NAME: John Monteith
BIRTH PLACE: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BIRTH DATE: 6.7.73
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1973 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada I began my formal education studying at the Ontario College of Art and Design graduating in 1997 with a diploma in drawing and painting. During my undergraduate studies, I spent a semester at Art Center in Pasadena California studying photography and a year in Florence, Italy studying the paintings of the Renaissance Masters.
Upon graduating, I spent a year and a half in London, England immersing myself in contemporary art of the new generation of British Artists. While in London I maintained a studio and began to produce paintings exploring themes of impermanence and identity.
Returning from London in 1999, I began showing in group exhibitions in Toronto, Canada, while developing a body of work in preparation for my first major solo show in 2002 at the Burston Gallery within the recently established Queen St West contemporary gallery district.
I n 2004, I spent two months traveling through Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo researching the traditional and post WW II art, architecture and culture of Japan. This work has greatly influenced my current production through the exploration of Buddhist notions of time as experienced within the temporal philosophies of On Kawara, the spatial relationships of traditional Japanese print and Nihonga painting, as well as the philosophy of the ÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃââÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃâìÃÆÃââââ¬Ã¦ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅSuper FlatÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃââÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡ÃâìÃÆÃââââ¬Ã
¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâàas introduced by Takashi Murakami. During my time in Japan, I began to reconsider notions of human relationships towards architectural environment and the nature in which these spaces mediate our interpersonal and emotional interactions.
During the summer after my return from Japan, I continued to maintain a rigorous studio practice, creating two solo exhibitions in 2004 and 2006, both exhibited at XEXE Gallery in Toronto. In that time I also contributed to a large number of group exhibitions including a survey exhibition of the new generation of Winnipeg and Toronto Artists at Gallery Neubacher. In November 2005 I presented a collaborative installation with Bruno Billio, resident sculptor of the Gladstone Hotel and Christopher House, celebrated director and choreographer of the Toronto Dance Theatre for the Toronto Alternative Art fair international (TAAFI) at the Gladstone Hotel. This collaboration explored the theme of home becoming both refuge and stage through the physical, real-time presence of three individuals occupying a small apartment related to each other through a shared experience of connected isolation and supernatural presence.
Presently I'm attending Parsons the New School for Design in New York completing my MFA.
Since my arrival in New York I have been asked to participate in a number of important fund raising auctions as well as a group exhibition of New York artists working with themes of architecture to be exhibited att the University of Massachusetts, Amhurst in February 2008.
