Tom Betts' exquisitely rendered teacups undoubtedly fit into the tradition of realist painting, but there is far more at work here than what meets the eye. Adding deep layers of meaning and metaphor to the cups and saucers that dominate his oil paintings, the California-based artist takes realism to sophisticated new levels, successfully employing figuration to capture more elusive concepts, such as the nature of existence, in a way more commonly achieved through abstraction.
Betts, 36, who has taught painting and drawing at the University of Utah, where he received his MFA, presents works from three recent series. His handling of light, color, texture, and composition is as compelling as that of the most accomplished academic painters of the past. Observing his subjects from both life and photographs, he carefully captures nuances of light and shadow, line and form to create atmospheric images that lure the viewer in with their mysterious subjects: single or multiple porcelain cups and saucers. But these works, of course, are not just vehicles to display his expert handling of paint and well-trained eye. Rather, for Betts, each represents a different temporal state, present, past, and future, which in turn work to visually articulate an intangible aspect of existence and culture.
In his "Tea & Sea" series, which represents the present, each cup floating in the gray sea - the Great Salt Lake, to be exact - is a kind of metaphoric portrait of the artist himself. These are empty vessels to be filled, in this case with all of the outside influences that become internalized to form one's identity. An apt metaphor of the human condition, the cup's position is contingent on the surrounding ripples, and yet its presence also affects the ripples themselves.
The past is invoked by "Tea & Peaches," the most evocative of traditional still life painting. Here, Betts depicts cups and saucers on a shelf with jars of preserved fruit, warmly backlit, as though lights had been dimmed, and intertwined with delicate, festive strings of lights. The past is summoned by the Proustian, abstract sense of a social interaction having happened - a party, a meal, a conversation.
His most dramatic series, "Repouring Tea," takes on the future. The cups in each of these have been broken into fragments, which hover in a frozen moment before crashing down. Named after parts of the body, each also conveys a kind of futuristic sense of movement by way of invoking the body. Each is titled after a different body part (in French, as he first found inspiration in Paris), and imparts corporeal movement through the arrangement of the fragments. La Main, for instance, suggests the twisting of a wrist. The broken cup emerges as the perfect analogy for the simultaneous sense of fragmentation and wholeness at the core of existence, while also invoking the threshold between the known and unknown.
His work has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine, in the Artists for the New Century Show at the Bennington Center for the Arts, on Park City Mountain Morning News and in the Western Humanities Review. His art is currently featured at the Thomas Anthony Gallery in Park City, Utah and at Dawson Cole Fine Art in Laguna Beach, California.
Publications
Dawson Cole Presents Tom Betts (February 2012)
Modern Luxury
Art Seen (February 2012)
Laguna Beach Independent Newspaper
28th Annual Art Competition (December 2011)
The Artist’s Magazine
Featured Artist (Winter 2011)
Western Humanities Review
27th Annual Art Competition (December 2010)
The Artist’s Magazine
21 Under 31 Article (September 2004)
Southwest Art Magazine
Awards
!st Place (September 2010)
Williams Fine Art Invitational Exhibition – Salt Lake City, UT
Howard Clark Fellowship (January 2009)
University of Utah Department of Fine Arts – Salt Lake City, UT
Juror Award (November 2008)
Utah Arts Council Painting & Sculpture Exhibition – Salt Lake City, UT
Four-Year Departmental Scholarship (May 1995)
University of Utah Department of Fine Arts – Salt Lake City, UT
Television Appearance
Live Television Interview (January 2010)
Park City Mountain Morning News– Park City, UT
Solo Exhibitions
T. The Exhibition (February 2012)
Dawson Cole Fine Art – Laguna Beach, CA
Ephemeral Tea Exhibition (January 2010)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Park City, UT
Super Realist Exhibition (July 2009)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Two Person Exhibition
Betts and Robinson Exhibition (May 2010)
Partnership Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Juried Exhibitions
Juror Award (November 2008)
Utah Arts Council Painting & Sculpture Exhibition – Salt Lake City, UT
Spring Salon Exhibition (June 2008)
Springville Museum of Art – Springville, UT
Invitational Exhibition
Artists for the New Century Show (August 2006)
Bennington Center for the Arts – Bennington, VT
Group Exhibitions
The Flip Side (March 2013)
Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA
Group Exhibition (2010)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Park City, UT
Mind the Gap (March 2010)
Garfo Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Who Do They Think They Are (February 2010)
Alvin Gittins Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Group Exhibition (2009)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Park City, UT
Re-Art (April 2009)
Our Town Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Group Exhibition (2008)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Park City, UT
Painting and Sculpture Exhibition (November 2008)
Utah Arts Council – Salt Lake City, UT
Spring Salon Exhibition (June 2008)
Springville Museum of Art – Springville, UT
Group Exhibition (2006)
Wally Workman Gallery – Austin, TX
Artists for the New Century Show (August 2006)
Bennington Center for the Arts – Bennington, VT
Group Exhibition (2006)
F8 Fine Art Gallery – Austin, TX
Group Exhibition (2005)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Group Exhibition (2004)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Group Exhibition (2003)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Gallery Representation
(2010 - Present)
Dawson Cole Fine Art – Laguna Beach, CA
(2008 - Present)
Thomas Anthony Gallery – Park City, UT
(2011 - 2012)
Wally Workman Gallery – Austin, TX
(2006 - 2007)
Wally Workman Gallery – Austin, TX
(2006)
F8 Fine Art Gallery – Austin, TX
(2005)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
(2004)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
(2003)
A Gallery – Salt Lake City, UT
Conference
Primary Presenter (May 2003)
17th National Conference on Undergraduate Research – Salt Lake City, UT
Education
MFA Painting & Drawing (2010)
University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
BFA Painting & Drawing (2003)
University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
Teaching
(Fall 2013) Instructor
Senior Portfolio, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA
(Fall 2013) Instructor
Figure Painting III, Figure Painting IV, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA
(Spring 2013) Instructor
Figure Painting III, Figure Painting IV, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA
(Fall 2012) Instructor
Figure Painting III, Figure Painting IV, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA
(Spring 2011) Associate Instructor
Non-Major Advanced Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Spring 2011) Associate Instructor
Non-Major Basic Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2010) Associate Instructor
Studio 2-D, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2010) Associate Instructor
Non-Major Basic Drawing, Weber State University – Ogden, UT
(Fall 2010) Associate Instructor
Non-Major Advanced Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2010) Associate Instructor
Non-Major Basic Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Spring 2010) Instructor
Non-Major Advanced Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Spring 2010) Instructor
Non-Major Basic Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2009) Instructor
Non-Major Advanced Painting, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2009) Instructor
Non-Major Basic Painting, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2009) Instructor
Non-Major Advanced Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT
(Fall 2009) Instructor
Non-Major Basic Drawing, University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT