John s Art Drive Artworks Currently Available
Pearl of the Quarter 48x50" Acrylic Stencil on 2" gallery wood block. This is the first piece I showed in a gallery, Part of The Future is Now Group show, Soho 2013 ( HighLine Gallery ) With this work, I've taken my classic tribal hand style, reflecting it 4 ways to create a symmetric landscape that communicates the energy of a chaotic yet beautiful world. Featured is the "Accordion Girl", Melissa Elledge, one of my muses whom I met while riding the L, I heard her playing Coolio at the First Avenue station and asked if I could take a photo. A few weeks later we meet again and find out we have close friends in common. She told me about how she had just moved her from NoLa and had lost everything in Katrina (including the FEMA check they took back!) She ended up having to move to NYC, put herself through school at NYU and is now a busker and musician making a living doing what she loves.
Pearl of the Quarter Inspired, I started pasting her image up all over Brooklyn and the LES (many still exist) This was my first featured piece in the street art mags and blogs around 2012. This started my obsession with how to get artwork up on the street without spending a boatload on printing/getting caught, I started to learn stencil process and this is my favorite example to date.
Not in Brooklyn Anymore 48x62 " Screen print with acrylic/spray Canvas on 2" Gallery canvas Originally shown as part "TROPHY ART" AZ Art Gallery, New York City Group Shows Ultimately the most collectible of my works. Not in Brooklyn Anymore was conceived a little over 3 years ago. Leveraging Dorothy's famous quote about Kansas, I juxtapose the urban baseball hat with the classic imagery to create a new look at urban renewal. It is my communication on the speedy gentrification happening in most urban centers and is based on my experience of both gentrifying and being gentrified.
Not in Brooklyn Anymore I put the piece up all over Brooklyn, primarily at the ever-increasing condo construction sites popping up around Williamsburg. The artwork is screen printed and freehand painted in a layered price (I do all of this at the studio). Once the image starting to gain popularity, I was asked to show and paint her frequently and she was the impetus for other Hip Pop Icon images. My top selling images by far with thousands of prints produced.
Not in Brooklyn: Live 1 25x25" Resin-covered Multimedia Collage on wood New York City Group Shows These pieces are part of a larger 8x4' on wood I created live for Street Art Exhibition in Bushwick a couple of years ago. These pieces really capture the impermanent energy of the city streets with layers of paint and wheat pastes that, overtime, reveal to create an ever-evolving entity all it's own. Both feature the Accordion Girl, Dorothy and a few other styles I've used through the years. These were featured at Gili Gibli's star-studded event last year on the Bowery.
Not in Brooklyn: Live 2 25x25" Resin-covered Multimedia Collage on wood New York City Group Shows $1100 These pieces are part of a larger 8x4' on wood I created live for Street Art Exhibition in Bushwick a couple of years ago. These pieces really capture the impermanent energy of the city streets with layers of paint and wheat pastes that, overtime, reveal to create an ever-evolving entity all it's own. Both feature the Accordion Girl, Dorothy and a few other styles I've used through the years. These were featured at Gili Gibli's star-studded event last year on the Bowery.
Softener of Evil Hearts 18x24 Hand painted, Acrylic on Wood originally shown at Street Art Exhibition Bushwick 2016 From the Soften our evil hearts, O Mother of God, And quench the attacks of those who hate us And loose all straitness of our soul. For looking on thy holy icon We are filled with compunction by thy suffering and loving-kindness for us And we kiss thy wounds; We are filled with horror for the darts with which we wound thee. Let us not, O Mother of Compassion, According to the cruelty of our hearts, perish from the cruelty of heart of those near us,for thou art in truth the Softener of Evil Hearts." Here, my Muse is depicted as the contemporary icon with her heart pierced by blades and brushes instead of swords; symbolic of the suffering revealing the truth through her artistic journey.
Persistence of Soup: Prime 18x24" Acrylic on wood shown at a small group show in Brooklyn 2018 This is one of the first paintings incorporating my Surreal Soup imagery. The Soup Can references Dali's "Persistence of Time" combined with Warhol's trademark icon and creates a dialogue between the two while also highlighting our current consumer-driven (amazon), mashup culture.
Follow Me 16x20" Acrylic Process on wood An abstract from 6 years ago, this is one of my favorites. These paintings are done over the course of months with layer after layer reacting to the one before to create a textured and vibrant snapshot of the energy in my life/work. With this process, I always aim to create an attractive image but one that also involves some kind of dialog, and like paradilla, everyone sees something different. The secret with these is knowing when to step away. I have a few more if you like.