John Sanchez
Above: After Show, 2009
John Sanchez was born in Passaic, NJ and grew up in the blue-collar town of North Bergen. His upbringing is the origin of the working-class attitude he brings to his work. He blends traditional painting techniques with a photographic sensibility, creating a portrait of those seemingly unremarkable moments that urge to be contemplated in all their reality. Sanchez is a graduate of the Art Institute of Miami, and holds an MFA from Florida International University. His work has caught the attention of collectors including Debra and Dennis Scholl, Bill Bilowit and Grela Orihuela. He is also in the collection of the Frost Art Museum at FIU. He lives and works in South Florida.
Monday Night Football, 2009
Statement
Painting is the way I choose to relate my experiences with the world's.
A traditional medium that never becomes dated, paint offers me the very idea of being connected to our history; it is in the fabric of our experience with art. My art is about relating to what we already know through moments of our experiences. I strive to visualize and make permanent the "here, now, and fleeting" of our lives.
Moments spent waiting in our car for a green light on a desolate street late at night, moments where we zip by an industrial complex, moments of waiting for an elevator to arrive on your floor, all intrigue me, it is my way of "stopping to smell the roses"
In trying to capture the fleeting, I paint with as much speed as I can. It is as if I were trying to paint a scene as fast as I experienced it. Edits are pointless to my work because in its very nature causes me to be too permanent. It is the result of mixing my ability with the subject/concept that I arrive at a painting, and the unplanned marks and non-marks are every bit as important as the image conscience brush stroke.
My immediate surroundings are what inspire my recent work. Still being important to me is that our everyday living is what art should reflect.