About

John Federlin is an American abstract expressionist painter born and raised in New York where he was heavily impacted by the spirit of the City. He grew up in jazz clubs and art galleries throughout Manhattan where monthly sit-ins at his Grandfather’s jam sessions gave him a front row seat to what creativity and being an artist truly meant.

His great uncle, Charles Augustus Smith not only played a significant role in John’s life but contributed to the emergence of modern art in post WWII America. Smith exhibited work at the Whitney alongside Willem deKooning, Georgia O’keefe and Jackson Pollock.

These two men, coupled with the magnetic persona of NYC, would later shape John into the artist he is today. His work calls to the life and vibrancy he saw on the city streets, using color and movement to express and build visually dynamic pieces.

John’s work has been exhibited nationally from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, most notably in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Artist Statement

For years, I’ve studied the great action painters of the 20th century. I’m drawn to the idea of expression vs illustration, the dance between painter and canvas. American writer Harold Rosenberg said that action paintings were not pictures but events. I agree with that sentiment. Painting is not only about dialogue with the canvas but about myself, letting my arm, my body be a vessel for the story my subconscious is trying to tell.