Calm was born in New York. He received his BFA from Montclair State University in 1997 and his MFA from Columbia University in 2000.
Career
Calm's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, and written about in many publications. In 2008 he was the recipient of an Art Matters grant.
Since 2009, Calm has been dividing his time between his native New York and Boston, where he teaches and is director of the Senior Thesis Program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Work
Jonathan Calm's photo and video work explores connections with the aesthetics of sculpture, documentary journalism, and particularly architecture. The architectural development of public housing and its socio-cultural, historical and geopolitical impact on local and global urban communities constitutes anmajor theme in his art.
Calm was one of the featured artists in the Renaissance Society of Chicago's 2008 Black Is, Black Ain't exhibition, which showcased racially related themes of what has been called Post-Blackness.
Calm participated in the 2015 Pulse New York Art Fair.
Selected solo exhibitions
“Jonathan Calm: Chambers,” LMAKprojects, New York, NY, 2014
“Jonathan Calm: Projects,” Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY, 2008
“Scratching Chance ,” Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, 2008
“Offline & Infamous,” Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY, 2005
“Liquor, Lotto and Chinese Food,” Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY, 2002
Selected group exhibitions and screenings
"2013 deCordova Biennial," deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA, 2013-2014
“Video Studio: Psychogeography,” Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, 2011
“Black Is, Black Ain’t,” curated by Hamza Walker, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2008
“Taking Shelter”, curated by Michele Snyder & James Voorhies, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, OH, 2008
“Streetwise,” curated by Elga Wimmer, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 2008
“For the Love of the Game: Race and Sports,” curated by Franklin Sirmans and Rehema Barber, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, 2007
“Role Play,” curated by Cylena Simonds, in corporation with “The Black Cube,” curated by David A. Bailey, Tate Britain, London, 2006
“Frequency,” Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, 2005
“The City: Contemporary Views of the Built Environment,”curated by Susan Hoeltzel, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, NY, 2005
“Currents: African American Video Art Today”, Curated by Terri Smith, Cheekwood Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, 2004
“The Crystal Land”, curated by Raul Zamudio, Aljira Gallery, Newark, NJ (catalogue), 2004
“One Channel Only,” curated by Barry Rosenberg, Contemporary Art Galleries: Stoors The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 2004
“Reel New York: Experimental Directions,” Public Broadcasting System, New York, NY, 2004
“New Visions: Emerging Trends in African American Art,“ Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, Washington, DC, 2003
“Main Space = Project Spaces,” curated by Lauri Firstenberg, Artist Space, New York, NY, 2003
“Mass Appeal: The Art Object and Hip Hop Culture,” curated by Franklin Sirmans, traveling exhibition, 2003
“Rotterdam Film Festival”, Rotterdam, Netherlands, screening 2003
“Documentary Fortnight, Museum Of Modern Art at The Gramercy Theatre”, New York, NY, screening and discussion with artist, 2002
“Dusk,” curated by David Hunt, I-20 Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue), 2000
In print
Copeland, Huey. “The Blackness of Blackness,” Artforum, October, 2009, p. 151
Gladman, Randy. Jonathan Calm, NYArts, July/Aug. 2002, p. 17 (illus.)
Hunt, David. “Jonathan Calm,” Artext, Fall 2002 (illus.)
Minto, Brooke. “Frequency,” catalogue essay, Studio Museum of Art, NYC, Nov 9, 2005–March 12, 2006, pp. 34-35 (illus.)
Pollack, Barbara, “Frequency,” Art News, Feb. 2006, p. 129
Reimer, Karen and Hamza Walker, Black is, Black Ain't, catalogue, 2013
Sirmans, Franklin. “Mass Appeal: The Art Object and Hip Hop Culture,” catalogue essay, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada, August 2002
Valdez, Sarah. “Report From New York, Bling and Beyond,” Art in America, April 2006, p.63 (illus.)
Young, Lisa J. “Jonathan Calm,” Tema Celeste, July-August, 2002, p. 90 (illus.)
