John Newman
This week's artist research was another student's choice. Since this class is focused on sculpture, I wanted to choose an artist who had some unique and interesting 3D works. John Newman is an artist who works with paint and prints but is mostly known for his 3D crafts. During the beginning of his career he was primarily interested in creating grand sculptures and installations that used size as a dramatic effect. Later in his career he took a trip to Africa which influenced his perspective on the scale of art, causing him to shift towards smaller, table-top sculptures of equal aesthetic value. Overall, throughout his career he created several works which embody many different moods and tones, but almsot all of them are a complex arrangement of mixed media that is placed in ways the viewer would not expect.
All of his works, whether they be 3D, paintings, or prints use a variety of elements to keep the viewer asking questions. He seems to be interested in abnormal lines that twist, turn, thicken and thin for example. He also isn't afraid to use bright and contrasting colors. The abstract nature of each work shows how much effort he puts into the geometrical shape of each object or image as well as they symbology behind it. The titles of his sculptures provoke further inquiry and speculation, with each element meant to bring the viewer closer—as close, the artist says, as one gets to "food, babies, a lover, or a book."
Newman has had over 40 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions in galleries and museums through out the United States, Europe and Asia. He is represented in many public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Albertina in Vienna. He has received grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rome Prize, the Pollack-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as other organizations.
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