Reared among some of the more exotic strains of American imagination that exist in Northwest Florida, Lex Thompson’s work focuses on manifestations of hope, failure, and irony in the American landscape. He was trained as a historian at New College of Florida, and continued his education at Yale University where he obtained a Masters of Religion with a concentration in Visual Arts. Lex continued his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography. He is about to begin a position as Visiting Artist in Photography at Interlochen Arts Academy. His work has been shown recently at Boxspace in Miami, at the Diego Rivera Gallery and at Southern Exposure in San Francisco.

All Our Pleasant Places is a series of color photographs of ruinous landscapes, amusement parks, museums, zoos, and private homes that explore the American myth of Manifest Destiny and its seemingly endless horizon of optimism and possibility. The images depict the construction of fantasy and desire in our landscape, offering a return to the innocence of the Garden, but revealing the frailty of the hopes we bring to the world. These images are a selection from this larger body of work. They highlight aspects of dominion and display in our relationship to the world around us – trophies made when conquering the wilderness and the landscapes constructed to fuel that impulse.

www.lexthompson.com