Bio
earliest Paintworks projects was the Designer Showcase at Saratoga, California's Villa Montalvo (1989), where Jonsson and the team donated time and services in the creation of an artist's suite.
In 1990 he moved across the bay to the 2,000 sq. ft. Lake Merritt studio (Oakland, CA), remaining until 1995. At the studio, he produced his notable series "The Doors", featuring eight abstractly painted doors which speak to the Industrial Revolution, and "The Tree of Knowledge.." (an abstract painting with 22 separate Caran-d'Ache drawings). During the same period he taught drawing and painting privately, as well as seminars to public school teachers entitled "Teaching the The Value of Art".
Then he started yearning to be near the Atlantic Ocean so he took a studio on a beautiful old New Jerey island for a year. At The Shore he explored new directions in painting evidenced in works like Our Dolphins, Male Religion, and The First Supper. Proximity to Manhattan allowed him to reconnect with former associates, and he began to transition back into the Fine Arts arena. Entering a competition allowed him to be selected to exhibit in the first-ever CD-ROM virtual exhibition [Virtuosity 1995] at the Park Avenue Armory (Park/E66) in Manhattan. There were over 10,000 entrants worldwide, of which 300 chosen by judges (gallery owners) Ivan Karp, Pamela Auchincloss and Allan Stone.
Jonsson returned to California in late 1996. Since then he has been creating large scale murals, abstract and realistic paintings, and portraits. The primary focus of his work now uses a combination of realism, abstraction, surrealism, and drawing, which he calls"Imagined Realism". The canvasses he paints on are a fraction the size of his previous wall paintings, some of the new work measures as small as ten by twelve inches. His "Early Walk Series" exempifies this combination of styles and size differential. "When you use the energy it takes to create a trompe l'oeil mural and condense that energy down to the size of such a small canvas, you get this incredibly strong, 'real feeling' work, even if you're not painting realistically."
Also noteworthy of this recent time are a series of ten drawings on archival paper entitled "Memories", each of which explores the relationship of 'fact' to 'memory', using the streets of Paris as metaphor.
Jonsson is currently creating art, and educating artists and non-artists alike in San Francisco, CA and elsewhere in the world. You can see his recent work "Manhattan" on the Video page. Send questions or request information here.
Jonsson painting at Villa Montalvo
Virtuosity at Park Avenue Armory
Jonsson at various worksites (2010)
OVERVIEW: Jonsson was born in San Jose, California. In his formative years he studied at School of Visual Arts, New York City, advancing his undergraduate work. During that time he developed an interesting habit of signing his artwork using the old spelling of his grandfather's name (that is, the spelling before it was changed to its Americanized version, Johnson, at Ellis Island where his grandfather immigrated).
He has created accomplished works of art in many mediums over the past twenty-plus years, is known primarily for trompe l'oeil mural paintings, and has exhibited in gallery and non-gallery shows in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Oakland (CA).
Jonsson has also produced a substantial secondary body of work -- pencil and charcoal drawings, pen and inks, and custom-painted furnishings, while primarily producing site-specific works of art, in what can certainly be described as a most interesting and unusual career.
"The Doors " during creation at Lake Merritt
PATRON: (noun) 1. One who protects, fosters, countenances or supports some person or thing: a protector or benefactor.
U n i t e d S t a t e s E u r o p e S o u t h A m e r i c a
The first syllable of his surname (Jon) told everyone that my grandfather (not pictured) was Jon's son.
THE DETAILS: Jonsson's artistic journey began with what he jokingly refers to as his first 'mural experience' at age 5. He transformed his parents' expensive Living Room wallpaper by applying red crayon to greenish wallpaper. He was heavily influenced by his father who was a NASA Flight Simulation Specialist responsible for training astronauts for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space flights. The time spent visiting Nasa Ames with his father was inspirational in many ways; he learned to use his imagination, and to dream that anything is possible. At age fifteen he was encouraged by a talented exhibiting artist to pursue drawing, which he did informally until entering college.
After studying Architecture, Drama, and Fine Arts at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA, he attended Santa Monica College (Los Angeles), where he was strongly advised by an art professor to "pursue college in New York City". In August of 1980 he was accepted to School of Visual Arts, where he immediately learned a most important lesson -- if you want to succeed you have to give at least 200% of yourself. New York offered alot of artistic stimulation and freedom, although years of struggle remained ahead.
Fortune came his way when he was invited to assist an Interior Designer whose clients included the duPont's, Whitney's, and the vonStade's. Soon after he became acquainted with the Interior Design Industry by apprenticing at several prominent showrooms in Manhattan's noteworthy D&D (Design & Decoration) Building. After studying Fine Art in college this design experience seemed to create tremendous distance from the art world, when, in fact, it was actually prepartion for the career path that would soon emerge -- Fine Art and Interior Design equals Trompe L'oeil mural painting.
Jonsson's first post-college professional mural, The Interloper, was painted in 1985 on-site at a male-model's penthouse apartment in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan. Many works of art followed as his popularity grew, with prominent patrons in New York and Boston at that point in time. He decided to move nearer to family in 1987, transplanting himself to a beautiful apartment in San Francisco. There he formed an Atelier of (Nob Hill) neighborhood painters and writers, each having a separate art studio on the premises. He also began Paintworks, a mural art service which offered trompe l'oeil murals, drawings, paintings, faux finishes and hand-painted furniture. He was the sole creative force there, and was assisted by a business/financial manager, videographer, and a project development team. One of the
My great-grandfather
JON OLSSON
(circa 1915)
Photos: Bob Ruggles
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