Naive John
Naive John (b. 1962, United Kingdom) is a British digital artist and figurative painter. His surreal paintings showcase his technical skills and meticulous attention to detail in rendering the image. Beginning with digital compositions crafted on his computer, Naive John painstakingly reconstructs his source material by hand, using pen, pencil, acrylics, and airbrush to complete the works. Naive John is reimagining the ways in which an artist can be both a storyteller and experimental craftsman.
Like a scientist in the lab, Naive John is creating new compositions to ponder, new textures to explore, new lost tales to retell. Both a cult-followed enigma and influential painter, Naive John works play within the bounds of surrealism, comic-book influences, and digital-real application.
His first solo exhibition Hello. debuted at Rusha & Co. in March 2022. Rusha & Co. also presented his work at Contemporary Art Now, Ibiza.
"Paris, 1937. And a stint in prison. Here we are taught how to smoke by none other than Jean Genet" 2021 acrylic on canvas 27 ¾ x 19 ¾ in
"Sometimes we found ourselves wondering if - when we weren't being observed - we really existed" 2021 acrylic on canvas 27¾ x 19¾ x 1 in.
"April 19th, 1943. I was invited to go on a bicycle trip by my good friend Albert Hoffman but I forgot my bicycle. Much mayhem ensued." 2021 acrylic on canvas 35½ x 47⅜ x 1 in.
"15th C. Florence. Here, we are hired by the Medici family to sit for Pierro della Francesca." 2021 acrylic on panel 16 x 12 x 1⅜ in.
"Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Gainsborough, 1707, National Portrait Gallery, London." 2021-22 acrylic on canvas 30 x 23¾ x 1⅛ in.
"Portrait of Arthur Schopenhauer. Jean - Auguste- Dominique Ingres. Louvre, Paris." 2021 graphite on paper 12 x 9 in.
"Errol Flynn, screen test - courtesy of Warner Brothers Studio." 2021 graphite on paper 12 x 9 in.
Exhibitions
Selected Press
