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Jon Rafman

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Jon Rafman portrait, 2018

Jon Rafman (born 1981) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, and essayist. His work centers around the emotional, social and existential impact of technology on contemporary life. His artwork has gained international attention and was exhibited in 2015 at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (Montreal)[1] and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.[2] He is widely known for exhibiting found images from Google Street View in his online artwork 9-Eyes (2009-ongoing).[3][4]

Biography

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Rafman was born in Montreal, Canada. He holds an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from McGill University. He lives in Montreal.

Work

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Rafman giving a lecture in Moscow, 2012

Rafman's work focuses on technology and digital media, often using narrative to emphasize the ways in which they connect users back to society and history. Much of his work focuses on melancholy in modern social interactions, communities and virtual realities (primarily Google Earth, Google Street View and Second Life), while still bringing light to the beauty of them in a manner sometimes inspired by Romanticism. His videos and art utilize personal moments intended to reveal how pop culture ephemera and subcultures shape individual desires, and will often define those individuals in return.

Kool-Aid Man in Second Life

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Rafman's Kool-Aid Man in Second Life project consists of films and participatory tours around the virtual universe of Second Life, which is hosted by his avatar, a 3D render of the Kool-Aid Man. Rafman conducted these tours live, inviting audience members to take part in the exploration of the virtual world as he guided and contextualized the experience [5] Kool-Aid Man in Second life is a quasi-ethnographic tour of the wildly varied fantasies invented and pursued by denizens of the web's murkier corners.[6] Rafman describes this project as an exploration of new communities that formed as the internet became a ubiquitous aspect of modern life.[7]

Nine Eyes of Google Street View

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In 2008, Rafman started Nine Eyes of Google Street View, a long-term archival photo project which uses screenshots of Google Street View images as its source.[8] These images from across the world are arranged in a massive database and published in books, on blogs and as prints for his various exhibitions.[9] Rafman later began to keep an ongoing Tumblr blog where he would post his Google Street View images.[10]

Dream Journal

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In 2016, Rafman's animated feature-length film Dream Journal premiered at the Sprüth Magers gallery in Berlin.[11] Inspired by Rafman's habit of recording and animating his dreams, the film through a series of dream episodes explores the effects that technology and the internet have on the human psyche. Rafman has called the process of working on the film a form of "worldbuilding" with the desire to create a Boschian-like vision of our current hellscape.[12][13][14][15]

Career

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Jon Rafman's oeuvre has been situated within the Post-Internet art movement.[16] He has risen to acclaim with his project Nine Eyes of Google Street View,[17][8][18] which developed a distinctly post-internet approach to photography.[16] His work has been included in numerous prestigious international biennials, including the 58th Venice Biennale,[19] 13th Lyon Biennale,[20] 9th Berlin Biennale,[21] and Manifesta 11.[22]

In September 2013, Rafman collaborated with Brooklyn-based experimental musician Daniel Lopatin, better known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, on a music video for "Still Life" to accompany the release of R Plus Seven on Warp Records.[23] The two later collaborated to create a two-part music video for "Sticky Drama", from Lopatin's 2015 album Garden of Delete.[24]

In 2015, the City of Montreal and the Contemporary Art Galleries Association awarded Rafman the Prix-Pierre-Ayot prize for emerging artists.[25] Rafman represented Quebec twice as a finalist in the competition for the 2015 and 2018 Sobey Art Award.[26][27] In 2018, Parisian fashion house Balenciaga commissioned Rafman to create an immersive LED tunnel for their Spring-Summer 2019 show.[28][29] Rafman is represented by art galleries Sprüth Magers (Berlin, Los Angeles, London) and Seventeen (London).[30]

Among public collections holding examples of his work are The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the MAXXI in Rome, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and others.

In July 2020, Rafman was accused by three women of alleged sexual misconduct in posts made to the Instagram account @surviving_the_artworld. These accusations were reported by the Montreal Gazette.[31][32] Jon Rafman sued the Gazette and journalist T’cha Dunlevy for defamation. Under a settlement the stories were removed from the site, with the Gazette stating that they had not given "equal time or space to Mr. Rafman to refute the claims against which he had evidence".[33] At the time, the Hirshhorn Museum suspended a planned Rafman exhibit and his Montreal gallery broke off its relationship with him.[34][35][36]

In February 2022, Jon Rafman's film Punctured Sky (2021) won the KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) prize at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).[37]

In January 2023, rapper Lil Yachty released his critically acclaimed album Let's Start Here with Rafman's artwork on the cover.[38] In July 2023, Rafman contributed artwork to rapper Travis Scott's highly anticipated album, Utopia.[39] In January 2024, Kanye West posted a trailer to Instagram with the caption "VULTURES TRAILER BY JON RAFMAN" for his collaborative album with Ty Dolla Sign, Vultures.

Exhibitions

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Solo exhibitions

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  • You Are Standing in an Open Field, Zach Feuer Gallery New York, September 2013[40]
  • A Man Digging, Seventeen Gallery, London, May 2013[41]
  • Annals of Time Lost, Future Gallery, Berlin, April 2013[42]
  • Jon Rafman, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, June 2015[43]
  • I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, May 2016[44]
  • Jon Rafman, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden, 2016[45]
  • Il Viaggiatore Mentale, Palazzina dei Giardini, Modena, September 2018[46]
  • Dream Journal, Oval Office, Bochum, September 2021 [47]
  • You, the World, and I, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, October 2021 [48]
  • Arbiter of Worlds, Ordet, Milan, February 2022 [49]
  • Egregores and Grimoires, Schinkel Pavillion, Berlin, September 2022 [50]
  • Counterfit Poast, Sprueth Magers, Berlin, September 2022[citation needed]
  • Minor Daemon, 180 Strand, London, January 2023 [51]
  • 𝐸𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒽 𝒦'𝒹𝒶𝒷𝓇𝒾, Sprueth Magers, London, January 2023[citation needed]

Group exhibitions

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Publications with contributions by Rafman

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References

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  1. ^ "Jon Rafman | Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal". www.macm.org. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  2. ^ Grrr.nl. "Jon Rafman: I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering". www.stedelijk.nl. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  3. ^ "The Nine Eyes of Google Street View: a photo project by Jon Rafman". February 21, 2012 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ^ Guardiola, Ingrid (2018). L'ull i la navalla (in Catalan). Arcadia. ISBN 978-84-947174-7-5.
  5. ^ "Revealing Jon Rafman by Lindsay Howard - BOMB Magazine". 8 July 2010.
  6. ^ "This is Where It Ends: The Denouement of Post-Internet Art in Jon Rafman's Deep Web". 9 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Jon Rafman discusses his show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis". 3 July 2014.
  8. ^ a b "The street views Google wasn't expecting you to see – in pictures". The Guardian. 20 February 2012.
  9. ^ "Jon Rafman Finds a Slice of Humanity in the Digital Terrain". 28 July 2019.
  10. ^ "29 weird and beautiful images found on Google Street View". Business Insider.
  11. ^ Rafferty, Penny (October 6, 2017). "Play // Dream Journal: An Interview with Jon Rafman". Berlin Art Link. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Portrait: Jon Rafman". 3 March 2020.
  13. ^ Freeman, Nate; Alexander Forbes (June 12, 2018). "10 Must-See Works at Art Basel Unlimited". Artsy. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Bockowski, Piotr (November 1, 2019). "Venice Biennale 2019: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal". This Is Tomorrow. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Fondazione Modena Arti Visive". e-flux journal. September 17, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Towards a Postinternet Sublime". 4 January 2018.
  17. ^ Walker, Rob (30 December 2010). "Global Entertainment". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Rafman, Jon (November 2009). "Search and destroy, by Jon Rafman". Harper's Magazine. Vol. November 2009.
  19. ^ "Biennale Arte 2019 | Jon Rafman". 15 May 2019.
  20. ^ "13th Biennale de Lyon: La vie moderne".
  21. ^ "Berlin Biennale | Jon Rafman".
  22. ^ "Rafman, Jon". June 2016.
  23. ^ Valentine, Ben (June 11, 2014). "Jon Rafman's Not-So-Still Life of a Digital Betamale". Hyperallergic. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  24. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Sticky Drama - Music Video. YouTube.
  25. ^ News in Brief: Jon Rafman Wins at Montreal Awards, Eastern Edge’s New Director, BC First Nations’ Art Awards canadianart.ca Archived 2021-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "2018 Sobey Art Award: Quebec - Jon Rafman | CBC Radio".
  27. ^ "Jon Rafman: Sobey Finalist Slideshow".
  28. ^ "Who is Jon Rafman, the Artist Behind Balenciaga's Video Installation?". October 2018.
  29. ^ "Balenciaga Taps Artist Jon Rafman to Reimagine Paris Fashion Show". 9 October 2018.
  30. ^ "Jon Rafman".
  31. ^ Bahr, Sarah (2020-07-28). "Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  32. ^ Cascone, Sarah (2020-07-28). "Three Museums Have Pushed Back Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  33. ^ "Kanye West Has Tapped Jon Rafman for a Dystopian Trailer Teasing His Forthcoming Album". Artnet News.
  34. ^ "Three Museums Have Cancelled Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct". artnet News. 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  35. ^ Bahr, Sarah (28 July 2020). "Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  36. ^ Liscia, Valentina Di (29 July 2020). "Three Museums Suspend Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of "Predatory Behavior"". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  37. ^ "'Eami' Wins Tiger Award at Rotterdam, 'Excess Will Save Us,' 'To Love Again' Take Prizes". 2 February 2022.
  38. ^ Fact (2023-02-02). "Fact Focus: Jon Rafman". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  39. ^ DeStefano, Mike. "The Creatives Behind Travis Scott's 'Utopia' Visuals". Complex. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  40. ^ "Jon Rafman: You Are Standing In An Open Field | Zach Feuer". www.zachfeuer.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  41. ^ "Jon Rafman, A Man Digging - Seventeen". Seventeen. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  42. ^ "FUTURE GALLERY". futuregallery.org. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  43. ^ "Jon Rafman". MAC Montréal. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  44. ^ Grrr.nl. "Jon Rafman: I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering". www.stedelijk.nl. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  45. ^ "Jon Rafman – Carl Kostyál". 6 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  46. ^ "JON RAFMAN. THE MENTAL TRAVELLER". www.fondazionefotografia.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  47. ^ "Dream Journal 2016-2019 – Schedule – Schauspielhaus Bochum".
  48. ^ "You, the World and I, by Jon Rafman". Archived from the original on 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  49. ^ "Ordet — ₳Ɽ฿ł₮ɆⱤ Ø₣ ₩ØⱤⱠĐ₴".
  50. ^ "Schinkel Pavillon". schinkelpavillon.de. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  51. ^ "Jon Rafman: Minor Daemon Vol 1 — 180 Studios".
  52. ^ a b c "Jon Rafman – MAC Montréal". MAC Montréal. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  53. ^ Rosenberg, Karen (2010-10-21). "'Free,' at New Museum, Explores Internet as Public Art Scene". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  54. ^ "JOHAN BERGGREN GALLERY". www.johanberggren.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  55. ^ "Jon Rafman". Palais de Tokyo EN. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  56. ^ "Speculations on Anonymous Materials". Archived from the original on 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  57. ^ "Call me – Carl Kostyál". 5 June 2017. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  58. ^ "Stockholm Dinner Sessions – En Tillställning at Blique – Carl Kostyál". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  59. ^ "Malmö Sessions – Carl Kostyál". 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  60. ^ "Ticket to the Future".
  61. ^ "What a Wonderful World | MAXXI". 3 March 2022.
  62. ^ Karl-Magnus Johansson (2013), Communicating the Archive : Physical Migration, The Regional State Archives in Gothenburg. ISBN 978-91-979866-3-2
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