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John Newsom

Born in 1970, Hutchinson , Kansas

Newsom is best known for combining multiple techniques of formal painting strategies onto large canvases, featuring dynamic spectacles of the natural world. His paintings are created by overlapping coats of heavy oil paint which give rise to a highly gestural and intuitive formal vocabulary. Evenly toned backgrounds of color are juxtaposed with expressionistic splashes of white oil paint. In an added surface, Newsom paints recurrent monochromatic geometric shapes such as squares or circles in a hard-edge manner. He then renders the subject matter with a densely thick layering of various brushstrokes. Newsom consistently paints a wide variety of animals and flora. His reduced subject matter and calligraphic style, has been compared to the works of, for the reason that by focusing on a limited, but meaningful subject matter, an individual technique matures. Moreover, Newsom’s work has been interpreted as allegorical still lifes that capture the essence of: “The tradition of the great naturalists – creating works of art that explore the complex relationships in nature.”

EDUCACIÓN

1994   MFA, New York University, New York, NY

1992   BFA, The Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California

Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

Neuberger Museum of Art, Westchester County, New York

New York Public Library, New York

RISD Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island

San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California

HVCCA – Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY

Tottori Perfectural Museum, Osaka, Japan

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Marc Straus, New York

2013 Bestiary, Marc Straus, New York

2012 Crescendo, The Richard J. Massey Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, New York

2011 Nocturne Paintings / Motifs and Methods, Patrick Painter, Santa Monica, CA

2010 John Newsom: New Paintings, Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York (catalogue)

2009 Beyond the Horizon, Patrick Painter, Inc., Santa Monica (catalogue)

2006 Allegory of Nations, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, NY

2004 Black Widow Paintings, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, NY (Catalog)

Backyard Bliss, New Gallery / Thom Andriola, Houston, TX

2002 New Paintings, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, NY

2001 Recent Paintings, Leyendecker Gallery, Tenerife, Spain

Meeting Place, Silverstein Gallery, New York, NY

2000 Natural Selection, Margrett Gallery, New York, NY

1999 Brushfire,Bronwyn Keenan Gallery (project space), New York, NY

1998 SANCTUARY (100 Bird Paintings), Greene Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland

1997 Recent Drawings, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, NY

1996 Recent Paintings, 407 Gallery, New York, NY

New Work, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, NY