About “Real Pizza”
David K. Thompson continues his exploration of the "reading" of city life, returning to a theme initially examined in his 2005 Schomburg Gallery exhibition, "Tattoo: Text and the City." In his new screenprints, he examines a wide range of urban texts in their often incongruous settings. A "NO SMOKING" instruction boldly dominates a Mississippi River warehouse demolished by Hurricane Katrina. An aging wall advertisement for a traditional drink fades behind an abandoned police barrier in New Orleans. A parking lot and a theater in Manhattan are overwhelmed by exuberant graffiti. A solitary automobile logo speaks in a Parisian street. Proud small businesses in New York and San Francisco offer their products and services to the passing public. And a movie house beckons in South Pasadena. In all these cases, the written (or printed, or lit-up, or scrawled, or spray-painted, or scratched, or sewn, or carved, or molded in plastic or metal) word forms an integral part of the daily experience of urban existence.

Technically, the prints in the current show reflect a range of emotional and esthetic approaches. In some cases, intense color draws out the drama of a particular "reading." In a number of his most recent prints, Mr. Thompson has moved toward a more nearly Photorealist style, which allows the texts to speak in their modest, quotidian voices. These prints are characterized by exceptionally detailed color palettes: some incorporate more than 60 colors, involving the use of as many as 120 hand-cut stencils. (Editions are generally no larger than 10 to 12.)

"To my mind," says Mr. Thompson, "these prints are most successful when they capture an image of text conveying emotions inherent in urban civilization -- the pride of a store owner, the passion of a graffiti artist, the attempted seduction of an advertisement, the expression of authority, the reassurance of the familiar. And the joy of the series is exploring the literally countless ways in which words and symbols underpin our lives on the street."