John Simon, Jr. (American, b. 1963) an artist primarily known for his sculptural work incorporating software code, has created a print related to his series of Divination Drawings; a years-long practice of daily hand drawings which the artist uses to meditate, but also as source material for larger works. Drawings from the Divination series begin intuitively; a pencil drawing or watercolor is started and then guided by the unconscious thoughts and emotions of that day. Simon’s interests include the scientific, spiritual and natural worlds, with mathematics usually playing the role of connectivity. Where many people see technical proficiency, others see art historical references, the beauty of scientific minutia, and the delicate nuances that occur from years of color theory studies.
Simon is one of the pioneers in the development of Software Art and is renowned in this area for articulating the use of code in digital and multimedia works since the mid 1980s. This early community of artists and curators created the first wave of software applications, web-based projects and digital approaches to art making, which continue to expand in new directions every year. As an example, Simon recently completed an app for Icelandic singer Björk’s new album, Biophilia; the first app album ever created (iTunes App Store). Other works from the Divination series can be seen on Simon’s website www.iclock.com.
Simon received his MFA in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts and additional degrees from Brown University in Providence, RI, and Washington University in St. Louis, MO. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA. Simon is represented in New York by the Gering & Lopez Gallery.
