FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOHN F. SIMON, JR. Moment of Escape
December 12, 2013 – February 8, 2014
Opening reception: Thursday, December 12, noon-7pm
SANDRA GERING INC is pleased to present JOHN F. SIMON, JR.: Moment of Escape, a solo exhibition of new work. The exhibition inaugurates the gallery’s new location on East 63rd street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
For this exhibition, themes of birth and expansion predominate. In each work, a point of origin is identified, flourishes, and ultimately exceeds the boundary of its own frame. Variations of ‘flow’, ‘mapping’, and ‘expansion’ are routinely incorporated into the details of Simon’s drawing, which now rise to the surface, both figuratively and physically. An unconventional use of robotic fabrication creates surfaces carved in deep relief, and painting becomes prominent as the artist’s focus shifts to the materiality of the fabricated surface. The topography of the sculpture, once only flat or faceted, is rolling and curved. Continuing his pioneering work with the programmed image, Simon’s own custom written software is featured in specific works via computer screens. Conceptually, the work demonstrates Simon's deepening dedication to drawing and inward reflection. The symbolism of the exhibition as a whole displays the unlimited potential of the human mind and more specifically, artistic growth.
John F. Simon, Jr.: Moment of Escape coincides with the exhibition Intersections: John F. Simon, Jr.: Points, Lines and Colors in Succession, an installation of Simon’s work at the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., reflecting on the painting Succession by Wassily Kandinsky in the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition continues through February 9, 2014.
Simon is one of the pioneers in the development of Software Art and is renowned in this area for articulating the use of code in digital and multimedia works since the mid 1980s. This early community of artists and curators created the first wave of software applications, web-based projects and digital approaches to art making, which continue to expand in new directions every year. As an example, in 2011 Simon completed an app for Icelandic singer Björk’s album Biophilia; the first app album ever created. Simon’s artworks can be found in the permanent collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Collezione Maramotti, The Brooklyn Museum, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. In October 2005 the Whitney Museum of American Art and Printed Matter published Simon’s artist’s book and software CD, Mobility Agents, based on the notebooks of Paul Klee. Simon holds an MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and a Masters degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For further information please contact Laura Bloom at 646.336.7183 or laura@sandrageringinc.com.
