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P aul Thomas walks among us. You may have seen him
downtown in a club or coffeehouse, or caught sight
of him in some dingy thrift store rummaging through
shelves of books and records. Maybe you've even spoken to
him. and gotten a quiet “hey" in response. Over six feet tall,
wearing all black and sporting a teased shag of dirty-blond
hair, he's hard to miss.
A true Athens character, Thomas has been a musician/ art
ist/ entrepreneur here for over 20 years. He has seen the rise
of the 8-52's, R.E.M. and every other Athens band that has
made a name for itself on a national level. He has been on
the inside of the Athens music and art scene, and has inspired
some of its major players.
When asked what inspires him, Thomas gives little teasing
answers. "Warhol. Dada, Little Debbie, you know, the usual
stuff."
.These days, Thomas spends most of his time at the X-Ray
Cafe, his own space on Washington Street near the 40 Watt
Club. A mishmash of books, records, antiques and other pop
culture flotsam and jetsam, X-Ray is more of an experience
than a store. On some weekend evenings, it's also a perfor
mance space, where you can hear some of the most interesting
experimental music in town. And, you can actually get a cup
of coffee (albeit from a thermos).
Thomas has been running his own business since 1987,
when he and a partner started their first vintage store on Hull
Street called the Swap Club Carnival. Locals remember it as a
place where you could find great vintage clothes and interest
ing bric-a-brac at reasonable prices. This original incarnation
evolved over the years as Thomas moved downtown locations,
and reworked his focus. More than simply running a store,
Thomas has always been more interested in providing a kind of
meeting place for the avant-garde.
Your.g hipsters eventually wander into Thomas' space, like
moths to a psychedelic flame. Initially captivated by his eye
catching artistic window displays (at the time of this writing he
had a four-foot Easter bunny surrounded by Japanese lanterns, art
books and two Egyptian stained glass table lamps), the crazy vinyl
he plays, or the video images he projects on the back walls, they
are inevitably taken in by Thomas' open and charismatic personal
ity. He engages his customers in a way that may be off-putting for
some, but for others is inspirational. Motivated by a desire to meet
and associate with like-minded people, Thomas' love of art and
music, his intelligent curiosity and offbeat sense of humo' make
him like the cool uncle everyone wishes they had.
A new customer wandered into the store recently and was met
by a barrage of questions: “Where are you from? What brings you
to town? Are you going to the Minus Five show tonight? (And
then to have a bit of fun with them): Have you ever heard the
Whippenpoofs? They're an all-male glee club from the early '60s—
pretty cool, if you're into that sort of thing."
One of Thomas' prize possessions is a '60s Farfisa organ that he
has played in several bands over the years. He thinks it may even
be the one originally used by the B-52's. When asked to name all
of the bands he has been in, Thomas lists Rope Trick, The Third
Ear, The Other Soon, French Haircut, and admits there are others
that he can't even remember. On Thomas' MySpace page, he lists
his musical taste as being as diverse as Korean pep music, Philip
Glass, Kraftwerk and Transylvanian folk operas, but carries on into
the hundreds. His favorite movie is Midnight Cowboy and his favor
ite book is How to Enjoy Iced Tea by Elmer the Penguin.
Thomas has also written on his web page in the "about me"
section: “I love 'Jolene' by Dolly Parton because once I dreamt
that she'd put her boob and butt prints in the cement outside
Peaches Records in Atlanta and cripples from all over would anoint
themselves with the rainwater that would collect, and be healed."
Recently, Thomas has been on a run of good luck in Atlanta
himself. His art has been picked up by the Fay Gold Gallery, where
it's getting some serious attention. After being part of a group
show, at the gallery last July ajjjj August, he currently has a couple
of collage pieces exhibited on the gallery's website.
Three by four feet tall, Thomas' images consist of textbook
looking color prints of American presidents who have been given
a slightly demure overhaul. The headshots of Woodrow Wilson and
Lyndon Johnson look typical enough, except for the addition of
a kind of Dippity-do flip pasted to their austere heads. Strangely,
these faux hair additions are so artfully matched to the wearer
that they are almost becoming. Thomas has revealed the feminine
side of some of our founding fathers, giving the patriarchal hierar
chy a little twist.
Local artist Mike Landers really loves Thomas' work. He feels
his series is a great example of artistic "appropriation"—work that
adds something t9 an existing object or image.
"They're beautiful. So simple and so good," Landers said. "I
want to buy one."
Amy Miller of the Fay Gold Gallery admits that the humor
ous overtones of Thomas' work are what make it so interest
ing. Fay Gold herself has recommended that he continue this
series. Thomas intends to use “world leaders: Mao, Stalin and
Lenin” in his next effort. When asked if they'll get the same
Dippity-do treatment, he said, “Oh, yeah."
Thomas admits that he was a bit shocked when Fay Gold
decided to showcase his art.
“Have you seen the movie Basquiat?" Thomas asked. "It
was just like that."
But, unlike Basquiat, Thomas did go to art school. He went
to UGA in his 20s but never graduated because he would only
take the art classes and not the core classes required for a
degree. Even so, Thomas feels this hasn't hampered him in his
artistic pursuits.
"I always move ahead. I keep doing different things."
Sitting in a cheetah print gold throne chair in the middle
of his store, Thomas muses over the serendipitous nature of
the art world. After producing art and music for over 20 years,
he was “discovered" in 2003 when curator Michael Oliveri of
the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center wandered into his store
and saw the video images he was projecting onto his back
wall. Asked to join in a collective show, Thomas set up 20-foot
video projections of movie collages he had created and tape
looped sound and music samples through the "state of the art"
sound system they provided. This was the project that brought
him to Fay Gold’s attention and helped him to begin to make
money from the things he loved the most.
When asked about his first installation, Thomas describes
"a video of a Mexican trailer park party with people dencing"
found in a thrift store that was used to create a "2C-minute
loop with a sample of really trippy Mexican sound added on top
of that. It was like little bits and pieces altered in the com
puter— mariachi-type music along with these people dancing
forward and backward. There's something about it that's hypno
tizing, and with the music it was really hilarious."
Thomas admits that his love of art and pop culture memorabilia
has had its downsides. At one point he realized he had amassed
over 40 boxes of paper—collage material that he intended to use
one day. But lately he has pared this down, realizing that getting
rid of stuff helps him to focus. is also motivated by a fear of
dying like one of the Collyer brothers, who was famously crushed
by the weight of his own pack-ratted possessions finally collapsing
on top of him.
"It's better to have a synthesizer with 10 good effects than one
with a million, that's what Brian Eno says. It's easier to be creative
when you are more selective with your options. I need those kinds
of boundaries to focus. Otherwise, it's overwhelming."
It seems that Paul Thomas is finding his focus and in the pro
cess getting a belated boost to his art career. But one gets the
feeling that Thomas will continue to make art and music regardless
of any wider-reaching recognition, lie's already found his celebrity
in Athens, including a small but Jevoted flock of followers.
Thomas has become a kind of Pied-Piper for the young art crowd,
beckoning them to follow in his wake. Peter Philips, a long-time
friend of Thomas' summed him up \he best: "Paul himself is a work
of art as much as anything he produces. He does the unthinkable
and then it works. It's deceptively simple. It's always fascinating."
Christina Cottsr
a difficult case
but we’ll get to the bottom
one can at a time!
12 8 COLLEGE AVENUE . 7 0 6 6 4 3 1 A 3 3
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • JULY 12, 2006 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
