John Nava
ARCHIVES | Biography | PAINTINGS | TAPESTRIES
JOHN NAVA | |
| BORN | 1947 in San Diego, CA |
EDUCATION | |
| 1973 | M.F.A., Villa Schifanoia, Graduate School of Fine Art, Florence, Italy |
| 1969 | B.A., College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2003-04 | John Nava: Selected Work, Ventura County Museum of History and Art
(Catalog- Essay by Gerard Haggerty) |
| 2003 | John Nava: Preparatory Works for the Los Angeles Cathedral Tapestries
Studio Channel Islands Gallery, California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA |
| 2001 | The Communion of Saints: Fifteen Tapestries for the Cathedral of Our Lady of
Angels, Hendrik Pickery Zaal of the Halls of the Belfry tower, Grote Market, Bruges, Belgium |
| 1999 | van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1997 | Wright Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1994 | Modernism, San Francisco, CA |
| 1992 | Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA |
| 1991 | Modernism, San Francisco, CA |
| 1989 | Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Weingart Gallery, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1987 | Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1986 | University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA (catalog)
Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA |
| 1985 | Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1984 | Modernism, San Francisco, CA |
| 1983 | Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1982 | Sabbatical Studies, Johnston Art Gallery, University of Redlands, CA |
| 1980 | University Art Gallery, California State University at Fresno, Fresno, CA
University Art Gallery, California State University at San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA |
| 1979 | Art Gallery, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA |
| 1973 | Galeria Vives, Mahon, Menorea, Balearic Islands, Spain |
| 1971-72 | Traveling One-Man Show - Ten cities in four western provinces of Canada (sponsored by the government in Alberta, Canada)
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GROUP EXHIBITIONS - NATIONAL | |
| 2005 | Gallery Artists Portfolio, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
12th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2004 | American Portraits (Catalog), Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
11th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 6th Annual Realism Invitational (Catalog), Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 2003 | 10th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
5th Annual Realism Invitational (Catalog), Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA Papier: drawings and work on paper, van de Griff Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2002 | 9th Annual Realism Invitational, van de Griff Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2001 | 8th Annual Realism Invitational, van de Griff Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2000 | 7th Annual Realism Invitational, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1999 | “Liberation: A Celebration of the Nude”, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
6th Annual Realism Invitational, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1998 | 5th Annual Invitational, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1997 | 4th Annual Invitational, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1996 | “Realism ’96: Realists Inviting Realists”, Third Annual Invitational, Fletcher Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1995 | “Realism ‘95: Vision & Poetry”, Second Annual Invitational, Fletcher Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
“U.S.A. Within Limits”, Small Formal Works, Galleria Milan, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| 1994 | “Realism ‘94”, First Annual Invitational, Fletcher Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1991 | “Recent Acquisitions: Works on Paper”, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC |
| 1990 | “Selections 1990”, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI |
| 1989 | “Surface Printing in the 1980’s”, The Jane Voorhes Zimmerli Art Museum,
Rutgers University, New Jersey, (Catalog with illustrations) |
| 1988 | “Life Stories: Myth, Fiction and History in Contemporary Art”, Henry Art
Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
| 1987 | “Florence Prints: Works from Santa Reparta”, The Gallery of the University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN “Summer: Selected Works”, Scott Hanson Gallery, New York, NY “The Anatomy of Drawing”, Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Inc., Houston, TX “Modern Myths”, Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, ID, (catalog) University of Washington, Pullman, WA Mills College, Oakland, CA Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR “Movietone Muse”, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY |
| 1986 | National Drawing Invitational, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR, (catalog) |
| 1985 | Opening Group Show, Pro - Art Gallery, St. Louis, MI
Collector’s Show, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, (catalog) |
| 1983 | “A Heritage Renewed: Representational Drawing Today”, University Art
Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, (catalog) Oklahoma Art Centers, Oklahoma City, OK Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado Springs, CO |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS - CALIFORNIA | |
| 1994 | “Winter”, Tatistcheff/Rogers, Santa Monica, CA |
| 1993 | “Drawings III”, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“American Drawing”, Contemporary Realist Gallery, San Francisco, CA “The Mythic Figure”, CSU Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA, (catalog) “Cool Stuff”, Tatistcheff Gallery, Santa Monica, CA |
| 1992 | “Drawing II”, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA |
| 1991 | “Drawing On Its Own”, Tatistcheff Gallery, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (catalog)
“Drawing”, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA “Aspects of Figural Painting in Southern California”, Tatistcheff Gallery, Santa Monica, CA “No.25”, Art Gallery, Cal. State University, San Bernardino, CA “Inspired Form: Contemporary Figures”, Rancho Santiago College Art Gallery, Santa Ana, CA “The Palm Tree Show”, Modernism, San Francisco, CA “Only Drawing”, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA “Artists of California”, Gallery M, Fresno, CA “Monotypes”, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA |
| 1990 | “Figurative Realists: Beyond the Form”, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara,
CA, (catalog) “Magnolia Editions: Works on Paper”, The Art Museum of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA “Dealer’s Choice”, Brand Art Galleries, Pasadena, CA |
| 1988 | “The Lorrin and Deane Wong Collection”, Art Institute of Southern California,
Laguna Beach, CA “Reveal”, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “The Inland Empire Strikes Back”, The Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, (catalog) |
| 1987 | “Contemporary Humanism: Reconfirmation of the Figure”, Main Art Gallery, Visual Arts Center, California State Fullerton, CA, (catalog) |
| 1986 | “Classical Continuum”, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park,
Los Angeles, CA “Through the Eyes of an Artist”, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1985 | “Art as Theater”, Tim Walker and Associates, Los Angeles, CA
“Artist’s Self-Portraits”, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA |
| 1984 | “Works on Paper/Works Not”, San Jose Arts League, San Jose, CA
“Human Figure”, Edge Gallery, Fullerton, CA |
| 1983 | “California Drawings”, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
“By the Sea”, Meredith Niles Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA “Selections from the Douglas Simay Collection”, Mark Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA |
| 1982 | “The Figure: Two Visions, John Nava, Leo Robinson”, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
“The Figure and its Postures”, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1980 | John Nava, Paintings - Robert Thomas, Sculpture, Opus 5 Gallery, Del Mar, CA |
| 1977 | “Howard Warshaw: a Continuing Tradition”, University Art Museum,
University of California, Santa Barbara, CA |
ARTICLES | |
| 2003 | A Religious Experience for Local Models, David Kelly
Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2003 |
| 2002 | Queen of the Angels, Matthew Jaffe
Sunset Magazine, December 2002 |
| 2002 | A Communion of Saints in Downtown L.A., Jennifer C. Vergera
The Tidings, Southern California Catholic Weekly, June 28, 2002 |
| 2002 | Classical Realism, Gussie Fauntleroy
Southwest Art Magazine (cover illus.) |
| 2001 | L.A. Cathedral Tapestries Weave Old Art With New, Sabastian Rotella
Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2001 |
| 2001 | Hallowed Be Their Art, Mary Rourke
Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2001 |
| 2001 | L.A. Awe: Art With a Higher Calling, Cathy Curtis
L.A. Now Magazine, Spring 2001 |
| 2000 | Saints Preserved, Lisa McKinnon
Time Out Magazine, Ventura County Star, January 7, 2000 |
| 1999 | Tapestries of Faith, Maria Elouina Kasiliag
The Tidings, Southern California Catholic Weekly, November 7, 1999 |
| 1999 | Weaving a Fabric of Faith with Tapestries, Karen Grennan
Los Angeles Times, November 11, 1999 |
| 1999 | Portraits of Passion, John Williams, Watson-Guptil Press 1999 |
| 1999 | “Nava Creates Contrasts in Classical Themes", Joe Quattro
Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe, NM, August 6-12, 1999 |
| 1996 | Can You Digit, New Yorker Magazine, April 8, 1996 |
| 1995 | Artoday, Phaidon Press Limited 1995, Edward Lucie-Smith
“The Martini: an Illustrated History of an American Classic”, Barneby Conrad, III, San Francisco, CA, 1995 |
| 1993 | Art Review, “The Mythic Figure”, Peter Frank, Long Beach Press - Telegram, Nov. 14, 1993 |
| 1992 | Review - “May Day”, Nancy Kapitanoff, Los Angeles Times Sunday Calendar, Dec. 20, 1992 |
| 1989 | Roche, Joanna - “Figure Study”, Elan Magazine, June 1989
Curtis, Cathy - “The Galleries”, Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1989 Lazzari, Margaret - “Figures of Repression”, Artweek, December 14, 1989 |
| 1988 | Glowe, Ron - “A Return to Idealized Virtue”, Artweek, February 13, 1988
Welles, Elenore - “Multiple Histories: John Nava”, Visions Magazine, Spring, 1988, Los Angeles, CA Dietz, Diane - “Renaissance Man Meets Modern Art”, The Bellingham Herald, October 30, 1988 Wilson, William - “The Shock of the Old”, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1988 “Art in 3 Mediums Tells Tales of Life Stories”, Seattle Post - Intelligencer, September 21, 1988 Stadele, Marjorie - “The Art of Story Telling”, Seattle Weekly, September 21, 1988 |
| 1987 | Jencks, Charles - “The Classical Sensibility”, Art & Design Magazine, London, UK
Jencks, Charles, Post-Modernism: The Neo-Classicism in Art and Architecture, Rizzoli, NY |
| 1986 | Shindler, Merrill - “Art of Darkness”, Alaska Airlines Magazine, September, 1986
Jencks, Charles - “What is Post-Modernism?”, St. Martins Press, NY - Academy Editions, London, 1986 Gardner, Colin - “The Galleries”, Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1986 |
| 1985 | Anderson, Bill - “Nava Figures It Out”, Santa Barbara News & Review, April 25
Ewing, Robert - “Strategies of Representation”, Artweek, March 9, 1985 Clark Jr., Orville O. - “John Nava’s Surrealist Dialogue”, Los Angeles Reader, March 8, 1985 Hite, Rosemary - “Artist Enjoys His Brush With Success”, San Bernardino Sun, March 5, 1985 Wilson, William - “The Galleries”, Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1985 |
| 1984 | Ewing, Robert - “Looking at Figures”, Artweek, May 5, 1984
McDonald, Robert - “Surveying Drawing in California”, Artweek, January 21, 1984 |
| 1983 | Weisberg, Ruth - “A Quiet Classical Strength”, Artweek, October 29, 1983 |
| 1982 | Muchnic, Suzanne - “Santa Barbara Drawing Show: Heritage Renewed”, Los Angeles Times, October 1, 1982 |
| 1981 | Weisberg, Ruth - “The Posturing Figure”, Artweek, October 17, 1981 |
| 1980 | Fox, Louis - “John Nava and the Figure”, Artweek, April 12, 1980 |
| 1979 | Haggerty, Gerard - “John Nava: Public and Private Realities”, Artweek,
February 17, 1979 |
TEACHING | |
| 1985-88 | Professor of Art, California State University, San Bernardino, CA |
| 1975-85 | Professor of Art, University of Redlands, CA |
| 1969-71 | Instructor of Drawing and Painting, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
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RELATED WORKS | |
| 1994 | Guest Artist, teaching figure painting, Academy of Realist Art, Seattle, WA |
| 1992 | Guest Artist, “Figure Simposia”, CSU Summer Arts Humbolt State
University, Arcata, CA |
| 1990 | Guest Artist, “Figure Simposia”, CSU Summer Arts Humbolt State
University, Arcata, CA |
| 1989 | Guest Artist, “Figure Simposia”, CSU Summer Arts Humbolt State
University, Arcata, CA Guest Lecturer, Art Department, CSU Dominguez Hills |
| 1988 | Guest Lecturer, Art Department, Ventura City College, Ventura, CA
Program Director, “Figure Simposia”, CSU Summer Arts, Humbolt State University, Arcata, CA Guest Artist, California Institute for Women, Chino, CA Guest Speaker, Art Gallery, California State University, San Bernardino, CA Guest Speaker, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA Guest Speaker, Whatcom Museum of Art, Bellingham, WA Juror for Drawings, The Northwest International Art Competition and Exhibition |
| 1987 | Visiting Artist, “Figure Symposia”, CSU Summer Arts, California Polytechnic,
San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 1986-87 | Visiting Artist, Advanced Painting, Art Center College of Design,
Pasadena, CA |
| 1986 | Visiting Artist, Painting, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA
Visiting Artist, Summer Arts Institute, San Luis Obispo, CA Guest Lecturer, Fine Arts Symposium, College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA Guest Artist, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA Guest Artist, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA Guest Speaker, “Classical Continuum”, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1982 | Guest Artist, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
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PUBLIC WORKS / PROJECTS | |
| 2004 | Ten Saints, Tapestries for the interior nave of Corpus Christi University Parish
Church, Toledo, OH |
| 2004 | St. Ann Triptych, Triptych Painting for the Altarpiece of St. Ann Catholic Church,
Bartlett, TN |
| 2003 | Resurrected Christ, Tapestry for the Chapel of the Meter Dolorosa Passionist
Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, CA |
| 1999-2002 | The Communion Of Saints – Tapestries for the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels
Los Angeles, CA (2003 Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture – IFRAA – Design Honor Award for Visual Art) |
| 1993 | Set Design for Four Fathers, Tiffany Theater, Los Angeles, CA
(Winner 1993 Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for Stage Design) Set Design for “Sleepwalk”, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1991 | Prosephone, 48 foot mural for the Tokyo Grain Exchange, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1991 | Intersection: Greek Fragments with Mayan Ring, Homart Corp., Brand
Blvd., Glendale, CA |
| 1990 | Mother and Child, Home Savings Corp., El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA
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ADDITIONAL PROJECTS / WORK | |
| 1985-88 | Gallery Director, University Art Gallery, California State University, San
Bernardino, CA |
| 1984-85 | Gallery Director, Peppers Art Gallery, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA |
| 1977-84 | Chairman, Art Department, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA |
| 1983 | Book Design and Etchings for Matching With Poems by Leslie Wolf,
University of Redlands, Redlands, CA |
| 1978-81 | Gallery Director, Peppers Art Gallery, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA |
| 1981 | Book Design for Drawing on Drawings by Howard Warshaw, Ross-Erickson Publishers, Santa Barbara, CA |