Tom Eslinger has revealed his much anticipated second solo exhibition in Chicago: ‘Left To My Own Devices’ at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, which follows his first sell out solo show–‘Stuck in My Head’–at Chicago’s Center on Halsted in February 2024.
Eslinger studied at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD) and is a Professor of Communications at Columbia College, and his typographical design work can be found in the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Collection and the permanent Design Collection of MOMA in New York City.
Before becoming an artist, Eslinger made a name for himself in the advertising world as a Cannes-Lions winning Global Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi and Burson Marsteller. During his years as a Worldwide Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi’s headquarters in London, Eslinger indulged his childhood love of stickers, and amassed an eclectic sticker collection, which decorated the door to his office and his desk. The desk had once belonged to advertising behemoth turned art world savant Charles Saatchi, and when Eslinger left Saatchi & Saatchi he requested that he take the door and the desk with him as he relocated to his native USA. Eslinger left the advertising industry on a high, eventually settling in Chicago after many years of globe-trotting, and decided to pursue his passion for fine art.
Eslinger has always had a passion for drawing and collecting music and skater memorabilia. He explains: “I started to draw around the time I started talking, and my life has been filled with visual art and music ever since. I’ve been playing the drums since age 6. Back then my cool sisters’ record collections filled my head with stories and rhythms and my obsession with comic books and drawing gave me an outlet to create and apply my inspirations. Visual art and music go together. Stickers make them travel.”
In the new exhibition ‘Left To My Own Devices’ Eslinger takes a deep dive into his colorful childhood and teenage experience, drawing inspiration from a kaleidoscope of influences that span decades. Eslinger is exhibiting a new series of intricate, large scale collaged artworks, which he makes by creating custom stickers with bits and pieces inspired by lyrics and imagery like little ‘Easter eggs’ that give hints of meaning . He takes lyrics of the song he is referencing as a starting point for each piece, and works with a laser cutter for precision. Titles of the new works featured in ‘Left To My Own Devices’ include lyrics from iconic Chicago house music and 70s disco such as ‘This is my house’, ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’, ‘I Feel Love’ and even the UK’s Korgi’s lyric ‘I Need Your Loving Like The Sunshine’.
Eslinger’s work has a vibrant, Pop Art feeling mixed with a sunny 70’s California vibe and sometimes a more edgy punk aesthetic. Eslinger cites his influences as Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Mark Kostabi, James Rosenquist and Robert Rauschenberg. He is also inspired by Jamie Reed who famously created the Sex Pistols album covers, and Hipgnosis who created the artwork for some of the most iconic album covers for The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and other seminal bands of the 60s and 70s.
Eslinger talks about the new works in the exhibition: “Imagine the sensory overload of my childhood full of a disco singles collection, the rebellious thrill of sneaking peeks at David Bowie and Sylvester’s tantalizing late-night TV performances as a teen, seeing gay men holding hands in public on a vacation to California in the mid-70s and more recently, scrolling through the vivid, sordid and often heart-breaking stories captured in the Gay New York of the 1970s and ‘80s Facebook Group.”
When I was imagining the work for this show and the HUGE space I would be in, I knew that the period in the mid-70s when my 2 oldest sisters had moved away from Minot (North Dakota USA) and it was just me, my youngest sister Lisa and my mom had things were full of emotion for me. The music and feelings and things I was realizing about myself and my sexuality was starting to reveal itself as a rich subject in the sketches and small collages I was making. I remember our house was never very quiet: My mom was overjoyed that I wanted to play drums and I set up my full kit in my bedroom. Between my sister and I our albums and singles we covered off disco, new wave, FM rock, some metal and the hot boys of the day (Leif Garrett, David Cassidy, Andy Gibb, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack). Luckily my mom loved music and dancing so if she came in the room and danced or opened the door and then walked away we knew we had something we could crank up. I was seeing most clearly in my sketches and visualizations were the stories attached to disco and new wave-y songs and memories. Growing up in North Dakota, new music was mostly beamed in on late night TV. Seeing Devo, B-52s, Elvis Costello and FEAR on the then-new Saturday Night Live and really late shows like Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Klaus Nomi and David Bowie wearing dresses on SNL. I felt like I was going to get in trouble and I was the only one in the room. I saw Sylvester performing on Rock Concert and was confused for a second (man? Woman? And what is this song???) and then was inspired to figure out how to get these records. I started blasting playlists of these songs in my studio some making me smile and boogie and a few had me sitting down and crying. ‘Left to my own devices’ was the first piece I finished and had a strong memory and story from my college life in the 80s. When it was complete, I had a clear-ish path. The whole body of work hadn’t revealed itself yet, but I had a glimpse.
In the middle of all this activity, the elections were in full swing and I thought that this was the perfect time to be working on a very gay, very disco, super bright and joyful group of work that will debut right around the inauguration because we’ll probably need some light and joy in our lives. And I was right.”
Tom Eslinger ‘Left To My Own Devices’ is at the Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago until 7th March, 2025.
