Jon Coffelt

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

Coffelt has been painting since he was eight years old. It was his grandfather who taught him how to work in this medium, instructing him on, as Coffelt explains, "how to paint what was on the outside (Visual Ideas) so that one day I would be able to paint what was on the inside (Emotional Ideas)."Template:Citeneeded Coffelt still considers himself a colorist and he actually started out in the fashion industry designing fabrics for Willi Smith in the 1980s. Once he decided to devote his full energies to art he was commissioned to paint over 100 works for the Parisian department store chain which helped launch his art career considerably. In 1989 Coffelt received "Outstanding Ten Year Alumni" from the Southern Institute. Coffelt was the inaugural artist at Space One Eleven when it opened in 1989 in Birmingham.

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, Genre, Out and Science Digest among others. Coffelt at the time was the youngest artist ever commissioned by Absolut Vodka.

From 1992 until 2000 Coffelt owned and operated Agnes, a gallery devoted to socially aware photography, short film/video and book arts.

From 1994 to 1996, Coffelt served as editor and publisher of Alabama Art Monthly, a monthly art magazine he founded which was the first of its kind in the state. 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 [1], Birmingham [2], Miami [3], Montreal, Nashville, New Orleans, New York [4], Philadelphia [5] as well as London [6], and Barcelona [7] and Tokyo [8].

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. This exhibition was curated by David Moos and in 2002 when Coffelt received the "City of Birmingham Distinguished Artist Award" [9], David Moos wrote the foreword for the published catalog.

In 2002, Coffelt's work was selected to be part of "The Longest Winter" curated by Gean Moreno for Florida Atlantic University. Other selected artists included Westen Charles, Udomsak Krisanamis, Vincent Fecteau, Sam Gordon, Anne Howard, Genie Kell, Robert Melee and Darío Robleto. 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."Template:Citeneeded

Current work

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

Collections

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

Listening

In April 2006, Coffelt was interviewed for "Tapestry" by Lissa LeGrand for NPR.

Curatorial work

  • "Going Within" was curated by Coffelt in 2005 for Visual AIDS. 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 Barton Lidice Benes, Robert Blanchon, Bruce Wesley Boyce, Feliz Gondalez-Torres, David Krueger, Chuck Nanney, David Nelson, Eric Rhein, Clifford Smith, Paul Thek, Nora Wallower, Bruce William Witsiepe and David Wojnarowicz.
  • "Contour: The Definitive Line" was curated by Jon Coffelt in 2006 and encompassed selections of drawing, painting, collage, installation and photography and included the work of many diverse artists including Sara Garden Armstrong, Steve Baris, Luis Carle, Travis Childers, Clayton Colvin, Jacob Hill Grad, Louis Hill, Lee Isaacs, Antjuan Oden, Amy Pleasant, Eric Rhein, Jessica Rosner, Virginia Scruggs, Joel Seah, Yuko Shimizu, Sean Slemon, and J. M. Walker.

External links

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