For the first time in Thailand, a solo exhibition by abstract expressionist graffiti painter JonOne is featured in Bangkok under the theme "Thaï Love" at The Art Gallery of Rosewood hotel.
Born in New York to Dominican parents, JonOne, whose real name is John Andrew Perello, grew up in the Heights, a mixed-race neighbourhood in the northern part of Manhattan, amidst the emergence of the early 1980s graffiti and hip-hop culture.
He moved to Paris in the late 1980s following a meeting with French postwar and contemporary painter Bando and has been residing in the City of Light since.
His work draws inspiration from globally revered visual artists including Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró and Henri Matisse, as well as American abstract expressionists Pollock, Kooning, Joan Mitchell and Robert Motherwell.
JonOne. (Photos courtesy of Zoo Studio)
JonOne's work on canvas is a representation of a graffitied subway train whose speed generates streaks of colour. His attention to the agitation and movement of colour rather than figuration has become a trademark.
His exhibitions started off in Berlin, Paris and Monaco. Then JonOne's unique paintings, an explosion of colours that define his view of the world and love of freedom, began to grace galleries in big cities worldwide from Tokyo to Geneva, Beijing, New York, Hong Kong, Brussels and Rome. In 2015, a work by JonOne entitled Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité was inaugurated at Salon des Mariannes, the French National Assembly in Paris. A few weeks later, he was distinguished as a Knight of the Legion of Honor.
The "Thaï Love Exposition Personnelle" is the latest series of Rosewood Bangkok's quarterly rotating showcases of local and international artists. The never-before-seen repertoire of JonOne's artworks is created especially for the event and inspired by Thailand.
JonOne's exhibition is held from now until June at The Art Gallery on the hotel's 3rd floor. It opens daily from 9am to 9pm. Entry is free to the public. For more information call 02-080-0080.
