Fact and Fiction

Anthony Gallery is pleased to present new work by multidisciplinary artist Michael C. Thorpe at the 2024 edition of EXPO Chicago. Fact and Fiction furthers Thorpe’s exploration of quilting as a painterly medium, utilizing both photographic and textile processing to craft composite artworks that blur the lines between reality and imagination.

This series begins with reference photographs printed onto canvas. Consisting of cluttered countertops, quiet basements, and living room corners, these reference images are rooted in the everyday. Thorpe bears witness to the inner workings of his perception by interrupting photoreal veneers with invented textile compositions. Sketching with his sewing machine, he fuses the plain with the technicolor, collaging his quilted forms onto canvas, curating a variety of whimsical patchwork tableaux.

Guided by his creative intuition and unhindered by aesthetic pretenses—in his own words, first thought, best thought—Thorpe uses automatism to scaffold geometric scenes bursting with color and narrative possibility. It is in establishing these parameters that he is able to breathe life into the most mundane of spaces. Fact and Fiction’s unfailing positivity and generous spirit are contagious, transforming our everyday world into one brimming with possibility.

Fact and Fiction welcomes Thorpe back for his second solo presentation, preceded by his participation in 2023’s Flying on a Moving Mountain, and the group exhibition GUMBO. The exhibition is on view at EXPO Chicago, Booth 231, from April 11th to April 14th, 2024.