About Me

I'm Jon E. Nimetz

As an artist, I have been navigating an ever-evolving sense of self for as long as I can remember. My perception of identity shifted for the first time when I was six years old and I discovered that I was adopted. The truth created a chasm within me, a space filled with longing. But in that space, I also found possibility: the freedom to become whoever I chose, and the urge to express the deep, unspoken feelings I carried as a child. This eventually led me to pursue visual creation, my way of making sense of a world that suddenly no longer felt like mine.

As my understanding of self evolved over the years, so did the choices I made in my creative process. In the early days before the internet, I would take photographs from old movies playing on television, developing rolls of 35mm film and using them as my inspirations to paint. But as I moved into the 2000s, I dropped reference material altogether and started painting directly from my imagination. The figure remained central in my work, but the characters now existed within abstract, surreal environments, dreamlike spaces where identity could shift and expand.

Towards the end of that decade, I began incorporating words and poetry into my paintings. I became fascinated by the interplay between the human figure, text, and abstraction. It felt like language and form were in conversation, revealing and concealing meanings at once. Around 2005, there occurred another major shift when I stopped seeing myself as an individual moving through society and began to understand myself as part of something much larger, a biological being intricately connected to the vast, complex universe. This new perspective pushed me towards a deeper integration of natural elements, Abstract Expressionism, and Surrealism. I moved away from literal figures, but the narrative remained, often carried through the titles of my work.

More recently, I’ve come to see both myself and the world as complex systems of molecular activity and cellular function. My latest work draws on concepts from String Theory, biology, chemistry, and the microscopic worlds of flora, fauna, and viruses. I want my paintings to create a sense of visual motion, to make the viewer's eyes bounce restlessly across the canvas, unable to settle. While my current work is abstract, it’s also highly structured. I call this approach Abstract Surrealism.

I work primarily in mixed media, especially acrylic and paint pens, and my process includes in-depth research of microscopic imagery, magnifying and merging elements to form large-scale compositions. Though the literal figure is gone, I still see it, embedded within the cellular forms, interacting with others, alive in the rhythm and movement of the piece.

All of my art carries meaning, but I believe the final interpretation belongs to the viewer. Between the microcosm and the macrocosm exists humanity and all of its shared experiences. If we share similar experiences, then perhaps we also share perceptions, and through that, a deeper understanding of the meaning of the Universe. My work is both abstract and surreal, chaotic and precise, filled with meaning and yet open to emptiness. It invites you to look closer, and to look within the layers of your ever-altering perceptions of self.

SUPERFINE ART IS A REGISTERED TM

USPTO # 7,654,507

Solo Shows

08/2010-04/2012, Ongoing Curator, Area 51, Venice, CA 10/2008

Arbor Designs, Arbor, Venice, CA 06/2006

Les Focus, Malia, Los Angeles, CA 03/2006,

Wallpaper Images Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 04/2006,

Bustycracked, Boston, MA05/2005,

Three Muses, The Brickhouse, Venice, CA 07/2005,

Quantum Headlights, Lunaire, Los Angeles, CA 10/2004,

Sunshine Art, Images Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 12/2003,

Wear White, Who Cares, 8-Seconds, Sausalito, CA 08/2003,

Urban Design, Simmons, 8x10 Lotion Square, Oakland, CA 11/2002,

Political Visions, Cannonball Fine Arts, San Anselmo, CA 04/2001

Pulse, Stanford University, Center for Integrated Systems, Palo Alto, CA 02/1999

Macromedia, SOMAart Design Center, San Francisco, CA 12/1998,

Art in Motion II, SOMAart Gallery, San Francisco, CA 10/1998,

Art in Motion I, M.H. DeYoung Museum Courtyard, San Francisco, CA 09/1998,

Iconoclasts, Spector & Rubin Fine, Montclair Gallery, San Francisco, CA 08/1996

Anonymity Known, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Group Shows

Thinking About Tomorrow, Los Angeles Center Studios, Los Angeles, CA11/2008

Hatzi, Hotel Erwin, Venice, CA04/2008,

Explorations SF, Henry Thoureau Center, The Presidio, SF, CA12/2007,

Off the Wall, Eco-LA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA10/2007,

Princeton D, DeYoung Gallery, Los Angeles, CA02/2006,

Behind the Mask, Boston, MA (Grand Prize Juried Award Winner)03/2002

125th Anniversary Juried Exhibit, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington,D.C.11/2001,

AIGA Group Exhibit, Cannonball Fine Arts, San Anselmo, CA05/1999

Cultureshock, The Jewelry Store, San Francisco, CA07/1998,

Introductions 1998, 871 Art Gallery, Oakland, CA03/1998 Award Winner,

All Four Art Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C.02/1998

MFA, Group Exhibit, Fort Mason Center, Herbst Pavilion, San Francisco, CA03/1998,

FFF Ball, Cell, San Francisco, CA03/1996,

Spring Show, Walter McBean Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Education-

B.A., Education B.A. Political Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, May, 1993

Post Baccalaureate, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, May, 1994

Masters Degree in Fine Art (Painting), San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, May, 1998

Masters in Secondary Art Education, LMU, 2018

Endeavors

Founder of Superfine Art, 2004

High School Art Teacher (2016-2022)

Originator of the Sharpie Squad, a group of international artists that utilize Sharpie brand products

Representation by 3M, Newell Rubbermaid (via Sharpie materials)

Primary inventor and official product tester for Sharpie brand products

Converse branded sneakers, 12 styles, sponsored by The Ave. Venice

Fundraising organizer and participant for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern California

Fundraising organizer and participant for "Thinking About Tomorrow" Fundraising organizer and participant for the Surf Rider Foundation

Created an art rich city enrichment program The Lesson House-

Teaching Assistant for multiple undergraduate courses at the San Francisco Art Institute

Interior wall designs/decorates for many restaurants, Santa Monica, CA (2006)

Course designer for two separate undergraduate courses at the San Francisco Art Institute

Multiple Art education outreach public speaking engagements

Participated in CBS outdoor sponsored billboard project, 2005-LA. Showing in LA, SF, andVegas

Multiple restaurant mural commissions including: Zeitgeist, The Marin Brewing Company, Reecow Brewding Company, Extreme Pizza

Work featured on HBO art series "The Hackerettes"

Work featured in both the Pacific Sun and the Marin Independent Journal (SF Bay Area)-Work featured on KPIX's SF Bay Area CBS affiliate) "Weekend Edition"

Participation in over 20 LIVE painting performances

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