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John Sebastian


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Paintings
2000 - 2014 


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Untitled Desktop Sketch'
​Canvas
Mixed Medium - White Out, Sharpie, Pencil, The Blood Of a Salesman'
Private Collection
​2008

Picture
Title: "Another Color Combination"
​2006

Enamel and Acrylic On Canvas
Another Color Combination 
​Sold: Private Collection

Picture
She's Come Undone
2010 Mixed Medium On Canvas
Private Collection

Picture
EDEN #1
2010
Acrylic
Canvas
Private Collection


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Prince Love
​2007
Mixed Medium 
Baby Crib Panel
​Sold: Private Collection  .


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Love Letters From Russia  #2
2007
Canvas ​48 x 72
Mixed Medium 
Sold:  Douglas Elliman  .

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Love Letters From Russia #3
2007
Canvas 24" x 32"
Mixed Medium
Sold: Private Collection   .

The human mind and condition fascinates me.

The bodies that house the mind the heart and the soul fascinate me.
I have spent a lifetime studying body movement facial expression and spiritual intent in hopes of gaining some port of entry to every individual I come in contact with, to explain (mostly to myself) why we do what we do and why evolution within our species seems to be taking so long.

Interactions with each other and our environments, with the elements of nature and the creatures we share the planet with intrigue me to no end. Just when I thought I may have found an answer I am pleasantly and sometimes unpleasantly surprised to find that I may have been wrong or lead to another path of understanding and must rethink my whole approach.

Supernatural occurrences, things that go bump in the night and the power we have within us which lays dormant within most either unintentionally or intentionally can send a chill straight up my spine. The power of the female and her dominance over the male will keep my mind occupied for years and years to come. Her shape and form and true beauty astounds me and her capacity to create life can sometimes fry my brain like bacon and eggs. Art in all its forms and genres have captivated my world and I dedicate myself and my life to it.

Through art we can explain the unexplainable.

Words visual impressions and physical and spiritual interactions consume us and through these experiences we will hopefully live a full and whole  life.  There are those who choose to live smaller more quiet existences and those of us who live a more grandiose existence.  Our need to judge and gauge - compare and compete - succeed and fail and succeed from our failures, this is the human condition and experience. This is what my art and life revolve around all of the above plus some. Magic in metaphors and the poetry of the universe are my compass and ruler and the earth and the surrounding multiverse and the creatures in it are my preferred subject to study and measure.

Picture

Self Portrait
2009
Kitchen Cabinet Door 
36" x "46
​Mixed Medium


Picture

One Boy
2010
Canvas 26" x "36
Mixed Medium
Collage
Sold: Private Collection .


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Untitled
2010
Canvas "36 x "48
​Sold Private Collection  .


Picture

Candy Rabbits
2011
Canvas "46 x "48
​Mixed Medium


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Angels
2004
Canvas "86 x "92
Sold : Private Collection .
Acrylic


John Sebastian was born in Long Island -  New York 

​He was raised in a family infused by generations of artists and craftsmen. Luthiers, Carpenters, Draftsman,
Engineers, and Musicians.


His father played a major role is his artistic career, a Korean war veteran, studio musician (guitar being his main instrument), mathematician and metallurgist by trade.

In a very large family, John grew up spending holidays first listening to his uncles and father playing classic swing music and jazz and eventually taught himself how to play guitar and joining in.
John brings music to his art in all its forms,

Self-taught John Sebastian has spent years perfecting several different disciplines of painting and drawing but stays within the parameters of abstract expressionism and impressionism.

Keeping in mind his unique and original styles of painting in series - Sebastian has veered away from traditional art academia and has instead acquired an approach to painting that retains hints of his favorite American  modern contemporary  painting masters, Paul Klee, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko and of course Gerhard Richter who he most likens his work to in that he follows no rules or palette patterns. He has derived a penchant for drawing and draftsmanship from the old masters, Albrecht Durer being one of his favorites.
​
Following in the footsteps of the great acting teacher Stanislavsky,
John Lives his Life In Art.

Picture

Love
2000
Refrigerator Box "48 x "64
​Mixed Medium


Picture

Untitled
"46 x "72 Canvas
Mixed Medium
​Sold Private Collection .


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Storms
2008
Canvas "28 x "42
Acrylic


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Untitled Diptych
Canvas 
Mixed Medium
​"24 x "36  - 2 Canvas Panels


Picture

Seven
2006
Canvas "24 x "36
Mixed Medium
​Sold Private Collection .


Picture
​Urban Daydream"
Mixed Medium'
'12 x 14'

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Untitled 
24 x 46
Wood Panel 
Mixed Medium
2008
Sold Private Collection .


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Untitled 
46 x 52
Mixed Medium
​2006


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EVE
Oil On Canvas
28 x 24
2006


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Landscape
Mixed Medium 
Wood Panel
38 x 42
2008


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Nude Drawing
Mixed Medium 
28 x 36
2007


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Love Letters From Russia #1
2007
28 x 36
Mixed Medium On Canvas

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Picture

The Underground
38 x 48
Mixed Medium On Canvas
2007 
Sold Private Collection .


Picture

RAW
48 x 52
Mixed Medium On Canvas 
2009


Picture

Wormholes
56 x 48
2009
Mixed Medium On Canvas


These Images are from  a study called
 
"Celebration Of Color"

I will be looking for the right gallery or space to create these onsite -  large scale mixed medium Paintings 


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​RESUME

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
2000  - 2006 : Atelier Art Soho:  Artist in Residence: 4 Solo Exhibitions yearly

2004 - 2008: Lisa Eickholt Landmark Gallery Space Soho
Monthly Salon Party Group Shows 2 Solo Exhibitions Yearly

MAIN ART EXHIBITIONS
1999: First Exhibition   - Solo Show : Jadite Gallery - Hell’s Kitchen

2000: Solo Exhibition : Series: The Underground:  Skylight 6 Art Gallery Photo Studio Chelsea

2000: 33 Degrees Fashion Company Solo Exhibition  -Garment District - Showroom - Midtown

2001: The Red Door Gallery Midtown : Solo Exhibition

2001 Nov: The Venezuelan Consulate -  Inauguration Group Show, Midtown

2001  - 2003: Helmsley Spear, Manhattan, Corporate Lobby Exhibitions

2003: Solo Exhibition The Hudson Lounge  - Several Private Exhibitions For The De Niro Family and Other Celebrities

2003 - 2006: Tribeca Film Festival: 7 Locations on the Tribeca Film Festival Tour 7 Paintings

2004: The Art Bar: West Village Solo Exhibition Drawings

2008 - Present: Publisher  / Owner The New York Optimist LLC: Weekly Online Magazine Featuring Artists From all Over the World.

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS:

Brooklyn Museum Of Art

Hearst Publishing
Corcoran
Helmsley Spear
Douglas Elliman
Robert De Niro
Porsche Club - Alsace France.


Contact John :

jsebastian@thenewyorkoptimist.com

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