J. Yuan & Associates LLC is pleased to present our 2020 Winter Art Salon Program Unfolding Moments, an online solo exhibition by American artist John F. Simon Jr., opening this Sunday, November 15.
As a pioneer of software art, John F. Simon Jr. started to explore new media art and challenged the traditional notions of painting and drawing since the mid-1980s. By the end of the 1990s, when digital art was beginning to be collected by the Western mainstream art world, Simon quickly became one of the most acclaimed artists by his unique approach to writing and presenting Software Art. At the time, his dealer, Sandra Gering, successfully placed his works into more than twenty significant collections and institutions throughout North America and Europe. His early screen-based works were acquired by prominent museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (1999, 2011), Whitney Museum of American Art (1999), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1999), and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art (2001). His name was quoted along with notable artists such as Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner, and Sol LeWitt in mainstream media, including Artforum (1997), Art & Auction (2001), ARTnews (2002), New York Times (2002), and Art in America (2003).
Simon and his wall sculptures. Photo courtesy of Melissa Shaw-Smith.
Simon's work can be classified into drawings, paintings, sculptures, and screen-based works. The value of Simon's art lies in his alliance of art and technology, his hands-on art-making process, sensitivity with time, consciousness, and human history, and his mastery of a wide range of new materials. What's also remarkable is his way of creating these works; he starts with drawings and makes the drawing process the object of meditation instead of identifying a subject beforehand. He revisits his improvisational sketches—which he calls "divination drawings"—and reworks these ideas, often by programming. Simon considers programming a two-fold kind of creative writing, first in the sense of writing poems or stories but secondly, recognizing that the computer screen is where the program creates images. Simon's ever-changing, never-repeating wall installations embody infinity and endless renewal, profound metaphors of art and life. Simon's contemplation and his way of composing the language for computers liberate his art from imitation and representation—every first moment of creating an artwork becomes a "cosmogenic moment," full of surprises and novelty. The meanings of his artworks are open-ended and imbued with possibilities.
The selection of works in Unfolding Moments spans over two decades of Simon's career and comprises different media and forms, including gouache and pen plotter drawings, wall sculptures, and installations.
About JY&A Art Salon Program
JY&A Art Salon program promotes works and artists under JY&A's consignment. The salon functions as a mini art gallery. The program showcases paintings, sculptures, photographs, edition works, digital art pieces as well as experimental installations using cutting-edge technologies. Every three months, a solo exhibition is organized for an emerging or established artist in a pre-war apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side. As we believe in the affinity of art with many other disciplines such as fashion, design, and architecture, opportunities to collaborate with interior designers, architects, and visual merchandisers are welcomed. The choice of presenting our art exhibitions within a residential environment is made specifically for the visitors to experience first-hand how art transforms a space via color, lighting, form, composition, material, and technology. A salon is also a place where art lovers and art professionals can visit, meet like-minded people, and share their thoughts. To view all past exhibitions and events, please click here.
About JY&A
J. Yuan & Associates has a clear mission of helping art collectors and enthusiasts discover and own art that aligns with their identities, values, and goals. We specialize in Western art (post-war to present), Chinese contemporary art, digital art, and ones created with cutting-edge technologies. We assist collectors in discovering new art, conducting research, planning exhibitions, managing acquisitions, sales, commissions, and building collections. We rely on our rigorous academic research, market analysis, extensive network, and rich experience working with both non-profit and for-profit art organizations to provide high-quality consulting services to our clients. Our professional network covers Asia, Europe, and North America and draws on vital connections with top galleries, institutions, art fairs, auction houses, and private collectors.