Skip to content

John Guzman

Drowning in Harmony

Sean Kelly, New York

February 1 – March 2, 2024

Sean Kelly Gallery is delighted to present John Guzman’s solo exhibition Drowning in Harmony. Guzman’s visceral artworks deconstruct the body to navigate the unpredictable, unusual, and at times, unbearable moments of life. Featuring a compelling series of new large and small oil paintings and works on paper, the exhibition delves into the complexities of the human experience. 

John Guzman - Drowning in Harmony - 展覽 - Sean Kelly Gallery

Drowning in Harmony presents Guzman’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narrative to explore his unique visual language. His innovative approach to painting serves as a form of documentation, revealing the transformative nature of the body by reducing it to textured lines and muted colors. Drawing from lived experiences in the Southside of San Antonio, Texas, Guzman’s paintings abstract the human figure to reflect the unrecognizable transformations of the body resulting from stress. Guzman’s mastery of form, color, and conceptual depth is evident in this new series of works which demonstrate his ability to push artistic boundaries. The works on paper further highlight Guzman’s versatility, translating intricate concepts into a more intimate medium.

"My fascination with the human form is the amount of abuse the body can endure. I’ve watched people push themselves to the limit, sometimes to death. My imagery represents this brutal and self-inflicted punishment and my first-hand experience of losing someone to that struggle. I was a spectator to their transformation, to the damage to their mental and physical state until they were unrecognizable." - John Guzman

John Guzman - Drowning in Harmony - 展覽 - Sean Kelly Gallery

Positioning his figures within domestic architecture, Guzman intricately weaves links between the environment and its inhabitants. In his paintings, Guzman assembles distorted, tangled figures confined in cramped domestic spaces, creating a visual language for the condition of existence at the edge of survival. The exhibition creates a link between the environment and its inhabitants as Guzman explores space, style, subject matter, and line, addressing the fragility of the psyche and altered landscapes.

I deconstruct the human element to represent punishment brought upon oneself and the sense of loss that can exist in someone familiar. I use rooms of domestic architecture to provide a recognizable setting, walls and stairs are utilized as a symbol to emphasize the distance between myself and the toxic environment. - John Guzman

John Guzman received formal training from the Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX. In June 2022, he had his first museum solo exhibition, John Guzman: Flesh and Bone at Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX. He is a graduate of NXTHVN’s Fellowship Program in New Haven, CT, which had its culminating exhibition, Undercurrents at Sean Kelly, New York in June 2022. He currently lives and works in New Haven, CT.

For media inquiries, please email Adair Lentini at Adair@skny.com

For all other inquiries, please email Janine Cirincione at Janine@skny.com