Thomas Mann (artist)

Thomas Robert Mann (born 1947) is an American jewelry artist known primarily for his metalsmithing and assemblage techniques.[1] Combining industrial-style metals with found trinkets and baubles, Mann has dubbed his style "Techno-Romantic" and runs Studio I/O in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he now lives and works.[2]

Early life and education

Mann was born in Northampton, Pennsylvania and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[1] His father was a machinist for Bethlehem Steel, an influence to which Mann credits his "fondness for machinery."[3] While in high school, Mann experimented with jewelry-making and worked at a silversmith shop in Allentown.[2] The jewelry he sold during his teen years helped fund his education at East Stroudsburg University, where he earned a degree in performing arts in 1970.[2] In 1977, Mann began exhibiting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and later established his home and studio in New Orleans in 1982.[2]

Selected collections

• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston[4]
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston[5][6]
• Smithsonian American Art Museum[7]

References

1. "Thomas Mann". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
2. Cordescu, Andrei; Herman, Lloyd E. (2001). Thomas Mann: Metal Artist. Madison, Wisconsin: Guild Publishing. pp. 9–14.
3. Filips, Janet (August 14, 1990). "Mann Made". The Oregonian.
4. Thomas Mann, "Big Link" Necklace, 1989, mixed media, Gift of Don and Rita Newman, MFAH 2014.275. https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/122043
5. Thomas Mann, "Space Frame Neck Piece (Do you Believe in Luck?),1992, mixed media, The Daphne Farago Collection, MFAB 2006.345. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/458919/space-frame-neck-piece-do-you-believe-in-luck;jsessionid=A8C0B1B63F4EF2D7DC45F27F4E723692?ctx=ef8e18aa-cd33-4c08-bfea-8a80df18bdbb&idx=3
6. Thomas Mann, "Memory Map" Collage Box with Brooch, 1992, mixed media, The Daphne Farago Collection, MFAB 2013.1712. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/475232/memory-map-collage-box-with-brooch;jsessionid=A8C0B1B63F4EF2D7DC45F27F4E723692?ctx=ef8e18aa-cd33-4c08-bfea-8a80df18bdbb&idx=4
7. Thomas Mann, 6 brooches, 1993, mixed media, Gifts of E. Lloyd Herman, founding director and director emeritus of the Renwick Gallery (1971-1986), SAAM 1997.71.1-6. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/thomas-mann-7291