Biography

John Coburn has painted for the past half a century according to a simple philosophy: “I want to express my feeling about nature and the world.” Adopting religious and spiritual themes in his pursuit of abstract art as his mode of expression has obliged Coburn to pursue a lonely course, apart from the mainstream of postwar Australian painters. It is only in recent years, when the consistency of his approach has been appreciated and his paintings have achieved greater depth and colour, that his reputation has spread and wider recognition been accorded. Today he is widely held to be Australia’s foremost living abstract artist. (Bio from: http://www.artcollector.net.au/JohnCoburnSpiritofAbstraction)

Exhibitions

2011 Eternal Landscape, Christoper Sweet, Charles Yoder, curators Salmagundi Club, NYC 2010 Nonsense, Curated by Jill Wickenheiser at CWOW , Newark, NJ 2010 Ambling, A two person show at ADA Gallery, Richmond, Va. 2010 First Growth, Benefit Show for 1st st. Green, Pfaffman Gallery, NY 2010 Fairlane Marauder, Open Source Gallery, Brooklyn (solo) 2009 Sic Transit Gloria, Atlantic Gallery, NY 2009 Out of Square, Mikail Zakin Gallery, Demarest, NJ 2008 Summer Exhibition 2008, Will Cotton, David Salle curators, NYAA, NY 2008 Sprawl, Arts Guild of Rahway, NJ 2007 Rice and Beans/Black Eye Peas, Hugo Bastidas curator, Canco Lofts, J.C.,NJ 2007 Salon de Expace #4, AG Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2007 The Beholder’s Eye, Catherine Chapin curator, Salmagundi Club, NY 2007 WHYGTS , Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY 2006 What have you got to say, Mana Fine Arts, Jersey City, NJ 2006 Trash, Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY 2006 Salon 2006, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY 2005 Woods, DFN Gallery, New York, NY 2004 Urgent, Scott Pfaffman Gallery, New York, NY 2004 What Have You Got To Say, Grace, Jersey City, NJ 2003 A Bestiary, 55 Mercer Gallery, NY 2002 Jersey City Museum, Benefit Auction, Jersey City, NJ 2001 Take Heart, The Gallery at MPI Media Productions International, NY 2000 Exhibition Now 2000, Julie Heffernan curator, New York Academy of Art 2000 New Work, Space 156, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (solo) 1999 Untitled, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council curator, NY FederalReserve 1999 Paintings, Space 156 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn 1998 Beyond Appropriation, Philip Pearlstein curator, NYAA 1998 Graduate Exhibition, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY 1995 Prelude, The Canal Gallery, Holyoke, MA 1994 My First 10 Years, Campus Gallery, STCC. Spfld, Massachusetts (solo) 1994 Emerging Artists, Zone, Springfield, MA