Tom Duncan’s love for sculpture began at age 4 when he was given a clay set by his aunt. Born in Scotland in 1939 just before World War II broke out, he moved with his mother and brother to New York City shortly after the war ended. Much of Duncan’s artwork reflects memories of his childhood during the war. He is an original tenant at Westbeth, where his three daughters, Rachel, Gwynne, and Jane, grew up. In his Westbeth studio, he has created mixed media pieces like Dedicated to Coney Island and Portrait of Tom with a Migraine Headache, each of which took some twenty-five years to complete.
Born 1939, Shotts, Scotland
Lives and works in New York
EDUCATION
1964
Art Students League of New York, New York, NY
National Academy of Design School of Fine Art, New York, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
Tom Duncan: ...It Isn't Even Past, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2014
Tom Duncan: Portrait of Tom with a Migraine Headache, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2013
Dedicated to Coney Island, The Armory Show, New York, NY
2008
In Search of Lost Time, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Tom Duncan, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2002
Tom Duncan: A Retrospective. The Art of War and Peace, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Five Nuns Get Undressed and Other Works, Genovese/Sullivan Gallery, Boston, IL
1998
All the World's a Stage, The Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
1996
G.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, NY
1992
G.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, NY
1987
Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1982
Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1980
Prince Street Gallery, New York
1978
Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1972
Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
“Super-Rough”, Outsider Art Fair, curated by Takashi Murakami, New York, NY
2019
Summer Exhibition: Recent Works, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2016
World Made By Hand, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2014
The Visionary Experience: Saint Francis to Finster, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
2013
Raw Vision: 25 Years of Art Brut, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France
2011
All Folked Up!, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2010
NeoIntegrity: Comics Edition, Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, New York, NY
2009
In Through the Out Door, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2008
The Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
Salon du Dessin Contemporain, Andrew Edlin Gallery, Paris, France
2006
Five Year Anniversary Show, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Holy H2O, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
2001
The Art of War and Peace, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
1999
Privacy, Projects United, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
1991
Art and the Law [traveling show], New Visions Gallery of Contemporary Art, Atlanta;
Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN; Kennedy Galleries, New York, NY
1988
Influences from the Untaught, Contemporary Drawings, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
AWARDS & HONORS
2001
Robert Rauschenberg Changes Inc. Grant
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Artists and Writers Grant
1996
Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Individual Artist Grant
BOOKS & CATALOGUES
2014
Tom Duncan: Portrait of Tom with a Migraine Headache. New York: Andrew Edlin Gallery.
1993
Art and the Law. St. Paul: West Publishing.
1991
Art and the Law. St. Paul: West Publishing.
1988
Influences from the Untaught: Contemporary Drawings. New York: The Drawing Center.
ARTICLES
2018
Stoller, Terry, "Interview with Tom Duncan." Westbeth Home of the Arts, October.
2014
Mobilio, Albert. "Memories Are Made of This: Tom Duncan's Constructed Past." Hyperallergic, June 7.
"Outsiders' Revenge." The Vernissage, May 16.
2007
Allison, Diane. “Sacred Childhood: Through the Eyes of Tom Duncan.” Raw Vision, 60, Autumn/Fall.
2003
Borum, Jennifer. “Tom Duncan: A Retrospective – The Art of War and Peace, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York.” Raw Vision, 42, Spring.
Kalb, Peter. “Tom Duncan: The Art of War and Peace, Andrew Edlin Gallery. Review.” Art in America, September.
2002
Maizels, John. “The Art of War and Peace at AVAM.” Raw Vision, 38, Spring.
1995
Pardee, Hearne. Art News, March.
Watkins, Eileen. Newark Star-Ledger, June.
1992
Borum, Jennifer. “Reviews: Tom Duncan: G.W. Einstein.” Artforum, Summer.
Ebony, David. “Tom Duncan at G.W. Einsteinm.” Art in America, June.
1988
Brenson, Michael. New York Times, November 4.
1986
Harrison, Helen. New York Times, July 27.
FILMOGRAPHY
2003
Tom Duncan: The Art of War and Peace. Dir. Dean Kemph. Commentary by Jennifer Borum and Michael Bonesteel.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Box Art Museum, Hoghem, Switzerland
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY