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John Sparagana

John Sparagana, Breather #14, 2017. Oil on canvas, 80 x 68 in. / 203.2 x 172.7 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #14, 2017. Oil on canvas, 80 x 68 in. / 203.2 x 172.7 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #13, 2017. Oil on canvas, 80 x 70 in. / 203.2 x 177.8 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #13, 2017. Oil on canvas, 80 x 70 in. / 203.2 x 177.8 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #12, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #12, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #11, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #11, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #10, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #10, 2017. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #1, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. / 152.4 x 122 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #1, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. / 152.4 x 122 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #2, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. / 152.4 x 122 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #2, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. / 152.4 x 122 cm.

John Sparagana, #3, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60x50in.

John Sparagana, #3, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60x50in.

John Sparagana, Breather #4, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #4, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #5, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #5, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Themesong Derivation #6, 2016. Archival inkjet print, sliced and mixed on paper 34 x 24 in. / 86.4 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Themesong Derivation #6, 2016. Archival inkjet print, sliced and mixed on paper 34 x 24 in. / 86.4 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #6, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #6, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in. / 91.5 x 61 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #7, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in.

John Sparagana, Breather #7, 2016. Oil on linen over wood panel, 36 x 24 in.

John Sparagana, Breather #8, 2016. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. / 122 x 91.5 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #8, 2016. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. / 122 x 91.5 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #9, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Breather #9, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. / 152.4 x 152.4 cm.

John Sparagana, Dick Tracy Variation (empty speech) #1, 2015. 25 Archival inkjet prints sliced and mixed on paper, mounted on aluminum, 93 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. / 236.8 x 181 cm.

John Sparagana, Dick Tracy Variation (empty speech) #1, 2015. 25 Archival inkjet prints sliced and mixed on paper, mounted on aluminum, 93 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. / 236.8 x 181 cm.

John Sparagana, Themesong Variation #8, 2015. 25 Archival inkjet prints sliced and mixed on paper, mounted on aluminum, 94 x 71 in. / 238.8 x 180.3 cm.

John Sparagana, Themesong Variation #8, 2015. 25 Archival inkjet prints sliced and mixed on paper, mounted on aluminum, 94 x 71 in. / 238.8 x 180.3 cm.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, installation view at Sicardi Gallery, El Cuerpo Sutil, 2014.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: Kennedy Brothers 2, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick and oil paint, sliced and mixed, on paper, 20 3/4 in. x 31 1/4 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: Kennedy Brothers 2, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick and oil paint, sliced and mixed, on paper, 20 3/4 in. x 31 1/4 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: The Revolutionaries 2, 2013. Fatigued magazine pages with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 21 in. x 31 1/2 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: The Revolutionaries 2, 2013. Fatigued magazine pages with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 21 in. x 31 1/2 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: American Soldier and Afghanis, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 21 1/2 in. x 31 1/4 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: American Soldier and Afghanis, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 21 1/2 in. x 31 1/4 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: The Street, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 68 in. x 100 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: The Street, 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 68 in. x 100 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: Times Square Crowd (Geronimo), 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 56 3/4 in. x 96 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: Times Square Crowd (Geronimo), 2013. Archival inkjet prints with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 56 3/4 in. x 96 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds &amp; Powder: Kennedy Brothers 3, 2013. Fatigued magazine pages with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 19 3/4 in. x 30 1/4 in.

John Sparagana, Crowds & Powder: Kennedy Brothers 3, 2013. Fatigued magazine pages with oil stick, sliced and mixed, on paper, 19 3/4 in. x 30 1/4 in.

Biography

JOHN SPARAGANA (b. 1958, New York/Lives in Houston and New York)

John Sparagana is the Grace Christian Vietti Chair in Visual Arts and Chair of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts at Rice University. Sparagana’s publications include Sleeping Beauty: A One Artist Dictionary, with Mieke Bal, University of Chicago Press, 2008; Reading Revolutionaries, with Reto Geiser, Benteli, 2014; and Projectile, with Reto Geiser and David Grubbs, Drag City, 2021 (upcoming). On the occasion of Sparagana’s 2019 solo exhibition, Shatter, Corbett vs Dempsey published the monograph John Spargan, covering five series completed between 2016-2019.

His work has been shown internationally, most recently with exhibitions in Los Angeles, Berlin, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Zürich, and is included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Lose Angeles, CA, USA; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, USA; and Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO among others.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2021
Projectile, Soccer Club Club, Chicago, IL, USA

2019
Shatter, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2017
John Sparagana: Breather, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Superman Variations, Susanne Vielmetter Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2016
Themesong Variations, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2013
Crowds and Powder, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2012
Geronimo, Rice University Public Art Program, BRC, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

2011
Going Down For The Third Time, Bryan Miller Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Geronimo, Sox, Berlin, Germany
Between The Eyes, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2009
The Crisis Professionals, CTRL Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

2008
John Sparagana, CTRL Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

2007
Afternoon Hallucinogenic, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY, USA

2006
What the Child Saw, What the Lover Saw, What the Killer Saw, moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL, USA

2005
People Everywhere are Stoned, Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston, TX, USA

2004
People Everywhere are Tired, Modern Culture, NY, USA
Sleeping Beauty, Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston, TX, USA

2002
I Wait For You Every Night, Rice University Media Center, Houston, TX, USA
Swoon, Wall Installation, James Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

2001
Sublime, James Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

Selected Public Collections

Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA

Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, USA

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Houston, TX, USA

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, USA

Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE, USA

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, USA

Denver Art Museum, Denver CO, USA