03 john w ford selected catalogs solo exhibitions prior to 2008 small by John W. Ford

JOHN W. FORD HOUSE NOT A HOME

A publication of ISLA Press ÂŠ 2011 First Edition

VISUAL ARTS GALLERY

Emory University Atlanta, Georgia September 15 to October 22, 2011

This project made possible by:

Visual Arts Department, Emory University School of the Arts / Faculty of Humanities McMaster University The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Arts & Science Council (ASC) The North Carolina Arts Council (NCAC), a division of the Department of Cultural Resources

CONTENTS ARTIST STATEMENT

. A SYSTEM FOR EYES, HALF CLOSED IMAGES CURRICULUM VITAE

ARTIST STATEMENT - HOUSE NOT A HOME

HOUSE NOT A HOME - WITHIN / WITHOUT

To fully understand how these sculptures developed, it might be worth considering the work that precedes it. They have evolved from a series of monumental, site-specific installation projects linked to abandoned spaces in Ireland, Poland, Wisconsin, and the Utah desert, executed between 1991 and 1999. Each past project was unique, determined by the nature of the individual site, its history, and the variables of travel and work time involved with each. The last of those large complex projects, Preview, Process, and Archive (1999, with Berlin artist Renate Herter, following pages), and owing to circumstances beyond my control, it became clear to me that I must re-evaluate the purpose of such extensive projects in light of the obstacles that arose as a result of their inherent difficulties. I knew I had to reduce the scale and ambition of my practice if I were to remain active as a creative practitioner. I felt I wanted to simulate the engagement between artist and architectural space, so typical of site-specific work, but to do so on a more intimate scale. I began to consider architectural structures in new ways, and wondered if I might be able to create a facsimile space in which to work, and which might allow me to interact within it in ways similar to those in the larger installations. While the larger works provided an immersion experience - the artist and audience present within and becoming part of the piece itself - these new sculptures actually prevent the audience from a physical immersion because of the glass vitrines. Perhaps more of an emotional and psychological interface is possible, but from without, not within. The vitrine has often been employed as a device, and in my case, it is a vestige of the 1999 project Preview, Process, and Archive, where the glass case not only created an archive of precious objects, it also archived the process of making itself. The new sculptures deal with many of the same conceptual issues present in past, large scale works - found objects as indicators of human existence, ambiguous and fragile construction that seems somewhere near completion or imminent collapse, and questions of belonging or alienation - and I think they have reinvigorated a sense of purpose for my work. Ironically, the series title House not a Home suggests my internal sense of disquiet after many years of travel for work, and in fact a few actual displacements from places I considered to be home. When I consider how many times I have relocated in my life, I realize I feel almost

permanently dislocated; that I live in a house (or apartment), but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like a home; that it is becoming difficult to remember a feeling that felt like I was at home. Shortly following the 1999 collaboration with Renate Herter, I received a package from Germany. Inside was a remarkable text by Renate, a recollection of her personal experience with my work. I include it in this publication as a way to suggest the sort of engagement and interaction I hope the viewer might bring to this new, related work House not a Home.

John W. Ford, 2011

Detail view of House not a Home: Angle of Repose, 2011 in the Trahern Gallery at Austin Peay State University.

A SYSTEM FOR EYES, HALF-CLOSED

A SYSTEM FOR EYES, HALF-CLOSED Sooner or later objects find John as if they had waited for this one chance to finally present themselves after a long time spent unnoticed. Take, for instance, the plain brown suitcase with its fragile contents which John bravely (and very carefully) opened once in an attic in Ireland. Which was just as well, since those particular objects require special care and responsibility. Doubtless they imply a special technique, a special way of working with them as well; a method which is based on and propelled by a certain respect for their unassuming appearance, for this insignificant existence contains the traces of former owners as well. That’s what we encounter in John’s installation as if we were on a journey. I suppose a public forum, some kind of platform, or just a provisional home must be provided for everything these objects have to tell us. And because they tell us so much, there can never be an end to it all, never a final form, never a terminus. There are, instead, always new possibilities and variations, over and over breathing back life into these stories. And John started to install and get established with all those special objects he takes along on his voyages. They emerge from boxes and cartons, get unpacked, unwrapped, spread out and arranged in a sort of preliminary order. In a trice we are in John’s studio, in his home away from home. Soon the objects begin to sing. In that way John finds his own system intuitively, as though with eyes half closed, trusting his hands which in turn trust all those objects they have touched, and thus explored, and therefore understood on past journeys. The temporary, transitory sculpture growing out of this creative process presents in its nucleus – as if a four-sided shrine – a collection of small objects which touch us, as it were because of their unassuming plainess. They show the trail of a voyage through the mind, connecting and intensifying those fleeting moments of past lives which radiate from each of them; weaving a story of unknown places and persons, past and present, who live there and are no different from us.

The outer field, is marked by four border posts or stelae and appears, if compared to the compact center, more fragile, almost transitory. On top of each of these four wood and glass stelae rests an open book under a glass cover. If we want to perceive the center, the nucleus of Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s installation, as the actual work of art and the outer field as some sort of path leading us there - then we can hear a quiet voice on the perimeter, sounding muted, almost hidden; a voice like a trace, a voice like a hint, telling of the permanent voyage through the imaginary space inhabited by art; informing all of those who know how to decipher this message - speaking of what it means to create art.

Overall view of the exhibition Preview, Process, and Archive, 1999 at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

Detail view of the exhibition Preview, Process, and Archive, 1999 at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

As I walk from one stela to the next, my eyes are drawn by single words and whole passages which illustrate the inner connection of those four boundary posts, beginning in the east and ending in the west. In the east where the sun rises and the day begins, is the entrance to the gallery hall, leading the visitor to the eastern stela first. Seeing - the open book is about seeing. Everything begins with the book - it is every understanding of our world. Seeing is the basis for all artistic endeavor. The two stelae in the north, pulled back almost to the far wall of the room, refer to something that is comparable with the situation in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own studio. By talking about the struggles in the material world (the book about Julius Ceasar) and the experiences in a spiritual world (the book about St. Peter), the pages of the two books are actually telling us something about two different but interlocked aspects of the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work; the permanent struggle with the material that should turn into a work of art and the adventure of inspiration.

Detail view of book, installed on stele in Preview, Process, and Archive, 1999 at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

Finally, the fourth and last stela awaits us in the west where the day ends and the dream begins. Wishes and hopes at the end of hard work (somehow like the bringing in of the harvest) find a voice in the dream poem by Gerontius: â&#x20AC;&#x153;My work is done / my task is oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;er / and so I come / Taking it home . . .â&#x20AC;?. When standing, in turn, next to each of those stelae, I can see the inner space from an ever changing perspective. From this position on the perimeter, the objects still appear slightly vague and, in the accumulation, of equal value. Only when one gets really close to the inner space and its objects, the different stopovers of this journey as well as the dissimilarity and yet simutaneous relationship of the visual moments come into focus.

The installation Preview, Process, and Archive, as seen from within Renate Herter installation Hause Fraum (Head Rooms).

. View of the sculptural installation Haus Fraum (Head Rooms) by Renate Herter, 1999.

On the last day of my stay I am alone in the gallery room. To the south of John’s work I can see my installation facing to his one: three floating, ever so slightly moving “headrooms” made of paraffin, gaining a translucent fragility in the artificial light. And from the pages of John’s opened books two fragments of sentences speak to me and my objects: “Luminous bodies in the night . . .” and “Assure myself I have a body still . . .”. With eyes half closed, to trust one’s hands and body. For they store up what we have done and recognized thus far.

Renate Herter, July 1999 (translation: Jochen Becker) Renate Herter is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Berlin, Germany. She has been Professor of Sculpture – Transmedial Space, University of Art, Linz, Austria, (2001 – 08) since 2008 visiting professor, Institut of Media, Linz, Austria.

HOUSE NOT A HOME

Overall view of the exhibition House not a Home, 2011 in the Trahern Gallery at Austin Peay State University.

View through two sculptures in the exhibition House not a Home, 2011 in the Trahern Gallery at Austin Peay State University.

HOUSE NOT A HOME: ANGLE OF REPOSE

House not a Home: Angle of Repose, 2011; Intaglio prints, wood, glass, string, glue, and found objects; 46 x 57 x 29â&#x20AC;?.

House not a Home: Angle of Repose (detail), 2011; Intaglio prints, wood, glass, string, glue, and found objects; 46 x 57 x 29â&#x20AC;?.

HOUSE NOT A HOME: PROSTHETIC REFLEXION

Overall view of the exhibition House not a Home, 2011 in the Trahern Gallery at Austin Peay State University.

House not a Home: Prosthetic Reflexion (detail), 2010; Intaglio prints, wood, glass, string, glue, found objects; 36 x 37 x 28â&#x20AC;?.

HOUSE NOT A HOME: CHURCH WARDEN

House not a Home: Church Warden, 2009; Intaglio prints, wood, glass, string, glue, found objects; 36 x 37 x 28â&#x20AC;?.

House not a Home: Church Warden (detail), 2009; Intaglio prints, wood, glass, string, glue, found objects; 36 x 37 x 28â&#x20AC;?.

JOHN W. FORD A CASE FOR SMALL THINGS: FORGOTTEN SPACE

A publication of ISLA Press ÂŠ 2008

. Hand-bound and limited edition Made using Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop featuring Arial and Garamond fonts

transit gallery 230 Locke Street South Hamilton ON L8P 4B7 CANADA

905.522.1299 art@transitgallery.ca www.transitgallery.ca

January 29 to March 2, 2008

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aesthetics is the opposite of anesthetics. While anesthetics are intended to reduce or deaden the senses, aesthetics is the process by which the senses and sensibilities are awakened.

From a radio interview with cultural geographer YI-FU TUAN

NEWEST WORKS

For many years I have employed very traditional printing methods to create my monoprints. In the past 5 or 6 years Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve employed the computer to develop positive-image transparencies for exposure to photo-polymer films which then become intaglio plates. For no particular reason, I have never really perceived a natural method by which to make digital prints as finished product, yet just recently I began to experiment with the potential of my imagery using Photoshop and other digital imagining methods to create hybrid works. Following are some works that result from that recent experimentation. They are curious images to me, yet I am interested at the color possibilities and the chance to enlist imagery directly from the more traditional prints I continue to make, along with with digital photography. As with the other imagery I have created over 20-plus years, this group of work grows out of the experience of traveling, exploring, collecting, and examining the relationship of objects and the place in which they are found. This work is the effort to create a visual language to explain that which we often can not understand in other ways.

“Forgotten Space: Lone Chair Pink Wall”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Artur's Fireplace”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Black Fireplace, Keys to Derry”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Pink Wall and Trees”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Green Fireplace”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Yellow Room with Door”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

“Forgotten Space: Pink Wall and Polish Memorial”, 2008; Archival Digital Print; 8 x 16”.

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, syntax is the “grammatical arrangement of words in speech or writing; the set of rules governing this”. If we take a few liberties with the term, one might conjure the imagined syntax of a visual language, employed as a guide or legend, a sort of map for the application of thoughts, facts, and feelings to facilitate human understanding and communication (isn’t the notation and structure of visual imagery perhaps the first known form of recorded communication?). Symbols and images have the potential to convey complex substantive information, and humans actively and passively absorb these complex messages and interpret them in an infinite variety of ways. This process might be indicative of the essential need to “see”, whether with our eyes or through other sensory channels. If I am generally correct in this assumption, I play something of a linguistic role interpreting or constructing a visual language (and syntax) from the traditional materials of art as well as the residual artifacts of life. In practical terms, most language requires a context in which to exist. In the body of works for this exhibition, the context is primarily defined by the surface area of the copper plates, and the paper upon which the image is applied. Within the environment of a print, there are indications of further spatial division, and as well the subtle implications of a shallow depth within an essentially flat surface. Of course, there are also the layers of object-images that are themselves potential stimuli for interpretation. Through the process of constructing the etched and photo-polymer plates, and the printing of multiple layers of image and tonal ink films, I hope to re-create something of a space that the interested viewer may explore. It is within a loosely syntactical grouping of images that narratives may be formed, not only by the maker of the art, but also by those who observe the process and the final work. The result is neither finite, scientific, nor historical, and instead affirms the slippage and instability of time-affected interpretation. It seems appropriate that we affirm the very real power of residual evidence to convey open-ended stories, providing a theater of imagination by which to see the human condition.

“FRAGMENT 9”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 8”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 7”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 6”, 2006; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 3”, 2006; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 5”, 2006; Intaglio monoprint; 8 x 24”.

“FRAGMENT 11”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“FRAGMENT 13”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“FRAGMENT 14”, 2007; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“BLUE FLY IN A YELLOW FIELD”, 2005; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“FOUR AND AFT”, 2005; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“IFS AND BUTS”, 2005; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“HAND ME DOWN BLUES”, 2005; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“LOST KEYS TO A CROOKED PATH”, 2004; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“TRUTH AT A SPADE’S DEPTH”, 2004; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

BACKGROUND

Ours is an age of magnified drama, extreme information, and rampant media stimulation. Certainly, dramatic events throughout the world affect our lives. However, so much attention seems to be focused on the larger events that we sometimes lose perspective, relinquish control as navigators of our own lives, and become less vigilant about our actions on a personal scale. Much of my artwork intends to focus attention upon the significant smaller events within the lives of individuals, so that in comprehending some of the smaller relationships we might better make judgements about actions on a larger scale. In coming to a foundational comprehension of the human epic, we establish legends that may serve as guides for both individual and group actions.

A long time ago people began to make images and also write in order to contain and preserve thoughts and stories, record important information. Perhaps one of the very first uses of writing and image-making was the creation of maps. Today we think of maps, even documents, as instruments of precise data, whereas in earlier times they were probably something more like approximations of ideas and perceptions. I have long been fascinated by maps and mapping. The maps of National Geographic, the precision mapping of archaeological digs, the creation of documents which represent a physical, and perhaps metaphysical location; all these references and more are the impetus for much of my creative practice. Some images in this book contain literal maps , but most of the works refer to maps of the mind, and maps of the heart, incised over my own life-time but also the life-time of other people whose lives are represented in the images. These are personal documents, maps and devices of human detail.

PRINTS, AND OTHER MATTERS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST, 2000; Exhibition at UNC - Chapel Hill.

Were I an uninitiated viewer of this work, I should wish to be forgiven for thinking that the image on the facing page is the work from which the smaller images may have derived. In the history of Art, we often think that a painting (or in this case a sculptural assemblage) may take precedence in terms of general importance. However, I would like to note that this assemblage, made of found objects and even literal maps, owes a great deal to the years of intaglio printmaking experience which came before. It was in the rather intimate choreography of the print process that I began to work in such symetrical systems of organization; it was in my prints that I began to realize the relationship of my work to aged documents and maps; and finally, it was in the prints that the ground-work was laid for the virtual floor-plans of site-specific installations which are a large component of my creative practice in the last ten years. LARAMIE LULLABY-BYE (facing page) is a document in itself. It is something akin to a journal of four months spent in Laramie, Wyoming. It is a story of displacement, and the effort to return to the appropriate physical and psychic context. It is a schematic for travel, and a diary of the trip.

“LARAMIE LULLABY-BYE”, 1995-97; Mixed-media assemblage made of wood, maps, string, glue, fabric, paint, and photo-emulsion on glass; 73 x 93 x 9”.

In 1987 I travelled to Ireland. While in Ireland I had the opportunity to teach at the National College of Art in Dublin. During a ten-month period working in Dublin, I also began to make prints in the Black Church Studios, a cooperative studio of professional printmakers. In the collection of printmaking equipment, there were several large lithographic stones which contained images from the original ordinance survey map of Ireland. Made by the British during their colonial rule in Ireland, the map represented the largest scale map (1â&#x20AC;?-6 miles) of its kind at that point in history. I was fascinated to find the image and made several prints from it. My interest likely stemmed from the fact that this trip to Ireland was the first major international travel of my adult life, and the map seemed to be an appropriate indicator of this personal adventure. The images of wheels, taken from my own archive of found objects, became something of a metaphor for this activity of relocation. Someone commented that this print, and others from the suite, had the appearance of a topographical view of an archaeological site, complete with objects excavated but also still partially covered, and the precise lines which demarcate the area of work.

“IRISH WHEEL SUITE: LEO’S WHEELS”, 1987; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 16”.

Not long following the series IRISH WHEEL SUITE I began to develop images that refered not only to archaeological sensibilities, but which also seemed related to architecture. So in addition to the appearance and layout reminiscent of an old map or document, these prints begin to take on the appearance of imaginary schemata for potential building.

Above: â&#x20AC;&#x153;DERRY MAIDENâ&#x20AC;?, 1991; Site-specific sculpture, Orchard Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland.

This work was also instrumental in giving me the confidence to consider sculptural objects for the first time in my creative practice. It would be several years until the first major sitebased sculptural work was realized, but the shape of the arch so apparent in BESSEMER, 1989 (facing page) becomes the iconic symbol for the installation DERRY MAIDEN and THIRD WORLD GUARDIAN, both 1991.

“EMERALD ARC”, 1989; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 36”.

PAGES: GIRLS FROM ADAIR’S contains images from a package of early twentieth-century negatives found in the cellar of former Adair’s Funeral Parlour. Though I found these and other very personal, even historic materials, and offered them to the Derry Historical Society, no one from the city of Derry expressed an interest in their historical or personal importance. Following one year, during which a friend had tried to place the artifacts into the possession of potential interested parties, a small parcel arrived at my home in Wisconsin. Contained within were all the materials found in the old residence at Adair’s, including the film negatives from a personal collection which once belonged to Miss Mary Kirkpatrick. Miss Kirkpatrick had at one time been a teacher in the Longtower school, and within her personal effects there were many indications of her correspondence and friendships with other women throughout Ireland, and also her friends at the school. The title derives, quite simply, from the discovery of this group of “friends”, probably long deceased, but brought to life through discoveries made in the residences of the former Adair’s Funeral Parlor.

“PAGES: GIRLS FROM ADAIRS’S”, 1996; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

In a few prints, I find myself leaning toward quite a personal narrative, hinting at anecdotes by the use of associative references from my life. PAGES: CONSIDERED THE MIDPOINT, 1998 is a montage of images bearing great personal significance. There is the image of a quilting square left by my maternal grandmother, then given me by my mother just so that I might “make something with it”. The grid pattern so characteristic to quilting contains images of important people and places from my life. The image from my childhood in Nigeria, our neighbors in the village of Ijegu, is reflective of the ambivalent reaction I still have regarding the missionary impulse which led to my being in Africa in the first place. The small text is an excerpt found in a Victorian publication called “The Races of Mankind”, an absurd caricature of Anthropology. And finally, the top of a tombstone from Remu cemetery in Cracow, Poland, one of the two oldest Jewish cemeteries in all Europe. This and other stones were preserved from desecration by the Nazis during the war, an act of heroic proportions in the face of awesome odds.

“PAGES: CONSIDERED THE MIDPOINT”, 1998; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

ORIGINS AND PROCESS My formal training was primarily drawing, printmaking, and painting. Interestingly, the discipline necessary to work within the organized space of a canvas or an etching plate allowed me the confidence to explore other expressive forms, and since about 1991 I have been active as a site-based sculptor as well as painter and printmaker.

Above: Detail view from the sculptural installation PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE, 1999; Below: Series of found objects from the collection.

Over the years my work has developed into a process of collecting, archiving, and presenting objects and images, something vaguely akin to Visual Anthropology. The objects may seem unimportant, yet they speak of societal and natural processes, and when assembled into formal arrangements, the composite parts create a kind of narrative that is neither factual nor mythic - it is open to interpretation and speculation.

Small objects, viewed in total, reveal a monumental whole, and present for the viewer a “quiet zone” that allows for personal reflection and contemplation. There is a thoughtful order to the presentation, and the amalgam takes on the sense of reliquary as well as some sort of complicated game. It was upon recognition of this aspect of “play” that I began plans for works on paper that had this same quality of a field of play, described by a curator as something of a “cosmic gameboard”.

Above: “THE GAME OF CHOICES”, 2001; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 36”.

The following pages are representative of a reverse chronology of monoprints and mixed-media assemblages, an attempt to indicate the visual and metaphoric interplay between relatively different forms, and an overview of my artwork from a decade or more.

“FLIGHT OF BLACK AND BLUE JAYS”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“WHEN PUSHING BUTTONS HAS NO EFFECT”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 24x 25”.

“NARROW BLUE DOORS AND SMALL RED WINDOWS”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“PORTAL”, 2001; Intaglio monoprint; 24 x 25”.

“PORTAL: CROSS-WORD”, 2001; Intaglio monoprint; 23.5 x 25”.

“NOTES: BLUE SPADE NEWS”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 5.5 x 28”.

“NOTES: A WALK IN THE GARDENS OF DISPUTED HISTORY”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 5.5 x 28”.

“NOTES: LAMENT OF THE WATERBOY”, 2002; Intaglio monoprint; 5.5 x 28”.

CURRICULUM VITA

JOHN W. FORD Assistant Tel. Email. URL

MFA Studio Art / 1986 (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville)

Professor of Art / University of North Carolina at Charlotte 704.687.4477 (work) or 704.302.1174 (home) jwford@uncc.edu http://www.art.uncc.edu/ford.html

AWARDS / RESIDENCIES

Artist Residency; Atelier Imago, Centre culturel Aberdeen, Moncton, Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada Printmakers of North Carolina Award & Honorable Mention; “Pulling Prints Together”, Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC Faculty Research Grant; University of North Carolina Charlotte, 2007-08 Academic Year Office of International Programs and Dean of Arts and Sciences grants to research in Ireland, summer 2007 Artist Residency; Plains Art Museum / Fargo, ND; April-May 2004 Artist Residency; Belfast Print Workshop / Belfast, Northern Ireland; 2001 Artist Residency; Flax Art Studios / Belfast, Northern Ireland; March-May 1998 Wisconsin Arts Board Individual Artist’s Fellowship, 1996 Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts / NYC, 1995 ArtsLink Collaborative Projects Grant / Central and Eastern Europe, 1995 Virginia A. Groot Foundation Individual Artist’s Grant / Chicago, 1993; Recognition Award, 1992 College Art Association Travel Grant, 1992 Arts Midwest / NEA Individual Artist’s Fellowship / Sculpture, 1991 Artist Residency; Orchard Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland, 1991 EXHIBITIONS * (denotes solo exhibition) 2008 (forthcoming exhibits) “Syntax of Residue: Small Things Forgotten”, Belfast Print Workshop Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland * (January ’08) “A Case for Small Things: Forgotten Space”, transit gallery; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada * (January - February ’08) “PRINTED: Contemporary Prints and Books by North Carolina Aritists”; Greenhill Center for Art; Greensboro, NC (February ’08) “Artists of Social Conscience: The Holocaust”, group invitational; Cameron Art Museum - UNC Wilmington; Wilmington, NC (May ’08) “Syntax of Residue: Person as Object”, William Havu Fine Arts; Denver, CO (July - August ’08) “Syntax of Residue: Time as Object”, University Galleries, Clarion University; Clarion, PA (October ’08) 2007 “Pulling Prints Together”, juried exhibition; Visual Art Exchange; Raleigh, NC (juried by Linda Dougherty, Curator at the NC Museum of Art) “Prints U.S.A 2007”, national juried exhibition; Springfield Art Museum; Springfield, MO (juried by Mark Pascale, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at The Art Institute of Chicago) “Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières”, international juried exhibition; Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada (exhibit selected by members of BIEC, including Guy Langevin, Jo Ann Lanneville, others) “31st Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibit”, international juried exhibition; Bradley University, Peoria, IL (Judith Brodsky, Juror) “Fragments of the Soul”, two-person exhibit; The New Space - Augusta State University, Augusta, GA Bi-annual Faculty Exhibition; Rowe Main Gallery - University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC

2006 “25/25”, Touring Exhibit (Belfast, Derry, and Antrim); traveling invitational exhibition organized by BPW, Belfast, N. Ireland “Open Submission Print Exhibition 2006”, international juried exhibition; Limerick Printmakers Association; Limerick, Ireland “John W. Ford: Mixed-media Works on Paper”, Folio Gallery; Texas Tech University School of Art * “New Faculty Exhibition”, with Heather Freeman and Michael Simpson; University of North Carolina at Charlotte 2005 “Bits and Pieces”, SNAP Gallery (Society of Northern Alberta Printmakers); Edmonton, Alberta, Canada * “9th Annual UxShow 2005”, National Juried Exhibition; Uxbridge Townhall; Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada (Jurors: Nicholas Metivier Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto and David Aurandt - Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa) “25/25”, exhibition of Belfast Print Workshop Permanent Collection (with catalogue publication and digital archive); Belfast, N. Ireland “SYNTAX OF RESIDUE”, transit gallery; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada * 2004 Selected artist for “Global Impressions”, international juried exhibition at the World Bank, Washington DC; Exhibition was cancelled “Intaglio Monoprints”, transit gallery; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada * “A Case for Small Things”; Galleria Il Sotoportego; Scuola Internazionale di Grafica; Venice, Italy * “New Acquisitions”; Plains Art Museum; Fargo, ND “A Decade of Art from the Wisconsin Academy Gallery”; Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters; Madison, WI 2003 “The Keys to Crime on a Personal Scale”; KM art; Milwaukee, WI * “Recent Works on Paper”; The Gallery; Bloomington, IN * “Prints U.S.A. 2003”, National Juried Exhibition; Springfield Art Museum; Springfield, MO “Dialog Loci”, group exhibition of project proposals; Bastion Philipp, fortress at Kostrzyn, Poland “Memories and Permutations”, two-person exhibition with Julia Kjelgaard; Elgin Community College; Elgin, IL “Girardot National Juried Exhibition”; Arts Council of Southeast Missouri; Cape Girardeau, MO 2000 - 2002 Group Invitational, Historic Juden School Gallery; Cape Girardeau, MO “Visual Perspectives: 14 Years of the Virginia A. Groot Awards”, during S.O.F.A. in Chicago Group Exhibition of Works on Paper; William Havu Gallery; Denver, CO “The Syntax of Residue”; Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland * “Prints, and Other Matters of Potential Interest”; Allcott Gallery; UNC-Chapel Hill * 1999 “Beyond the Frame”, Two-person with Robert Van Vranken; Knoxville Museum of Art; Knoxville, TN KM art; Milwaukee, WI * Wisconsin Triennial; Madison Art Center; Madison, WI Two-person with Berlin artist Renate Herter; Carlsten Gallery, UW-Stevens Point; Stevens Point, WI 27th Bradley National Print and Drawing; Bradley University; Peoria, IL

1998 Semantics Gallery; Cincinnati, OH * 840 Gallery, University of Cincinnati; Cincinnati, OH * Site-based Work in Progress; Austin Peay State University; Clarksville, TN * “Archetype”, (group with Michael Warren and Don Prince); Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, N. Ireland 1997 Galeria Krzysztofory; Kraków, Poland * Fassbender Gallery; Chicago, IL * “Exhibit A”, invitational; Illinois State University Galleries; Normal, IL 1996 1/1 A Gallery; Denver, CO * Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; Milwaukee, WI * The Gallery; Bloomington, IN * Group invitational traveling exhibition; Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Recipients (eight sites) Four Person collaborative installation; Cisco, UT “2+2=5” invitational, OneWest Art Center; Ft. Collins, CO

1995 Southeast Missouri State University; Cape Girardeau, MO * Christel DeHaan Fine Art Center, University of Indianapolis; Indianapolis, IN * Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters; Madison, WI * “Spotkania Krakowskie 1995”, Galeria BWA; Kraków, Poland “A Gathering of Galleries”, invitational, Arvada Center for the Arts; Arvada, CO 1994 Second Street Gallery; Charlottesville, VA * New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art; New Harmony, IN * Fenderesky Gallery at Queens; Belfast, Northern Ireland * Sculpture Invitational, 1/1 A Gallery; Denver, CO Two Person, Internos Gallery; Milwaukee, WI ARC Regional, ARC Gallery; Chicago, IL “Location”, invitational, Milwaukee Institute of Art; Milwaukee, WI “Ars Interruptis”, invitational, Milwaukee Institute of Art; Milwaukee, WI 1993 Galeria Pryzmat; Kraków, Poland * 1/1 A Gallery; Denver, CO * Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; Milwaukee, WI * Esther Saks Fine Art Ltd.; Chicago, IL *

Continued - Exhibits 1993

Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Art Center; Madison, WI Two Person with Julia Kjelgaard, Portland State University; Portland, OR International Expo, Navy Pier; Chicago, IL Group, Lincoln Center for the Arts; Ft. Collins, CO Group, Gallery of Contemporary Art; Colorado Springs, CO 1992 No Name Gallery; Minneapolis, MN * University of Wisconsin Center; Marshfield, WI * Two Person, University of Wyoming; Laramie, WY “Approximately 40 Concepts”, invitational, Metropolitan Gallery; Milwaukee, WI Group, Alternative Arts Alliance; Denver, CO 1991 Orchard Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland * also Installation, former Adair’s Funeral Parlour, as part of “Available Resources” Metropolitan Gallery; Milwaukee, WI * Fenderesky Gallery at Queens; Belfast, Northern Ireland * University of Wisconsin Center; Sheboygan, WI * 23rd Bradley National, Bradley University; Peoria, IL “Wisconsin ’91", University to Wisconsin; Stevens Point, WI “Verging on Emergence”, University of Wisconsin Art Museum; Milwaukee, WI “Material Incarnate”, Esther Saks Gallery; Chicago, IL “Works on Paper”, Fenderesky Gallery at Queens; Belfast, Northern Ireland 1990 Concordia College; St. Paul, MN * “A Common Thread”, collaborative installation; J. M. Kohler Art Center; Sheboygan, WI International Expo at Navy Pier; Chicago, IL “Old Friends and New Acquaintances”, Esther Saks Gallery; Chicago, IL 1989 4th International Contemporary Art Expo; Los Angeles, CA 9th National Print Exhibition; Ft. Wayne, IN “Found Art”, Art Muscle Magazine; Milwaukee, WI “Shakers and Movers”, Posner Gallery; Milwaukee, WI 1988 Oliver Dowling Gallery; Dublin, Ireland * Fenderesky Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland * 2nd National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Fenderesky Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland

1987 EV+A juried exhibition; Limerick City Gallery; Limerick, Ireland Group exhibition; Foyle Centre for the Arts; Derry, Northern Ireland PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (also numerous private collections in the US and Europe)

Chazen Museum of Art (formerly the Elvehjem Museum of Art); University of Wisconsin - Madison; Madison, WI Scuola Internazionale di Grafica; Venice, Italy University of Alberta Art Museum; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Knoxville Museum of Art; Knoxville, TN Plains Art Museum; Fargo, ND Hallmark Fine Art Collections; Kansas City, MO Arts Council of Northern Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland 3M Corporation; Minneapolis, MN BBC Northern Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland Saks Fifth Avenue; Chicago, IL and New York, NY Genpower, Inc.; Denver, CO Safeco Northwest; Seattle, WA Mulheron and Associates, Quantity Surveyors; Derry, Northern Ireland City of Milwaukee; Milwaukee, WI First of America Bank; Peoria, IL First Wisconsin Bank; Milwaukee, WI Quad Graphics; New Berlin, WI University of Ulster-Magee; Derry, Northern Ireland University of Wyoming Art Museum; Laramie, WY TEACHING EXPERIENCE Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Printmaking; University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Charlotte, NC (Current) Assistant Professor; McMaster University; Hamilton, Ontario; Canada (2004-05 School year) Visiting Artist and Instructor; Scuola Internazionale di Grafica; Venice, Italy (two-week workshop, August 2004) Artist-Teacher in Low-residence MFA program; Vermont College; Spring of 2003 Artist in Residence (one month teaching residency); Illinois State University; Normal, IL Fall 2002 Artist in Residence (Spring 2000); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Artist in Residence (Oct/Nov 1998); University of Cincinnati and the Visual Arts Alliance Artist in Residence (one month residency, Sept. 1998); Austin Peay State Univ.; Clarksville, TN Artist in Residence (one month residency); Illinois State University; Normal, IL 1996 Artist in Residence / adjunct instructor, University of Indianapolis; Indianapolis, IN 1995-96 Artist in Residence / adjunct instructor, University of Wisconsin; Stevens Point, WI 1994-95 Adjunct Instructor, University of Wisconsin Centers; Fond du Lac and West Bend, WI 1988-90 Adjunct, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design; Milwaukee, WI 1988 Adjunct, National College of Art and Design; Dublin, Ireland 1987-88

LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

(all without specific notations represent lectures)

Texas Tech University; Lubbock, TX (slide lecture, graduate student tutorials, Fall 2006) University of Alberta; Edmonton, AB (slide lecture, 2005) SNAP Gallery; Edmonton, AB (gallery talk, 2005) Scuola Internazionale di Grafica; Venice, Italy (slide lecture, 2004) Minnesota State University – Moorhead; Moorhead, MN (slide lecture, 2004) Indiana University; Bloomington, IN (presentation, Fall 2003) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (symposium with Artur Tajber, Brian Kennedy, and Bogdan Achimescu, 2003) Indiana State University; Terre Haute, IN (lecture, 2003) University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ (lecture, seminar 2002) Kansas City Art Institute; Kansas City, MO (lecture 2001) University of Wisconsin - Madison; Madison, WI (lecture, workshop 2001) University of Wisconsin - Platteville; Platteville, WI (lecture 2001) Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, N. Ireland (lecture, 2001) University of Ulster - Belfast; Belfast, N. Ireland (lecture 2001) Belfast Print Workshop; (lecture 2001) Southeast Missouri State University (lectures, tutorials during 2000-2001 school year) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (lectures, tutorials, workshops during March 2000) University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Knoxville, TN (lecture in conjunction with Knoxville Museum, January 2000) Knoxville Museum of Art; Knoxville, TN (Gallery talk, January 2000) University of Kentucky; Lexington, KY (Seminar with Artur Tajber, November 1999) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Stevens Point, WI (workshop in printmaking) University of Kansas; Lawrence, KS (tutorials, lecture) Kansas City Art Institute; Kansas City, MO (workshops in printmaking, career seminar, lectures to sculptors) Cincinnati Art Museum; Cincinnati, OH (lecture as part of Visiting Artist Alliance residency) Austin Peay State University; Clarksville, TN Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (tutorials with sculpture students, lecture, career seminar) Elgin Community College (lecture in conjunction with solo exhibition) University of Ulster-Belfast (lecture in conjunction with FlaxArt residency and exhibition at Ormeau Baths Gallery) Context Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland (lecture 1998) Seacourt Print Workshop; Bangor, Northern Ireland (lecture 1998) Columbus College of Art and Design (lecture, seminar with sculpture students) University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI (workshop in printmaking 1997, lecture to professional practice course 1994) University of Illinois; Champaign, IL (Public lecture, seminar in professional practices course) Colorado State University; Ft. Collins, CO (public lecture, lecture to professional practice course) University of Southern Colorado; Pueblo, CO (printmaking workshop, public lecture) Southeast Missouri State University; Cape Girardeau, MO (1995, 1992) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (presentation, tutorials, organized by students) Concordia College; St. Paul, MN (1994, 1990) Northwest Institute of Technology-Studio Art; Derry, Northern Ireland Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design; Milwaukee, WI (1994, 1991) Independent Artists’ Union (ZPAP); Kraków, Poland Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; Milwaukee, WI Portland State University; Portland, OR

Cont’d / Lectures and Workshops

Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville; Edwardsville, IL University of Southern Indiana; Evansville, IN Orchard Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland John Michael Kohler Art Center; Sheboygan, WI Lawrence University; Appleton, WI Crawford College of Art and Design; Cork, Ireland University of Ulster-Belfast; Belfast, Northern Ireland PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS / MEMBERSHIPS Society of Northern Alberta Printmakers (since 2005) College Art Association, New York, NY (since 1994) KULA e.V., Social Art Regional Organisation, Berlin, Germany (honorary member since 2003) Fort Sztuki Association, Kraków, Poland (honorary member since 1997) International School of Loose Affiliations (founding member since 1994)

CONFERENCES / PANELS “Approaching the Spiritual: Contemporary Artists as Shrine Makers”, panelist; College Art Association Conference 2005; Atlanta, GA “Interdisciplinary Dialogue”, featured artist and panelist; Thomas More College and Visiting Artist Alliance of Cincinnati; 1998 “Border Subjects 2: Bodies of Evidence”, featured artist and speaker; Illinois State University; 1997 “Vital Resources: Visiting Artists / Alternative Facilitators”, chair; Mid-America College Art Association Conference1995; Indianapolis, IN “The Gypsy Artist / Educator”; College Art Association Conference 1995; San Antonio, TX “Mixed Disciplines”; Southern Graphics Council Annual Meeting 1993; Baltimore, MD “Symbols and Diversity: Young Painters”; Mid-America CAA 1992; Birmingham, AL PUBLICATIONS / CATALOGUES 5th edition of la Biennale internationale d’estampe (exhibition catalogue). Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada; 2007 “25/25” (exhibition catalogue and digital archive). Belfast Print Workshop; Belfast, Northern Ireland; 2006 Prints USA 2003 (exhibition catalogue). Springfield Art Museum; Springfield, MO; 2003 Dialog Loci (Catalogue of exhibition proposals) KostrzyDskie Centrum Kultury and KULA e. V. ; 2003 Visual Perspectives: 14 Years of the Virginia A. Groot Awards, (exhibition catalogue). Exhibits during SOFA - Chicago; 2002 The Syntax of Residue, (exhibition catalogue) Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Catalogue essay by Jean Hess; 2001 Prints, and other Matters of Potential Interest, (self-publish catalogue). Fine Art Gallery, UNC-Chapel Hill; ISLA publications; 2000 Contemporary American Printmaking. Jilin Fine Arts Publishing; Beijing, China; 1999 Wisconsin Triennial, (exhibition catalogue). Madison Art Center; Madison, WI 1999 Preview, Process, and Archive (project with John W. Ford and Renate Herter). Carlsten Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Catalogue essay by Suzanne A. Woods; 1999

John W. Ford: Assemblages and Prints (exhibition catalogue). Elgin Community College; 1998Archetype: Eliot & Kant & Ford & Prince & Warren (exhibition checklist). Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Essay by Dr. Nora Donnelly. 1998 1996 Wisconsin Arts Board Visual and Media Arts Fellowship Awards (exhibition catalogue). Wisconsin Arts Board, in conjunction with traveling exhibition. 1996 John W. Ford: View Without Boundaries. ISLA Publicatios, in conjunction with exhibits in Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Kraków, Poland. 1996 Spotkania Krakowskie: Wolne Miasto Kraków, (project catalogue). Galeria BWA; Kraków, Poland 1995 Bridge: Common Threads (exhibition catalogue). Galeria Pryzmat; Kraków, Poland 1993 Wisconsin Triennial, (exhibition catalogue). Madison Art Center; Madison, WI 1993 Available Resources (project catalogue). Orchard Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland 1992 High Visibility, Fellowship recipients. Arts Midwest/NEA; Minneapolis, MN 1991 23rd Bradley National (exhibition catalogue). Bradley University; 1991 REVIEWS / ARTICLES Sculpture Magazine. September 1999; Review: “Archetype”, Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, N. Ireland Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 11, 1998; Review: Visiting Artist Alliance Guest Artist The Leaf-Chronicle. Clarksville, TN, August 27, 1998; Installation at Austin Peay State University Isthmus. Madison, WI, August 1997; Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Recipients Westword. Denver, CO, July 1996; Exhibition at 1/1 A Gallery Art Muscle Magazine. Milwaukee, WI, Oct / Nov 1996; Exhibition at Walkers Point Center The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, IN, Nov. 11, 1995; Lecture at University of Indianapolis Capital Times. Madison, WI, July 1995; Exhibition at Wisconsin Academy Westword. Denver, CO, August 1993; Exhibition at 1/1 A Gallery Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, WI, May 1993; Installation at Walkers Point Center for the Arts The Sentinel. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, July 1991; Installation at Orchard Gallery Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL, March 1991; Exhibition at Esther Saks Gallery The Sunday Post-Crescent. Appleton, WI, December 1990; Installation at J. M. Kohler Art Center The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland, March 1988; Exhibition at Oliver Dowling Gallery

John W. Ford 7019 Rockland Drive Charlotte, NC 28213 USA 704.302.1174 jwford@uncc.edu