Tom Loughlin (b. 1968, St. Louis) is interested in systems of meaning and the way they operate—in particular systems related to language, narrative, ideology, and spirituality that we use to facilitate collaboration and collective negotiation of social landscapes. Loughlin is curious about how these systems fail—not just the ways they can break down, but the manner in which their proper functioning can obscure our ability to see things as they really are. How do we navigate the planet and find comfort under these circumstances?
Loughlin received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute; a JD from the University of California, Berkeley; and his BA from Dartmouth College. He has had solo exhibitions at City Limits Gallery, Oakland (2015), Spare Change Artist Space, San Francisco (2015), Swell Gallery, San Francisco (2012), Civic Center Park, Denver (2008), Town Park, Crested Butte, Colorado (2008), and Rendezvous Gallery, Crested Butte, Colorado (2006). He has participated in group exhibitions at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, San Francisco (2014), Google, Mountain View, California (2014), SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco (2014), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (2013), Diego Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute (2013), the Old Mint, San Francisco (2013), Queens Nails, San Francisco (2012), and the Lab, San Francisco (2012). Loughlin was a 2013 finalist for the graduate fellowship at Headlands Center for the Arts, and a 2008 recipient of the Black Rock Arts Foundation Grant. He was a 2014–15 affiliate artist at Headlands Center for the Arts, and a 2013–14 studio artist at Root Division, San Francisco. He lives and works in San Francisco.
