Art Chowder November | December 2016, Issue 6 | Page 29

John has had some pretty memorable responses to his work over the
years, he was once part of
a group show at the Monmouth County Arts Center
in central New Jersey. The
Monmouth County Rose
Society also used the room
where the show hung. One
of his paintings was a 48”
x 60” explicit female nude
reclining on a bed that
members of the Rose Society found objectionable.
They actually took it upon
themselves to cover the
painting with black plastic
garbage bags along with
the other nudes displayed
by another two artists.

John Thamm has surely stirred up some controversy with his art, but it seems that
he simply wants to make an impact with his work. When asked about what project
has meant the most to him over the years he shared this with us;

“My favorite project was painting fifty portraits of area veterans
in the wanting room at the VA Medical Center. Once I realized
how important their stories were for both the veteran and their
family, I interviewed each veteran with my close friend Tom
Davis who took each interview and condensed the stories into a
page on each veteran. I shared the 50 portraits in celebration with
the veterans and their families at the Medical center and then
produced a book called: VETS: Fifty Veterans and Their Stories. I
have maintained friendships with many of the veterans after I
completed the project.”

...

An art reviewer from the
Red Bank Register who
was outraged by the gestures from the Rose Society
alerted him to the event
and then went on to write
a very favorable review of
the show noting how the
nude pieces had been covered with black plastic.
Thamm elaborated on the
event,
“We demanded an apology
from the Rose Society and
prolonged coverage of the
show with another article
featuring the apology.”

John’s work is in private collections throughout the United
 States
and the Wolfson Museum in Miami Beach, Florida.

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