BIOGRAPHY
My work forms in gray matter, I pluck out the pearls, I sort out the rotten parts, regurgitate, lather, rinse, repeat. Interpersonal relationships, textual translations, and pixelated information make up our evolving social normative models, mine being no different. I often search for patterns behind the process. Sometimes to close the loop, sometimes to break it.
Reflection, distortion, emotion litter my process with random synaptic firings like land mines, but it’s all a necessary means to connect the dots in my attempt to form a connection. I see it as this type of kaleidoscope where I examine the mundane day-to-day, where I find beauty in the banal or miserable. As a way of acceptance, rather than ignorance, then pushing past and moving beyond.
Justin W John was born on the U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines in 1981. He grew up on the East Coast in Virginia and Maryland. His artistic talents lead him to study art and graphic design at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, MD; he received his BFA the spring of 2003.
Shortly thereafter, Justin relocated to Washington, D.C. and began his career as a freelance graphic/web designer. He was quickly picked up by Aquent and through them gained experience in publishing and in-house corporate design. Soon his clients included B.E.T., The Peace Corps, McGraw-Hill Publishing and more.
With his young creative spirit and passion for music he was also involved with Baltimore and D.C.’s vibrant music scenes by working with a few production companies as a promoter.
While freelancing, Justin also put his creative efforts into the retail service industry. His eye for art and design easily translated into fashion styling and merchandising. He held creative and management roles with Urban Outfitters, Pottery Barn, and FLOR (Interface).
In 2014, Justin moved cross-country to Boise, Idaho to be closer to family. Currently, he lives and creates the majority of his work in his studio in Boise’s historic Idanha Hotel.
Periodiocally he can also be found in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
2003 — BFA in Graphic Design, Concentration in Digital Media Arts
Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Studied under: Ellen Lupton
AWARDS
2002 — Graphic Design Department Recognition Award
2000 — Seymour Mandelbaum Merit Award
2020 — My Artrepreneur™ Program, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, ID
2020 — Art Auction 52, Group exhibition, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
2019 — Traffic Box Art Pop-Up, Group show, Beside Bardenay, Boise, ID
2019 — North x Northwest, Group exhibition, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
2019 — 17th Annual Juried Art Show, Group exhibition, Art Source Gallery, Boise, ID
2019 — Art Auction 51, Group exhibition, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
2018 — Conceptions Art Show, Group show, Iron Triangle, DTLA
2018 — RAW: CONNECT, Group show, Revolution Concert Center, Garden City, ID
2018 — SIMULACRUM, Solo exhibition, UPCYCLE Studio, Boise, ID
2011 — Exposed: The Polaroid Retrospective II, Lamont Bishop Gallery, Washington, DC
2019 — Go With The Flow by Kristen T Ramirez, Boise Greenbelt Mural Project, Boise, ID
2019 — “300 Gallons” by Justin W John, Boise Traffic Box Program, Boise, ID
“Yellowstone Art Auction 51 Catalog, Official YAA51 Exhibition Catalog.” Yellowstone Art Museum. January 2019. pp 17, 41.
Nelson, Lex: “Justin W. John: Simulacrum” Boise Weekly, Arts & Culture. May 23, 2018.
2019 — Boise Art Museum – Art in the Park
2018 — Boise State Public Radio – Art in the Park
2018 — Boise Art Museum – Art in the Park, Annual Gala
2017 — Boise Art Museum – Art in the Park, Annual Gala