Education
2004 Master of Fine Arts in Photography, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2001 Master of the Arts in Religion, cum laude, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1999 Bachelor of the Arts in History, New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL
Selected Exhibitions
2021
Faculty Exhibition, Bethel University, Saint Paul, MN
2020
Crystal Life, Eugene Johnson Gallery, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN (solo)
Bird, Nest, Nature, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
Midwest Midwinter, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2019
The Unbearable Impermanence of Things, Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, Denver, CO
Re|collect, TuckUnder Pavilion, Minneapolis, MN (solo)
Bibliographic in Nature, Cargill Hall, Minneapolis Central Library, Minneapolis, MN
2018
Pulchra Scientia: The Aesthetics of Discovery, Pearlman Museum, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Firmament, Silverwood Park Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (solo)
Re|collect, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA (solo)
Re|collect, Neon Heater Gallery, Findlay, OH (solo)
Extraordinary Outdoors, Nemeth Art Center, Park Rapids, MN
2017
Eight Artists, Space 369, juror Candice Hopkins, Saint Paul, MN
2016
Re-Model, TuckUnder, Minneapolis, MN (solo)
North of the 45th, DeVos Art Museum, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
2015
The Golden Hour, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA
This From There, Circa Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Extraordinary Outdoors, Peterssen/Keller Architecture, curated by Tim Peterson, Minneapolis, MN
TOMODACHI x mt tape, Tomodachi Mall of America, curated by Public Functionary, Bloomington, MN
6th Annual Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, jurors Whitney Richardson (NYTimes Lens Blog) and Paige West (Mixed Greens, NY), Philadelphia, PA
Nowhere Everywhere, The Cambridge School of Weston, Weston MA
Between Two Worlds, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
2014
The Ephemeral, Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, juror Tate Shaw, Detroit, MI
It Narratives, Franklin Street Works, Stamford, CT
INFOCUS – Self Published Photobooks, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
This May Have Happened, David Weinberg Photography, Filter Photo Festival, Chicago IL
Photobook Show F, 72 Gallery, Tokyo Institute of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
The Here There, Some Sum Studio, Winona, MN
Photobookshow Malmö, Vasli Souza, Malmo, Sweden
2013
Orders of Possibility, Form +Content Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (three person)
The Explorers Club, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN (two person)
DIY (Chicago): Photographers and Books, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
a fair., Art + Design Gallery, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
2012
Lu-wow, Eugene Johnson Gallery, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN (solo)
New Southern Photography, Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
DIY: Photographers & Books, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Photobook Show C, Create Studio, Brighton UK
Unbound!, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA
Erosion 2012: Death of Album, Lithuanian Photographers Union, Klaipeda, Lithuania
2011
All Our Pleasant Places, Seerveld Gallery, Trinity College, Chicago, IL (solo)
McKnight Photography Fellows 2009-2010, Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, MN
A View of the Vernacular: Eric Ruby & Lex Thompson, IFP Center for Media Arts, Saint Paul, MN
2010
Evergreen, Wall Space Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
giftofgiftof 2010, Next Wall Gallery, Houston, TX
Biotics: The Hum/an/imal World, Conduit Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Anamalia, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2009
Carroll, Nedrelow, Thompson, SELLOUT Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Space Available, 9th Street Entry Gallery, Saint Paul, MN
2008
All Our Pleasant Places, Point of View Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Fanatically Yours, New York Center for Art & Media Studies, New York, NY
New American Talent, Arthouse, Austin, TX, Texas A&M, Commerce, TX, & Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.
PhotoMidwest, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Artist’ Books: Recent Acquisitions, UCLA Arts Library, Los Angeles, CA
Minnie Photo Show, Fallon, Minneapolis, MN
Mounted, The Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens, MI
Situations, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
2007
High 5: Emerging Art in America, CW Network Corporate Headquarters, Los Angles, CA
Up & Now!, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
Untitled 6, SOO Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
Photocentric 2007, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
All Our Pleasant Places, Focal Length Gallery, Minnesota State University, Moorhead, MN. (solo)
Mush, Mush, Masculinity!, Ephemeral Space, Saint Paul, MN
2006
Waterways, Eugene Johnson Gallery, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN (solo)
You Were Never Here, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN
Photo Books Now, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
2005
Other America, Exit Art, New York, NY
Minnesota Biennial 2D II, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
Exposure X 9, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
D(igital)fraged, University of West Florida Art Gallery, Pensacola, FL
Books Abound, Third Floor Gallery, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN
To Have and To Hold, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Love and The Art of Written Correspondence, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI
Letters, Words, & Books, Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT
Monument Recall, The Art Gym, Marylhurst University, Portland, OR
2004
Monument Recall, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
Faculty 2004, Interlochen Arts Academy Visual Arts Gallery, Interlochen, MI
TPS 13: The National Competition, Design Center of Austin, Austin, TX, & Center for Contemporary Art, Abiline, TX.
We Could’ve Been Friends, Boxspace, Miami, FL
2003
Landing, Southern Exposure, Juror Manray Hsu, San Francisco, CA
All Our Pleasant Places, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Take-Out, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Scale to Fit, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002
Creative City, San Francisco Bureau of Urban Secrets at the Society for Planning & Urban Research, San Francisco, CA
Fascicle, The Atlantic Gallery, Hamden, CT (solo)
2001
The Tower of Babel for Fun & Profit or What to Do When the Rope Gets Cut, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT, with Barry Kendall.
Public Collaborations
“Silverwood Ledger”, Field Trip, Silverwood Park, Saint Anthony, MN 2018, 8-fold book construction, with paint chips to match to colors within the park
Hold It!, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, March 2017; 8-fold book construction with animal hunting and collage from magazines
“Photo Copy,” Picture This, Free First Saturday, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, May 2016; public portrait session modeled on a nineteenth-century portrait.
“Tape Up”, Everyone Is An MN Artist, Free First Saturday, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, Feb. 2016; a collaborative version of Frame Drag installation & 8-fold book construction with over 700 children and parents
Selected Publications
Oxford American, “The Things We Leave Behind,” ed. Danielle A. Jackson, Spring 2023.
Ain’t-Bad, “Lex Thompson: The Ethics of the Dust,” Nicole Hawkins, Issue 14, 2020.
“Killing Nature,” Denver Post, Mark Rinaldi, Nov. 17, 2019, 1-E.
“Re|collect,” Landscape Stories, Archive Issue, No. 30, Aug. 2019.
“Lex Thompson: Re|collect,” City Pages, Camille LeFevre, March 6-12, 2019, p.20-21.
“On Death,” Group Show 58, Humble Arts Foundation, Sept. 2018.
Humble Cats, ed. Jon Feinstein and Amani Olu (Atlanta: Yoffy Press, 2017).
“Space Jamz,” Group Show 47, Humble Arts Foundation, Dec. 2015.
"Lex Thompson," Muybridge's Horse, ed. Emma Kisiel, May 14, 2015.
“Seventh Anniversary Issue,” Fraction Magazine, ed. David Bram, No. 74, May 2015.
“Nostalgia,” Feature Shoot, ed. Ellyn Kail, April 30, 2015.
“Singularity,” Fraction Magazine, ed. Michele Penhall, Group Show, No. 73 , April 2015.
The Ephemeral, ed. Tate Shaw (Detroit, MI: Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, 2014).
"Independently Published Photobooks: Lex Thompson," Interview by Antone Dolezal, fototazo, March 5, 2015.
“New Cats in Art Photography,” Group Show 41, Humble Arts Foundation , Aug. 2014.
“Animals in Photobooks,” IMA: Living With Photography, Spring 2014, Vol. 7, ed. Mutsuko Ota (Tokyo, Japan: Amana, 2014) p.142.
“All Our Pleasant Places – Lex Thompson,” On A White Wall, Feb. 26, 2014.
“Foto_Critica 2013,” Citrica, ed. Andre Franca, April 2013.
“Asking Questions, Proposing Answers,” Interview, Top Photography Films, March 2013.
“Juxtaposition” F-Stop Magazine, ed. Christy Karpinski, Issue 57, Feb-March 2013.
Melanie McWhorter, “A Closer Look – Cave Drawings,” book review, photo-eye blog, August 7, 2012.
“Styx River Water World,” Mystery Spot Books: Nature’s Nation, ed. Chad Rutter (Minneapolis, MN: Mystery Spot Books, 2012).
“Mahalo”, Dead Porcupine Mag, ed. Raffaele Capasso & Francesco Claudio Cipolletta, June 20, 2012.
Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book (Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center, 2012).
“IndiePhotobook Library,” Voices of Photography, Larissa Leclair, ed. Wei-I Lee, No.1 (Taiwan: 2011).
“Mahalo,” Fraction Magazine, ed. David Bram, Portfolios, No.29, Aug. 2011.
“A Shuffling Game,” Miranda Trimmier, mnartists.org, June 6, 2011.
A View of the Vernacular: Eric Ruby & Lex Thompson (Minneapolis, MN: IFP Minnesota, 2011).
“All Our Pleasant Places,” FotoVisura Features Blog, ed. Adriana Theresa, Oct. 8, 2010.
Scott Stulen, “Catching Up with the 2009 McKnight Photography Fellows,” Walker, July/Aug. 2010 (Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center, 2010), p 8-9.
“Flash Forward: United States,” Telegraph.co.uk, 2010.
Flash Forward 2009: Emerging Photographers from Canada, the United Kingdom & the United States, ed. Simon Bainbridge (Toronto: MagentaFoundation, 2009).
Art Review and Preview!, “A Chronology of Events Leading Up to Carrol/Nedrelow/Thompson at Sellout Gallery: 1834-2009,” Andy Sturdevant, Vol. 3, No. 1, Summer 2009.
“The Un-Natural Nature of Food,” Fraction Magazine, ed. Melanie McWhorter, Group Show No. 5 , July 2009.
NAT23 (Austin, TX: Arthouse, 2008).
Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Twisted Traditions,” Mary Abbe, Friday, July 20, 2007, F-12&13.
High 5 : Emerging Art in America (Los Angeles, CA: CW Network, 2007). section in essay by David Pagel.
Photocentric 2007: A Photographic Biennial (Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Center for Photography, 2007).
Satellite, Issue 2, ed. Jason Mortara & John Rubin (San Fran., CA: The Independent School of Art, 2006).
Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Minnesota Mavericks,” Mary Abbe, Friday, October 28, 2005, F-18.
Neomu, No. 8, 2005, ed. Deanne Cheuk (New York, NY: Surfacepseudoart 2005).
Look-Look Magazine, “Possessed by Taxidermy,” No. 4, Spring 2005, (Hollywood, CA: Look-Look 2005), p. 36-39.
Artweek, “’Monument Recall’ at SF Camerawork,” Terri Cohn, Feb. 2005, V. 36, No.1, ed. Laura Richard Janku (Palo Alto, CA: Spaulding Publishing 2005), p.14.
Camerawork: a Journal of Photographic Arts, “Monument Recall,” Fall/Winter 2004, V. 31, No. 2, ed. Trena Noval (San Francisco, CA: SF Camerawork 2004).
TPS 13: The National Competition, ed. Sue Brisk (San Antonio, TX: Texas Photographic Society 2004).
“All Our Pleasant Places,” Ratsalad Deluxe, September 2004.
Writing
Lay Flat, “If the Supply of Lambs Hold Out: Simen Johan’s Until the Kingdom Comes,” Lex Thompson, December 2014, ed. Shane Lavalette
Walker Art Center Blog, “A Sublime Feeling in My GUT: Eric William Carroll’s Theory of Everything,” Lex Thompson, September 18 2014, ed. Susannah Schouweiler.
Photo-eye Blog, “Book of the Week: Birds of the West Indies,” August 18, 2014.
On A White Wall, “Ghost Show May Be In Session,” Lex Thompson, Aug. 2014, ed. Alex Wood.
mnartists.org, “Objectifying Time,” Lex Thompson, March 5 2014, ed. Susannah Schouweiler
Lay Flat, “F* That: Photography and the Ineffable,” Lex Thompson, June 2013, ed. Shane Lavalette
access + ENGAGE, “Colleen Mullins’ Elysium: Urban Canopy Loss in Post-Katrina New Orleans at the Hand of Man,”
Lex Thompson, March 2008, Vol. 27, No. 2, ed. Susannah Schouweiler.
Religion and the Arts, “100 Artists See God,” Lex Thompson, Vol. 8, No. 4, ed. Dennis Taylor (Boston, MA: Brill 2004).
Article on the work shown in the exhibit 100 Artists See God curated by John Baldessari & Meg Cranston.
Honors, Grants & Awards
Creative Support for Individuals Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2021
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2018
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2016
Midwest Photographers Project, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Frame Drag, 2015-2018
Source-Cord Prize, shortlist, 2014
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2011
mnartists/McKnight Artist Fellowships for Photographers, 2009/2010
Flash Forward Emerging Photographer, 2009
Hey, Hot Shot!, Honorable Mention, Fall 2008
Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, 2008
Visiting Artist in Photography, Interlochen Arts Academy, 2004-2005, Interlochen, MI
Collections
Bethel University, Saint Paul, MN
Bibliograph Library, Montreal, Quebec
California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA
Cleveland Institute of Art
Colma Historical Society, Colma, CA
Denison University, Doane Library, Special Collections, Granville, OH
Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Graduate & Professional Student Senate at Yale, New Haven, CT
Hennepin County Library Special Collections, Minneapolis, MN
Indie Photobook Library
Lithuanian Photographers Union, Klaipeda, Lithuania
Montserrat College of Art
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
San Jose State University, King Library, Special Collections, San Jose, CA
Scripps College, Ella Denison Library, Claremont, CA
Stanford University, Green Library, Palo Alto, CA
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
University of California, Los Angeles, Arts Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Wesleyan University, Olin Library, Middleton, CT
Yale University, Art of the Book Collection, New Haven, CT