These Thoughts May Disappear
Jack White
£39.99
These Thoughts May Disappear is published to accompany a major exhibition of works by the American artist Jack White, opening at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery on 29 May 2026.
The exhibition marks White’s first public showing of his art and includes works made by the artist over the last thirty years, from sculpture and installations to furniture design products. White’s 2015 sculpture The Red Tree will be remade for the exhibition, preserving the original concept of transforming a decaying tree into a striking artwork.
Born in Detroit in 1975 and currently living in Nashville, White is an interdisciplinary artist, equally conversant in sculpture and furniture design as he is in music and songwriting. Taking inspiration from both mid-century modern design and local Detroit Cass Corridor artists such as Gordon Newton and Robert Sestok as well as his apprenticeship background in upholstery. White opened his own upholstery shop, Third Man Upholstery, in 1996.
While White’s sculpture and upholstery have largely been confined to private work over the past twenty years, he has further explored his design muse via his Third Man Records umbrella. Whether interiors, visuals for print, photography, industrial, film, White designs with purpose, conviction and passion.
The publication includes an essay by design critic and curator Deyan Sudjic, former director of the Design Museum, as well as a long-form conversation between White and art critic Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Publication:
October 2026
Illustrations:
148
Dimensions:
288 x 233 mm
Format:
Hardback
ISBN:
978-1-911736-42-4
No. of pages:
212
Jack White was born in 1975 in Detroit, a city that has significantly shaped his visual practice – particularly his time in Southwest Detroit and the Cass Corridor. He draws inspiration from the urban environment, mid-century modern furniture designs, and De Stijl and Dada movements. White describes his work as ‘Hardware Store Art’, a synthesis of carpentry, upholstery, assemblage and reappropriation using materials ranging from resins, paints and epoxies to utilitarian materials and found objects. His sculptures are constructed upward and outward rather than carving into a material, emphasizing addition over reduction while retaining a minimalist approach. Tools and weapons frequently appear encased in epoxy, rendered static and immoveable, whereas handmade axes and hatches sometimes remain portable.
Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, Jack White re-examines the commercialization of art through the Third Man Records universe, the vinyl-focused independent record label he founded in 2001. From digital graphics and photography to vinyl production and functional audio equipment, White’s practice continues to explore the intersection of art, design, and music production.
Deyan Sudjic is director emeritus of the Design Museum. He was the founding editor of Blueprint in 1983, edited Domus from 2000 to 2004 and directed the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002. He has curated exhibitions on Stanley Kubrick, Zaha Hadid and John Pawson.
Hans Ulrich Obrist (b. 1968) is a world-renowned curator and the artistic director of Serpentine in London. Alongside his curatorial practice, Obrist has written extensively on and around contemporary art, with a particular interest in the interview format.
