Pre-order book: Oscar Thomas Miami's Beloved Visual Artist: His Life and Legacy
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Oscar Thomas
Miami’s beloved visual artist: His life and legacy
Oscar Thomas was an award winning, critically acclaimed, self-taught, international master visual artist. He began working at the age of 15 in his hometown on Limon, Costa Rica restoring signage and paintings on storefronts. By age 19, he was working as a professional commercial billboard artist with no formal training. In 1980, Oscar moved to Miami, Florida at age 24 to pursue the American dream. Within months he was challenged with the city’s unrest due to race riots, an influx of immigrants, and an unprecedented invasion of drugs and crime in the municipality. Oscar took to the streets of Miami to cope with the unrest the only way he knew how, through his art.
Oscar would spend the rest of his life dedicated to uplifting the community with Black icons, understanding early on the importance of representation. In the early 1980s, Oscar was the Artist in resident at Afro-In Books & Things and exhibited at various galleries throughout South Florida including Model Cities Cultural Art Center and Gallery Antigua. By the 1990s, his artwork had garnered national attention and was on exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Oscar made headlines when he opened “Expressions by Oscar Thomas” fine art gallery and studio located in Liberty City, where he often hosted fieldtrips and offered free workshops to the local youth.
More than two decades after his passing, curators continue to seek original Oscar Thomas artwork for exhibition. Oscar has been featured at Art Basel, the Historic Ward Rooming House Gallery, The Amadlozi Gallery, and his works are archived as part of the History Museum Miami, Miami-Dade County Vasari Project, Florida Memory State Library, and The Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida.
Please note this biography includes over 300 pages and 100 images of Oscar Thomas original artwork and murals. Books ship out Fall 2022. Look out for Book Launch events!
Miami’s beloved visual artist: His life and legacy
Oscar Thomas was an award winning, critically acclaimed, self-taught, international master visual artist. He began working at the age of 15 in his hometown on Limon, Costa Rica restoring signage and paintings on storefronts. By age 19, he was working as a professional commercial billboard artist with no formal training. In 1980, Oscar moved to Miami, Florida at age 24 to pursue the American dream. Within months he was challenged with the city’s unrest due to race riots, an influx of immigrants, and an unprecedented invasion of drugs and crime in the municipality. Oscar took to the streets of Miami to cope with the unrest the only way he knew how, through his art.
Oscar would spend the rest of his life dedicated to uplifting the community with Black icons, understanding early on the importance of representation. In the early 1980s, Oscar was the Artist in resident at Afro-In Books & Things and exhibited at various galleries throughout South Florida including Model Cities Cultural Art Center and Gallery Antigua. By the 1990s, his artwork had garnered national attention and was on exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Oscar made headlines when he opened “Expressions by Oscar Thomas” fine art gallery and studio located in Liberty City, where he often hosted fieldtrips and offered free workshops to the local youth.
More than two decades after his passing, curators continue to seek original Oscar Thomas artwork for exhibition. Oscar has been featured at Art Basel, the Historic Ward Rooming House Gallery, The Amadlozi Gallery, and his works are archived as part of the History Museum Miami, Miami-Dade County Vasari Project, Florida Memory State Library, and The Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida.
Please note this biography includes over 300 pages and 100 images of Oscar Thomas original artwork and murals. Books ship out Fall 2022. Look out for Book Launch events!