bio/cv

bio

Jon Coffelt is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. He paints, sculpts, sews, makes artist books, and curates art exhibitions.

Coffelt was raised in the East Tennessee mountains in the town of Palmer and the community of Griffith Creek near Whitwell, Tennessee. He has been making art since his grandfather taught him how to paint when he was eight years old. Coffelt's professional career began in the fashion industry, designing clothing and 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 department store chain, Parisian. 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 publications such as USA Today, Time, Out, and Science Digest. At 28-years old, Coffelt was the youngest artist ever commissioned by Absolut Vodka.

In 1993, Coffelt co-founded AGNES, a gallery in Birmingham, Alabama devoted to socially aware photography, short film/video, and book arts, which he co-owned until he closed it to move to New York in 2001. From 1994 to 1996, Coffelt served as editor and publisher of Alabama Art Monthly, the first statewide art publication in Alabama, which he founded.


artist statement

It's not my conscious mind at work. It’s my subconscious, I literally lose myself in my work. It’s not about issues, it’s not about politics, it’s not about technology. It’s about process, I’m a painter.

What I deal with in my work is space and proportion and the idea of pulling a person into that. It's about meditation and clearing of the mind. My hope that the viewer senses a feeling of being a bit more centered as they allow themselves to experience my work.

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WWNO interview with Diane Mack (NPR)

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The Artist Who Wanted to Paint the Highway -Haydn Shaughnessy (Forbes)

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Jon Coffelt (Wikipedia)

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