Juan Fontanive
Bio
J. C. Fontanive was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and received his
bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a master's degree from Syracuse University
Royal College of Art in London.
His work has been exhibited at the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Art
Contemporary Jacksonville, the University Museum of Art
of Monash, the Oliver Ranch Foundation, the Metropolitan Library
of Columbus, the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, the Foundation
Gulbenkian, the Tyler Art Museum, the Meermanno Huis van Museum
het Boek, The Hague, Nassau Museum of Art, Art Gallery of the
City of Limerick, Ireland, Book Arts Centre, Society of
Contemporary Art, London, among others. Fontanive won the
2018 Brooke and Hap Stein Emerging Artist Award, MOCA
Jacksonville and the Desmond Preston Drawing Prize, The Royal
College of Art, and also received residency at The Marble House
Project, VT. Fontanive lives and works in New York, NY.
Statement
Brooklyn-based artist. The whimsical sculptures of Juan Fontanive
tie their interests in mechanics and automation, with their fascination with
insects and birds. Fontanive found inspiration in Victorian watches and other
ancient mechanisms while pursuing his master's degree at the Royal College of Art,
where in 2004 he received the Desmond Preston Prize for his drawings.
In his series "Ornithology", the artist animated 72 paintings of hummingbirds, generating movement with a meticulously handmade engine which flutters the images with a
flipbook stuck to the wall. Fontanive set up a multilevel kinesthetic installation
at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville in 2017. His work
has been exhibited at the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of
Tyler Art, and the Royal Academy of Arts.
