JonOne

Early Life and Upringing

JonOne was born in New York's Harlem neighborhood to parents from the Dominican Republic. Growing up in Harlem, his introduction to street art began when he would see graffiti and tags on subway cars and city walls. When he was 17 he entered the world of graffiti with his childhood friend "White Man," tagging his name Jon with the numbers 156 on walls and trains in his neighborhood. He said, "The subway is a museum that runs through the city."

In 1984, he founded the graffiti group 156 All Starz, in order to bring together their passion for painting trains at night and to help forget about their problems, including drug use. At this time, he met the artist Bando, who was living in New York. Following an invitation from Bando, Jonone moved to Paris in 1987.

Career

He began his work as a painter on canvas in a workshop at the Hospital Ephemeral, a literal hospital building that became a squatting place for artists, located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Here, he painted with the artists A-One, Sharp, Ash (Victor Ash), Jayone and Skki.

JonOne made a name for himself in Parisian artistic circles through his work on canvas and the exhibitions he held, including one in 1990 at Gallery 45 Gleditsch in Berlin and the exhibition Graffiti Paris, at rue Chapon in Paris.
At an Artcurial auction on June 6, 2007, Match Point, a large canvas by JonOne made at the Hospital Ephemeral in 1993, was bought by a New York collector for €24,800, a record sale for the artist. This auction was also the highest bid ever obtained in France for a work of graffiti art. Since 2013 JonOne enriched its creation by collaborating with Didier Marien from the Boccara Gallery on an important series of street art rugs.

Quotes

"When I arrived in Paris in 1987, people were a little disappointed (laughs) I came from New York, so they saw me as the representative of New York graffiti. While it's true, I am primarily Jonone and basta! What I did was not representative of what they could imagine, I was more free and technically, I was in the imagination. As I had the technique, I could leave it behind me and create, combine hundreds of information, graphics take shortcuts while leaving me with the flow. Today, I belong to the old school. I work in a comfortable, at ease with lettering or anything else. I no longer have to prove anything: my past speaks for me. On the other hand, I did not want to spend my time on the claim."- JonOne"I have received no arts education. When I tagged trains in New York, I could not imagine that one day I would express myself on canvas. What really got me was the tag to see other painting graffiti all over town. The school to which I was very strict. And so boring! I remember at the time, those on the street were free. I did not want what America offered me: a job, a nice suit and a nice house. I met A-One (Anthony Clark from 1964 to 2001). He used to hang out with Jean-Michel Basquiat (Brooklyn, New York, December 22, 1960 - August 12, 1988). A-one was the link between the street and the world of art. He traveled in Europe and returned with a lot of money, just through his art. I listened to his travel books and my eyes burned with envy. At that time in New York, I was like many today: I was hanging in front of my building. In these times, I either I did not go out of my neighborhood. With A-One, I began to visit exhibitions, to feed my vision of what was happening in this world. I started to take my work seriously, not to consider it as vandalism but simply as art." - JonOne

Exhibitions

SOLO

2014, Cryptation, Kolly Gallery, Zürich, Suisse
2014, JonOne : Back In Town, Art Statements Gallery, Hong Kong, Chine

2013, When The Substance Becomes Bigger Than The Being (Blood Of Paris), New Square Gallery, Lille, France
2013, JonOne in Moscow, Boccara Gallery, Moscou, Russie
2013, L’art contemporain s’invite à Saint-Germain, Boutique agnès b., Paris, France
2013, Iron One, Art Partner Galerie Laurent Rigail& Eric Brugier, Paris, France
2013, J-Punk, Art Partner Galerie Laurent Rigail & Eric Brugier, Paris, France
2013, Twi-Lights Of Colors, Galerie Martine Ehmer, Bruxelles, Belgique

2012, A Beautiful Madness, Fabien Castanier Gallery, Los Angeles, Etats-Unis
2012, Untitled, Galerie David Pluskwa, Marseille, France
2012, Untitled, Barbara De Palma Gallery / Galerie David Pluskwa, Saint-Tropez, France
2012, JonOne Transformations, Galerie Rive Gauche Marcel Strouk, Paris, France
2011, Out Of Nowhere, New Square Gallery, Lille, France
2011, Throw Up, BKRW, Paris, France
2011, The City Breathes…,Galerie Rabouan-Moussion, Paris, France
2011, Untitled, Venise Cadre Gallery, Casablanca, Maroc
2011, Untitled, Gallery Magda Danysz, Shanghai, Chine
2011, Untitled, Bund 18 Gallery, Shanghai, Chine
2011, Da Sun Will Always Shine, Galerie Le Feuvre, Paris, France
2010, Da New Work, Galerie Helenbeck, Nice, France
2010, Abstractions, Gallery Magda Danysz, Paris, France
2010, Retrospective 20 ans / 20 years, Speerstra Gallery, Bursins, Suisse
2010, Escape From New York, Galerie Australe, Saint-Denis de la Réunion
2010, Carved In Stone, Art Partner Galerie Laurent Rigail & Eric Brugier, Paris, France
2009, Autoportraits, Art Partner Galerie Laurent Rigail & Eric Brugier, Paris, France
2009, Untitled, The Don Gallery, Milan, Italie
2009, Close up, Speerstra Gallery Genève, Suisse
2009, The Art is Yours, Gallery Magda Danysz, Paris, France
2009, Untitled, Bund 18 Gallery / Gallery Magda Danysz, Shanghai, Chine
2009, Graffiti Gallery, Copenhague, Danemark
2008, My Father’s Keeper, Galerie Le Feuvre, Paris, France
2008, De l’Art à la Table, Galerie Aga / La Cornue, Gland, Suisse
2008, Brut Graffiti (paintings) and Follow The Sun (works on paper), Speerstra Gallery, Bursins, Suisse
2008, JonOne Miami Beat, Carol Jazzar, Miami, Etats-Unis
2007, Urban Calligraphy, Art Statement Gallery, Harbour City, Hong Kong, Chine
2007, Sir JonOne à Paris, Galerie Helenbeck, Paris, France
2007, Art of Living, Speerstra Gallery Bursins, Suisse
2006, JonOne live painting and srt jam session-Finds, Art Statement Gallery, Hong Kong, Chine
2006, Serigraff, Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
2005, Back Jumps, The Live Issue.#2, Berlin, Allemagne
2005, Festival Walk, JonOne’s Graffiti, Art Statement Gallery Hong Kong, Chine
2005, Urban Calligraphy, Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
2005, Galerie Helenbeck, Nice, France
2004, Remix Art Collection série de 4 chaises Louis XV, Galerie Helenbeck, Nice, France
2004, Night and Day, Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
2003, Dr Ernest Emilion& Pauline Lang D.C present Medecine For The Soul… small paintings by JonOne, Paris, France
2003, 100% Vandal A Lyon… Pour agnès b. JonOne Window Painting, Lyon, France
2003, JonOne Talking to Walls, Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
2003, Galerie du jour agnès b., Los Angeles, San Francisco & Chicago, Etats-Unis
2002, agnès b. graffiti JonOne, Galerie du jour agnès b.,Ginza, Japon
2002, Black Diamonds, Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
2001, Digital Graffiti, Pop-Up Store, Paris, France
1998, Junk loves JonOne, Junk by Junko Shimada, Paris, France
1997, Junko Shimada, Paris, France
1995, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
1994, Color Vision, L’Espace, Paris, France
1992, Galerie Structures / Speerstra Gallery, Montpellier, France
1992, Tribal Instincts, Galerie Michel Gillet / Speerstra Gallery, Paris, France
1992, JonOne peintures, Galerie B5 / Speerstra Gallery, Fontvieille, Monaco
1992, JonOne, L’Hôpital Ephémère, Paris, France
1991, JonOne, Espace Protis, Paris, France