Jon Coffelt

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Jon Coffelt

Born 1963 May 16
Dunlap, Tennessee
Nationality American
Field painting, sculpture, installation, curator
Training Middle Tennessee State University (1981–1984); Southern Institute (1984- 1986); University of Alabama at Birmingham (1985–1986); Auburn University (1986)

Jon Coffelt born (May 16, 1963) is an American artist who lives and works in Manhattan in the Financial District of New York City.

Contents

[edit] Life

Jon Coffelt was born and raised in the Tennessee mountains, Coffelt has been painting since he was eight years old. It was his grandfather who taught him how to paint.[1] Coffelt still considers himself a colorist.[2]

Coffelt paints, sculpts, curates art exhibitions, and makes artist's books.[3]

He started out in the fashion industry designing fabric with Willi Smith in the 1980s. [4] Once he decided to devote his full energies to art he was commissioned by Jim Mitchell to paint over 100 works for the Parisian Department Store chain [5] which helped launch his career as an artist. In 1989 Coffelt received "Outstanding Ten Year Alumnus Award" from Southern Institute. Coffelt was the inaugural artist at Space One Eleven founded by Anne Arrasmith and Peter Prinz, when it opened in 1989 in Birmingham, Alabama[6].

In 1991 Coffelt was commissioned by Absolut Vodka to kick off its "Absolut Statehood" campaign representing the state of Alabama; the result was shown in a full-page ad in USA Today, Time[7], Genre, Out and Science Digest among others. Coffelt, 28 years old at the time, was the youngest artist ever commissioned by Absolut Vodka.[8] Other work by Coffelt is also included in the Absolut Museet collection of contemporary art in Stockholm, Sweden.[9] From 1992 until 2000 Coffelt owned and operated Agnes, a gallery devoted to socially aware photography, short film/video and book arts.

From 1994-1996, Coffelt served as editor and publisher of Alabama Art Monthly,[10] a monthly art magazine he founded which was the first art magazine in the state.[citation needed] In 2002 Coffelt closed the gallery in order to move to New York and give his own art undivided attention. Over the last several years his work has been shown in Atlanta[11], Birmingham[12], Boston, Chattanooga, Los Angeles, Miami[13], Minneapolis, Mobile[14] , Nashville, New Orleans, New York City[15], Philadelphia[16], San Francisco[17], Barcelona[18], London[19], Mexico City, Montreal[20] and Tokyo.[21]

[edit] Work

In 1999 Coffelt was chosen to be part of an exhibit at The Birmingham Museum of Art called Galore: The Continuous Painting Wall. Other artists who participated in this exhibit include Lydia Dona, Dennis Hollingsworth, Ingo Meller, Thomas Nozkowski, and Leslie Wayne. It was curated by David Moos and in 2002 when Coffelt received the "City of Birmingham Distinguished Artist Award" [1] in Birmingham, Alabama, David Moos wrote the foreword for the published catalog.

In 2000 Michael Pittari, editor of Art Papers curated "Hypnotic Post: Atlanta Abstraction Now" at Swan Coach House Gallery,[22] Coffelt was selected along with twelve other artists for "Post Hypnotic-Hypnotic Post" millennium celebration of the arts.

In 2000, Coffelt's work was chosen for "House and Garden: Twists on Domesticity," at Space One Eleven, Birmingham, AL through a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts. The exhibition included the work of Karen Rich Beall also included a catalog with a foreword on Coffelt by David Moos. In this exhibition, Coffelt hand-sewed more than 250 miniature garments that were exhibited here using original fabrics from clothing surrendered by individuals across the country to produce exact replicas keeping the integrity of these pieces intact with the fabrics, shapes and seams of the garments. Coffelt calls these memory sculptures because most of the pieces came from a loved one.[23]

In 2002, Coffelt's work was selected to be part of "The Longest Winter" curated by Gean Moreno for Florida Atlantic University. This exhibition asks viewers to rethink notions of the domestic as the cookie-cut "normal" place it is often depicted to be. Moreno explains, "The artists in 'The Longest Winter' demonstrate that the domestic is the native ground of weird imaginations, of deranging methods and private methodologies."[24]

In 2007 Clayton Colvin curated "Art and Place II: Material at Hand" for Center for the Living Arts/Space 301 featuring the work of Coffelt and nine other artists. This exhibition deals with the influence that a sense of place can have on the artist. The focus here lies in the significance of medium in artists' work "and how their chosen media may also function as the content or the subject.[25]

[edit] Quotes

  • Coffelt’s miniature clothes - each garment a portrait of a distinct individual - merges the feminine, domestic chore of sewing with the act of painting. Instead of relying upon his customary paintbrush and wooden panels, Coffelt is creating surrogate paintings with these patterned garments. This painterly emphasis, stressing the color, texture, weave and gloss of his chosen fabrics, is what separates Coffelt's undertaking from the painstaking labors of other miniaturists[26]. -David Moos
  • His miniature commissions are among the most powerful art works I have come across. In them, Jon takes items of a client's clothing and reproduces these in miniature and then sets them alongside other items of miniaturised clothes. Collectively, they become a memory of ourselves and/or those around us[27]. -Haydn Shaughnessy

[edit] Current work

A number of Coffelt's paintings were featured in the video, "Wait A Minute" (Just A Touch) featuring the British rapper/singer Estelle Swaray in late 2007 and produced by the Atlantic Recording Corporation/WEA International Inc. for the world outside the United States.[citation needed]

Coffelt has evolved from painting in a minimalist, op art vein to creating collages using duct tape and vellum. Some of his newest work includes a series of full-size motorcycles cast in semi-transparent polyurethane resin to look like huge pieces of Jolly Rancher candy each in a different flavor/color.

[edit] Collections

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Coffelt is included in many prestigious public and private collections including American Express, ASCAP, Birmingham International Airport,[28] Birmingham Museum of Art, Capitol Records, Lord International US Headquarters, Mercedes Corp, Parisian, Progressive Insurance, Saks Fifth Avenue, Time Warner/Southern Living]], among many others.

[edit] Curatorial work

"Going Within" was curated by Coffelt in 2005 for Visual AIDS. [29] An organization striving to increase public awareness through programs such as exhibitions, publications and partnering with artists, galleries and museums and other organizations. This exhibition included many artists, among them David Nelson, Clifford Smith, and David Wojnarowicz.

"Contour: The Definitive Line" [30] was curated by Jon Coffelt in 2006 and encompassed selections of drawing, painting, collage, installation and photography and included the work of many artists including Clayton Colvin, Lee Isaacs, and Sean Slemon.

Janet Hassinger and Jon Coffelt co-curated "The Book "ever after"" [31] consisting of 38 selected artists. This exhibition was an overview starting from the beginning of the book arts movement with works by Ed Ruscha, John Cage, Yoko Ono and Dieter Roth to contemporary works by Pinky Bass, Coffelt, and Mary Ann Sampson.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Coffelt's background
  2. ^ USA Today, Jon Coffelt. January 17,1992 p. 6 worldwide release
  3. ^ Susan Hensel Gallery, Image containing several examples of Coffelt’s book work.
  4. ^ 1985-1986
  5. ^ Commissioned paintings for Parisian Department Stores
  6. ^ James R. Nelson, "Space One Eleven is Important Addition to Arts Scene," Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, November 29, 1987: pg. 6F
  7. ^ Time, ad February 14, 1994
  8. ^ Ruth Beumont Reuse, “Absolut Coffelt,” Birmingham Magazine, February 1992. page 19
  9. ^ Absolut Museet info
  10. ^ "4/5/06 - 4/29/06 - Jon Coffelt"
  11. ^ Catherine Fox,The Art of Enlightenment, Atlanta Journal/Constitution, Altanta GA June 1, 2003
  12. ^ Schedler/Minchin, Birmingham AL
  13. ^ The Longest Winter, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
  14. ^ The Vanguard, Space 301, Mobile, AL
  15. ^ Gallery Guide New York, NY
  16. ^ Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
  17. ^ Bryant Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  18. ^ Art Info, Art Fairs Europe 2004
  19. ^ Laserhouse Gallery, Leonard on Sea, London UK
  20. ^ Gallerie Gora, Montreal, Quebec Canada
  21. ^ Solomon Projects Atlanta, GA
  22. ^ "Hypnotic Post: Atlanta Abstraction Now" at Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia.
  23. ^ Nancy Raabe, "Tiny Treasures," Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, September 10, 2000: pg. 1F & 8F
  24. ^ "The Longest Winter," curated by Gene MorenoFlorida Atlantic University, Miami, FL
  25. ^ "Art and Place II: Material at Hand" for Center for the Living Arts/Space 301, Mobile, Alabama
  26. ^ House and Garden: Space One Eleven, "Twists on Domesticity" catalog, forward by David Moos 2000
  27. ^ Haydn Shaughnessy Gallery ICA, Ireland
  28. ^ "Feature Artist Airport," Birmingham News (Birmingham, Ala.), January 9, 1993; "Art News: Airport Art," Birmingham News, August 30, 1992.
  29. ^ "Going Within" curated for "The Body for Visual AIDS, NYC
  30. ^ "Contour: The Definitive Line" curated for Schedler Minchin Gallery Birmingham, Alabama, June 2006
  31. ^ "The Book" College of the Mainland Fine Arts Gallery, Texas City, Texas 2007

[edit] Book

  • Absolut Statehood: 51 Painters by Glenn O'Brien, Foreword by Michel Roux, Photography by Antonio Alia Guccione, 116 pgs. Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1993 Hardcover ISBN 0893815632

[edit] External links