
Savoy Associates, Florham Park, New Jersey
Summit Hills Florist, Summit, New Jersey
Nouveau Sushi Restaurant, Montclair, New Jersey
Bert Stratford Productions, NYC, New York