George Alexander Thompson – ‘QUILTS’

07/07/25 till 16/07/25

George Alexander Thompson (b.1987) is a multidisciplinary artist based in London. His practice is rooted in drawing, print, textile and at times installation.

Moving to London in 2006 to pursue his artistic career, Thompson studied Sculpture at Central Saint Martins and Fine Art & History of Art at Goldsmiths (2010). Since then, he has built a career as an influential creative practitioner in the cultural fields of fine art, TV and theatre, and is an accomplished and sought after scenic painter, prop-builder, art director, costume and set designer, all of which inform his diverse and unique artistic style.

Thompson’s work predominantly focuses on themes of collective power, togetherness, and his innate desire for people to be seen.

A prolific draftsman, he has produced a vast body of over 600 illustrated works. Originally inspired by the 1980s haute couture fashion illustrations of designers including John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood, his drawings have developed into a fusion of styles and collectively map a journey across fashion, figuration and abstraction. Line-drawn figures adorned with jewellery are tightly packed and repeated across the page, to create rainbow glazed crowds of faces.

Smaller scale drawings inform Thompson’s printmaking practice across large surface pattern designs, wall murals, commissioned design pieces and wearable art.

Since 2023 Thompson has focused on quilting, a self-taught discipline which he has adopted to examine themes of community and continuity as a method of discipline and inner peace. Describing his approach as ‘heritage craft reimagined’, he has since made over 20 quilts. Found materials are cut and sewn into layers of tessellating patterns, fabrics are dyed with indigo and natural pigment including tumeric, tea and saffron, and dried in the artist’s studio in South London. Hours are spent weaving literally thousands of threads across each fabric plane, and words of humour and raw empathy are carved signalling self expression, queer culture, collective resistance and peaceful protest.

QUILTS showcases a selection of Thompson’s recent textile works. The exhibition incorporates found and personal objects relating to the process of making each object, and the work surrounding the artists’ life outside of the studio.

George Alexander Thompson has collaborated with a wide range of practitioners. Notable projects include an illustrated LP cover design for Calista Kazuko’s Empress Album; Illustration collaboration with Textile Design Museum in celebration of the exhibition ‘Zandra Rhodes: 50 years in fashion’, and the sculptural theatrical backdrops for East London Shakespeare Festival since their inception.

Róisín McQueirns, Francis Arts & Culture Mangement.

Private View:

Saturday the 12th of July at 6pm