Thomas Seligman received an MFA in Painting and Art History from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1968.  After a lengthy career as a museum curator and director I returned to my art practice. Most recent exhibitions February 2020 “Nail Fetish” at Drawing Room Annex and December 2021 “Ink & Clay” at Drawing Room in San Francisco.

I began working with nails in my father's workshop as a young child and have continued to use them in their traditional way, for building, until the present.  As objects to use in art making, nails have a rich history, mythology and symbolism, and a wide variety of meanings and interpretations.  It is within this spectrum of ideas and symbols that I situate much of my work, so my kids started calling me "Nailman".  I use my past working in building, art making, scholarship and fieldwork in African and museums work as a basis for my artistic vocabulary.....not interested in a particular medium instead I prefer to work in a medium I find engaging and appropriate for a particular idea.  And of course nails are only a part of the imagery in my work, there is much more to see including detailed drawings. This website illustrates examples of my work over the last several years.

For further information please contact Rita Barela at rita.barela@icloud.com or seligman@stanford.edu