William Thomas Thompson:

Unorthodox Convictions

William Thomas Thompson, one of America's most effective religious visionaries working today, has asked Raw Vision to share this short article about his work and theories, accompanied by images of his recent paintings, including the article about him featured in Raw Vision #104. Thompson was also featured in Raw Vision #33.

Read the full piece online here, on Issuu.com, or download it as a PDF.

In an age of extremism, the art of William Thomas Thompson (b. 1935) extends above and beyond the merely unconventional. His political and religious beliefs are neither on the extreme right nor the extreme left. While the messages of other apocalyptic artists of a fundamentalist-Christian orientation may appear to be coming from a similar place, none have spelled themselves out as explicitly as those within the texts that appear in Thompson’s paintings, particularly his seven most recently created works.

Thompson, who lives in Greenville, South Carolina, began his career in 1961 as a wholesaler of artificial flowers, built up a million-dollar business in the United States, and then expanded his enterprise to Hong Kong. However, through a series of financial downturns, his business collapsed in the 1980s. As a result, he believes his psychological well-being suffered and led to his developing Guillan-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder.

While attending a Sunday church service in Hawaii, 1989, he recalled, “I saw a vision of the coming of the Lord and the world on fire on July 6, 1989.” Thompson regards his epiphany, he said, “as an unmistakable command to paint what I saw”. Since then, he has produced thousands of paintings. He noted, “I feel spiritually motivated to paint the truth condemning the world system as the spirit enlightens me to the pitfalls laid down by the Antichrist.”

Please direct any replies or queries directly to the artist at: thompsonart99@gmail.com

Find out more about William Thomas Thompson online at arthompson.com & thecolorfulapocalypse.com.

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