Seized by Joy. Paintings 1965–1988.

Thomas Dane Gallery will present an exhibition of American artist Paul Thek (b. 1933, Brooklyn, New York, d. 1988, Manhattan, New York) curated by Kenny Schachter and Jonathan Anderson, featuring paintings, works on paper and previously unseen sketches and writings. Spanning three decades of the artist’s career, this will be the first exhibition of Thek’s work in the UK for over a decade, and the first in the UK to focus on the artist’s painting practice. Paul Thek sketched and painted throughout his life, portraying friends and loved ones, documenting his surroundings and giving form to conscious and unconscious thoughts...

Paul Thek ( b.1993, Brooklyn, New York) emerged in the 1960s as a radical voice in contemporary art, challenging conventional aesthetics with formally and psychologically complex works. He is best known for his ‘meat pieces’, hyper realistic wax sculptures of flesh, and his immersive environments, such as The Tomb (1967), which ex...

Paul Thek ( b.1993, Brooklyn, New York) emerged in the 1960s as a radical voice in contemporary art, challenging conventional aesthetics with formally and psychologically complex works. He is best known for his ‘meat pieces’, hyper realistic wax sculptures of flesh, and his immersive environments, such as The Tomb (1967), which explored themes of mortality, spirituality and the human condition. Thek’s work defies easy categorisation, blending elements of Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art while maintaining a deeply poetic and introspective quality. Institutional exhibitions include Paul Thek at MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland (2024); Paul Thek: Diver at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (2010–2011), travelling to the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh PA (2011), and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles CA (2011); Paul Thek: Works in the Context of Contemporary Art, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2007–2008), travelling to Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, Germany (2008), and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (2009). Thek’s work is held by institutions in the United States, England, Germany, France and The Netherlands.

Kenny Schachter is an artist, writer and lecturer. Schachter has written on Paul Thek for MIT Press, in addition to a book with Vito Acconci for Springer-Verlag. He has a regular column on Artnet News and co-authored The NFT Book, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2023. He contributes to various international publications including The Art Newspaper, New York Magazine and The Times Magazine in the UK. In 2023–2024, Schachter had a mid-career survey of his work at the Francisco Carolinum Museum in Linz, Austria, accompanied by a publication, and in 2018 a retrospective at Joel Mesler’s Rental Gallery, New York. He is represented by Nagel Draxler Gallery in Germany and Jupiter Gallery in New York.

Jonathan Anderson is a designer with a curatorial approach to fashion making and brand building, renowned for his innovative and modern interpretation of both womenswear and menswear. Born in Northern Ireland in 1984, Anderson launched his eponymous label, JW Anderson in 2008, quickly gaining critical acclaim and commercial success. In 2013, he was appointed Creative Director of LOEWE, which he turned into a cultural brand with a prismatic identity weaving a vibrant interest for craft with a cerebral yet playful approach to design. In 2016 he founded the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, the world’s first international award for contemporary craft, and a year later, curated the Disobedient Bodies exhibition at The Hepworth, Wakefield. Since 2019, he has been a Trustee to the Board of the V&A. For his work, Anderson has received numerous accolades, including International Designer of the Year Award by the CDFA and multiple British Fashion Awards, earning him a place in Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024 in their Time100 list.