I'm interested in the conversion of the ordinary into the elevated: how a place, a person, or an object earns a kind of reverence it was never assigned to begin with. My work searches for that same conversion in a place's buried history, in a person mistaken for unremarkable, in an object handed the weight of a relic. The visual vocabulary of paint is how I express that interest. It means reducing a figure or a place to what's essential, then giving it the visual markers of what's worth honoring. That excavation carries across scale, from a canvas in the studio to a wall in a city I'm still getting to know.
John was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His interest in art began at the age of 6 when he first discovered Batman and Spiderman comic books. After years of copying comics panel by panel, he worked in the commercial arts as a muralist, billboard creator, and freelance illustrator/graphic designer. After learning to paint by doing airbrushed billboards, he decided to pursue Fine Art and work in oils. His practice today spans both studio painting and murals around the world. He has had 9 solo exhibitions and numerous group and museum exhibitions internationally. His works have appeared in many publications and have won multiple awards.
CV
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2023 — DeYoung Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2022 — Inside Out, Didam Museum, France
2021 — Pad Dimension, Zhejiang Art Museum, China
2018 — We The People, Mesa Arts Center, Phoenix, AZ
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 — Liminal Spaces, Stolen Space Gallery, London, UK
2020 — VR-NISSAGE, Urban Art Fair with myFINBEC, Paris, France
2019 — The Death of Distance, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2017 — Navigation Unknown, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2015 — Imprints, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2014 — Passages, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 — Spectra, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 — Synthesis, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 — Adaptive Radiation, D-Structure, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 — Triad, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
2024 — Aqui y Ahora, Mexico City, Mexico
2024 — Sunrise, Galerie GT, Bayonne, France
2023 — Figuratively Speaking, Harman Projects, New York, NY
2023 — In Dreams, Galerie GT, Bayonne, France
2022 — San Francisco Art Fair, Harman Projects, New York, NY
2021 — Selections, art Karlsruhe, Germany
2021 — Fragments, Stolen Space Gallery, London, UK
2020 — Polyphonissima, Galerie Joël Knafo, Paris, France
2019 — Re-Beginning, Thinkspace Projects, Culver City, CA
2019 — Project 1606, Kunsthuizen Gallery, Leiden, Netherlands
2018 — Moniker Art Fair, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2018 — We The People, Mesa Arts Center, Phoenix, AZ
2017 — Moleskine Project VI, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2017 — Neon, Abend Gallery, Denver, CO
2017 — Portrait, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017 — Showed Up, Alto Gallery, Denver, CO
2016 — Drawn to Greatness / Made in California, Arcadia Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2016 — Moleskine Project V, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2016 — Wes Anderson Tribute, Spoke Art, New York, NY
2016 — Mini Show / Edge of Realism, Abend Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 — Works on Paper / Five & Under, Arcadia Contemporary, New York, NY
2015 — As One, Mike Wright Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 — Moleskine Project IV, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2015 — Freaks & Americana, Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City, CA
2015 — Tired Hands, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland, CA
MURALS AND PUBLIC ART
2026 — BAMC, Brookline, Mass.
2024 — Juquila Street Art Festival, Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico
2024 — Cuicatlán Mural Festival, Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico
2022 — The Mural Project, Santa Rosa, CA
2022 — Boulogne-sur-Mer Street Art Festival, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
2022 — Points de Vue Street Art Festival, Bayonne, France
2019 — IPAF Festival, Martinique
2018 — Le Mur Douzième, Paris, France
2011 — O’Farrell Theater, San Francisco, CA
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2024 — Arthouse Pani, Tequisquiapan, Mexico
2022 — Isturitz, France
2019 — Arthouse Holland / Project 1606, Leiden, Netherlands
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2019 — Graffiti Art Magazine (feature) and Graffiti Art Magazine (Urban Contemporary Art Guide)
2019 — Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World, Schiffer Publishing
2019 — The South African Artist
2019 — American Art Collector
2018 — The Moleskine Project: Vol. II, Paragon Press
2018 — Juxtapoz
2017 — Juxtapoz
2015 — Artists on Art
2011 — La Gazette Cournot (France)
2008 — Clone Magazine, Spain
2007 — International Artist Magazine
2007 — American Art Collector Magazine
SELECTED COLLABORATIONS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
2025 — Procreate: Release collaboration for Procreate Version 5.5
2020 — Procreate: Release collaboration for Procreate Version 5
2020 — Casio / Graffiti Art Magazine: Casio G-Shock advertisement collaboration
2014 — Red Bull Music Academy Campaign, NYC