John Newsom

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John Newsom (born 1970 in Hutchinson, Kansas) is an American painter best known for his thickly layered, gestural paintings of pastoral flora and fauna subject matter.

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John Newsom

Early life and education

Newsom grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma. He completed high school in 1988 at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy located in northern Michigan. In 1992 he completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Rhode Island School of Design and subsequently moved to New York City, where he attended New York University’s studio arts program. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from NYU at the age of 24. [1]

Career

Painting

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. [2] 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. [3] His reduced subject matter and calligraphic style, has been compared to the works of Philip Guston, for the reason that by focusing on a limited, but meaningful subject matter, an individual technique matures. [4] Moreover, Newsom’s work has been interpreted as allegorical still lifes that capture the essence of Darwinism: "The tradition of the great naturalists – creating works of art that explore the complex relationships in nature." [5]

Personal life

Newsom lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Cassie Newsom and their two children Luke and Ruby Newsom. [6]

Recent solo exhibitions

Publications

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References

  1. John Newsom, Resume, (retrieved September 14, 2012)
  2. Robert C. Morgan (2007), John Newsom: Allegory of Nations, The Brooklyn Rail (retrieved September 14, 2012)
  3. John Newsom: Allegory of Nations, Mike Weiss Gallery, November 18, 2006–December 31, 2006 (retrieved September 14, 2012)
  4. Marc J. Straus, Plan B, in: John Newsom: Allegories of Naturalism, Milan: Charta, 2010, p. 10. ISBN   8881588013
  5. Richard J. Massey, The Great Naturalists, in: John Newsom: Crescendo, Milan, Charta, 2011, p. 5. ISBN   8881588277
  6. Allegories of Nation, CHARTA 2010, is dedicated to both.

http://www.johnnewsom.info