Bio & CV

Bio

John Felix Arnold III was born in Durham, NC in 1980. The product of two esteemed dancers, his childhood was a mixture of artistic freedom, pure discipline and technique in everything he did. His father moved to NYC in 1986 and thus began his life long affair with the megalapolis environment. He has been drawing literally since he could make marks in the dirt.  He was exposed to the 80′s arts scene in New York as a child, the insanity that was NYC at this time, traveling to major cities across the globe with his father’s dance company (Pilobolus), and the dying city that was Durham N.C. in the 80′s. Through these early, extremely intense experiences he developed eyes and a way of seeing that informed his drawings at a young age, and still does today. He moved to Brooklyn, NY on his own in 1998 to continue his art education at Pratt Institute where he graduated in 2002 with a BFA in Communication Design.  He then moved to San Francisco to study Graduate Print Making at the San Francisco Art Insitute in 2006 and has lived in the Bay Area ever since. He has shown at The Luggage Store Gallery, 941 Geary Gallery, Babylon Falling, Bold Hype Gallery, Lopo Gallery, Old Crow Gallery, Roto Fugi Gallery, Ichy’s Gallery, ArtNowNY, Littlefield, and many more. He works in painting, drawing, print making, installation, and sound, and has created a whole new world and way of seeing. One in which the viewer is to become a part of his experience and conversation, and let their imagination thrive inside of that conversation.

Artist Statement

This Bay Area based artist explores a variety of social and environmental questions and concepts through painting, drawing, print making, installation, performance, and sound work. His exhibitions create visual, aural, tactile, and conceptual environments that are equivalent to walking inside of a giant graphic novel.  He is deconstructing the traditional idea of the graphic novel and narrative and re assembling it into an interactive, multi faceted environment.  Inside, one experiences a future wherein humans are no longer the dominant species, and humanity’s creations have evolved into their own harbingers of destruction and consumption.  The work evokes and communicates a sense of gratitude for life, living, and the promise of today in the face of forces beyond the control of its subjects, while exploring their own personal narratives through a multitude of media.  Within this architecture the work addresses present day connections and interactions allowing him a moment of reflection away from the chaos and hyper-speed of the everyday that surrounds to create and give praise through his own art making.

 

John Felix Arnold III CV/Resume

2012 “Ken South Rock’s Volcano Tour” @ Live Performance Painting in Six Cities from Tokyo to Kyoto : Japan

2012 “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” @ Old Crow Gallery : Oakland : CA

2012 “Art Now : A Survey of Urban Contemporary Art” @ ArtNowNY : New York : NY

2012 “Eat Peter to Feed Paul” Two Man Show @ Littlefield : Brooklyn : NY

2012 “The Love of All Above” Solo Exhibition @ Queens Nails Projects : San Francisco : CA

2011 “In the Moment” Group Exhibition @ The Luggage Store Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2011 “Art for People/Art for Japan”  Group Exhibition and Benefit @ Ichy’s Gallery : Tokyo : JP

2011 “Dark Matter” Group Exhibition @ First Amendment Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2011 “The City We Love” Group Exhibition @ 941 Geary Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2011 “The Quality of Line” Group Installation Exhibition @ The Incline Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2011 “Quentin VS Coen” Group Exhibition @ Bold Hype Gallery : New York : NY

2011 “Rise Japan” Group Exhibition and Benefit @ Heist Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2011 “Past From the Blast” Solo Exhibition feat. Performance by Japanther : Kitsch Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2010 “Unstoppable Tomorrow” Three Man Exhibition @ Old Crow Gallery : Oakland : CA

2010 “The Bridge is Over” Group Exhibition @ Lopo Gallery : Oakland : CA

2010 ” Bad Dads” Group Exhibition @ Lopo Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2010 “A Decade With No Name” East Bay Express’ Best of the Bay Group Exhibition @ Jack London Square : Oakland : CA

2010 “EAC One Day Show” Group Exhibition @ Shooting Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2009 “Black Market Caviar Showcase” Group Exhibition @ Roto Fugi : Chicago : IL

2009 “Fin : Astroknots 3 : The World of Future Antiquity” Group Exhibition @ Old Crow Gallery : Oakland : CA

2009 “The End is Near” Group Exhibition @ Babylon Falling : San Francisco : CA

2009 “Chroma Freaks” Group Exhibition @ OnSix Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2009 “The Otherside of a Smile” Group Exhibition @ OnSix Gallery : San Francisco : CA

2007 “Astroknots II” Solo Show @ Babylon Falling : San Francisco : CA

 

Illustration and Design Client List

• Adidas
• Babylon Falling
• Blue Shoes Media
• Camoflage NYC
• Clandestino 787/Clandestino Studios
• Clean Water Action
• Definitive Jux Records
• Direct Drive Inc.
• Doop Magazine (Tokyo)
• Frank 151
• Future Tense Records
• Genea Barnes Photography
• Harris Publications
• The Juggs
• Lyricist Lounge
• Malbon Brothers Farms
• Nature Boy Jim Kelly
• Newsday
• NYC Student Initiative for AIDS
• Nylon Magazine
• Popeye Magazine (Tokyo)
• Prophecy Magazine
• Rides Magazine
• San Francisco Art Institute
• San Francisco Bay Area Guardian
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Scion
• TBWA Chiat Day
• Verbal Eyez Entertainment
• Yellow Rat Bastard Magazine