About John Felix Arnold III

Artist Statement

The experiences that create our lives exist in multiple dimensions of being, the seen and unseen. These dimensions create the narratives that we move through and shape who and what we are. Aspects of our visual, physical world that we resonate with or are fearful of become signifiers for us creating a personal language of life that also finds connection with others. I am concerned with the happenings of the tangible world we see in the here and now as well as the emotional and felt world of thought and being. My artistic practice is found in new ways to approach the creation of narrative experience and the idea of portraiture primarily through painting, drawing, installation, and sound elements. I am fascinated with the evolution of mythology and the duality of struggle and serenity.

Bio

John Felix Arnold III was born in Durham, NC. He received a BFA from Pratt Institute in 2002, and attended the San Francisco Art Institute for one year of continuing studies in 2007. He has shown globally, most notably with the SFMOMA, B.R.I.C. Arts House, The Luggage Store, Superchief Gallery, Aggregate Space, FFDG, and Joseph Gross Gallery. He is a Los Angeles Dept. of Cultural Affairs Grant Awardee, two time Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant Nominee, and is in the private collection of Takashi Murakami. He regularly works with Master Artist in Residence Hirokazu Kosaka at the Japanese American Creative Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and in 2018 he was commissioned to create a site specific piece for the historic I Magnin building in downtown Oakland, CA. He is based in California and splits his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. He is featured in Aggregate Space Gallery’s First 50 Retrospective Art Book, and his work has been covered by press outlets such as Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, 96 Hours (Kimberly Chun), San Francisco Art Enthusiast, Fecal Face, and Supersonic Art.