Thomas Robert Mann (born 1947) is an American jewelry artist known primarily for his metalsmithing and assemblage techniques. 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.
Early life and education
Mann was born in Northampton, Pennsylvania and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His father was a machinist for Bethlehem Steel, an influence to which Mann credits his "fondness for machinery." While in high school, Mann experimented with jewelry-making and worked at a silversmith shop in Allentown. 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. In 1977, Mann began exhibiting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and later established his home and studio in New Orleans in 1982.
Selected collections
References
- ^ "Thomas Mann". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ Cordescu, Andrei; Herman, Lloyd E. (2001). Thomas Mann: Metal Artist. Madison, Wisconsin: Guild Publishing. pp. 9–14.
- Filips, Janet (August 14, 1990). "Mann Made". The Oregonian.
- Thomas Mann, "Big Link" Necklace, 1989, mixed media, Gift of Don and Rita Newman, MFAH 2014.275. https://www.mfah.org/art/detail/122043
- 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
- 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
- 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