By Jon Carsman
Located in Surfside, FL
Jon Carsman (American, b. 1944)
Born in Wilkes Barre, Pennyslvania in 1944, Jon Carsman grew up surrounded by the
Appalachian Mountains. His main inspiration was the play of color and light he found reflecting
across the streets, houses, and countryside of small town America. “Jon Carsman did for suburban and hometown views what Edward Hopper did for cities, except Carsman exchewed a human presence.” Annette Dixon, curator of the University of Michigan Museum.
Jon Carsman found the source of his inspiration in the play of color and light reflected across the framed houses, streets and country sides of small town America. His paintings synthesize realism and fantasy. Color is an important factor in Carsman’s work. His pallet is vibrant and intense. Carsman isolates strong areas of color in juxtaposition with dark outline; the colors become crystallized motifs with a sparkling jewel-like quality. Carsman paints broad areas of vivid high-key tones with a surprising effect that creates a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. His links to the traditions of American realist painting demonstrate historical sophistication, and his works contribute significantly to the overall development of the new Realist style. Super Realism, a relatively new style that has emerged in America and Western Europe, is recognized as a major development in the history of comtemporary art. It is a style that, in all probablility, could not have been imagined twenty years ago when all serious art was primarily non-objective and based upon the painterly discoveries of Existentially oriented Abstract Expressionist art. Gregory Battcock, A singular Intensity, the Art of Jon Carsman catalogue for touring show to Syracuse, Oklahoma City and Wichita, 1978.
Individual Exhibitions
1968 Everhart Museum, Scranton, Pennsylvania; 1969 Wilkes College, Wilkes Barre,
Pennsylvania
1972 Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1973 Images Gallery, Toledo Ohio Jacob's Ladder Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1974 Tower Gallery, Southampton; L.I., NY; Tennessee Fine Arts Center, Nashville, Tennessee
1970-74 Graham Gallery, New York
1975 Forsythe Gallery, Ann Arbor; Michigan Southern Methodist University Dallas, Texas Vick
Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1976 Fischbach Gallery, New York; Coventry Gallery, Melbourne; Australia Images Gallery,
Toledo, Chic
1977 Coventry Gallery, Melbourne, Australia Peter M. David Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Alien House Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona Fischbach
Gallery, New York Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Everson Museum, Syracuse, New
York
1978 Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City; Oklahoma Andrew Crispo Gallery...
Category
1970s Pop Art Jon Carsman Art