- John Tweddle
Excerpt of article by Jonathan Griffin, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, 2014 In these paintings, a…
Read more: John Tweddle
- Trucks
I saw a truck as something that took my father away from me, but it was also something that brought him back.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tweddle’s Vision from Oklahoma alludes to the environmental crisis in the border of the painting.
- Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
“Country Painting”, a 1971 work by John Tweddle is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
- MOCA GA
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia holds two John Tweddle pieces in their permanent collection. One is the untitled painting above, completed in 1961
- Bonnefanten Museum
The Bonnefanten in Maastricht, The Netherlands, includes John Tweddle’s 1970 painting “Spread Woman” in its permanent collection.
- American Landscape
Tweddle uses those experiences to create consciously simplistic works laden with obsessive imagery that pokes fun at the idea of the “beautiful” art object.
- Blanton Museum of Art
Through his frenzied composition, Tweddle offers a parody of U.S. society and its beliefs in the ideals of progress and industrialization.
- High Museum of Art
Tweddle’s work is a reminder that “labels like “outsider” and “insider” are relative and that many artists consider themselves a combination of both.
- Artforum, 2014: Art (Truck)
In Art (Truck), 1970, for example, a central black form in the shape of a flower is pollinated with lots of yellow dollar signs and a truck labeled with “Art” belches exhaust at the painting’s core.
- Artforum, 2014
Tweddle’s furious struggle against the commodity status of art (against capitalism) resonates with extreme clarity and graphic vividness.
- Unknown Woman Artist
Tweddle utilizes any available materials to create his art. “Anything has color and form whether it is a scrap of plastic or a bird.”
- Style vs. Content
“Sometimes style rapes content,” according to Tweddle. Form, style, and content must come together.
- Artist Statement
Tweddle hesitated to define an artists statement, concerned that speaking the words may destroy the art. Here is his artist statement in poetry form.
- What is Art?
Tweddle’s describes his early influences and path to becoming an artist. What is art? He says, “‘Art’ is a ritual attempt to become one with the infinite.”
- Experimenting with Materials: The Beginning
Throughout his career, much of Tweddle’s artwork featured mixed media — any manner of objects, some found, some created. His influences? Life, God, and the hum of the universe.
- Why do people call art “work”?
Is it “work” or “play”? Read Tweddle’s perspective.
- Tell Us About Your Work
“. . . everything I created came from some deep unconscious level. I had this philosophy that the images could speak for themselves and I should not try to verbally interpret them.”
- Odd One Out
Arno Verkade: I like the odd ones out, the exceptions to the rule, mainly artists’ artists. Strange intriguing works, the artists are crazy. I like that. Maniacs, you know!
- Interview with Artist John Tweddle
John Tweddle. Bohemian cowboy from Santa Fe. Cult figure of American painting. As befits an artist, this status can also be stolen from him. Tweddle (1938) has absolutely no message whatsoever for the so-called art scene; in the early seventies he turned his back on the world for good
- Exile On Main Street: A Puking Mona Lisa
Outsider Art? What kind of strange creature is that? Bad or good Painting? I don’t worry about such labels, others will have to deal with that. Must be a fun game to categorize everything. I am busy with my own humor and play to keep me busy.
- Hidden Faces
“Facial recognition unrecognized seeing is not believing. Paint first ask questions later.”
- Women
“Oh oh ohhhh WOMEN . . . what beautiful creatures!” — John Tweddle
- About John Tweddle
Tweddle is visually slicing life from a place where “art” has not yet fanned out and differentiated itself from billions of other possible levels of awareness. This is Quantum stuff!
- The Woods Have Influenced John Tweddle’s Paintings
Tweddle’s influences: “various restaurants, motels, parks, museums, schools, woods, homes, churches, television, at movies, ballgames, parties, galleries, studios, with friends and family — in my fantasies and dreams.”
- Bittersweet Views of Americana
Despite years of working within the system of the art world, Tweddle has retained a kind of innocence that is rare. Tweddle is not a primitive, since he has crossed the barriers into the currents of contemporary art and is educated and aware of the concerns of artists today. But he is a man who has retained his romantic ties to his humble beginnings.
- Treasures from the Met
Tweddle’s unhappy allegory is painted with good humor. But even his cartoon imagery cannot dispel the narrative’s apocalyptic import.
- New York Times, 1983 Grace Glueck Review
For all our suspicions of naivete in art, this work is utterly disarming. What holds it all together is that Mr. Tweddle really knows how to paint.
- Vogue Magazine
John Tweddle’s painting “Bulldozer and Man” was included in “The Arts Crunch” by George Bradshaw in…
Read more: Vogue Magazine
Excerpt of article by Jonathan Griffin, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, 2014 In these paintings, a… Read more: John Tweddle
I saw a truck as something that took my father away from me, but it was also something that brought him back.
Tweddle’s Vision from Oklahoma alludes to the environmental crisis in the border of the painting.
“Country Painting”, a 1971 work by John Tweddle is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia holds two John Tweddle pieces in their permanent collection. One is the untitled painting above, completed in 1961
The Bonnefanten in Maastricht, The Netherlands, includes John Tweddle’s 1970 painting “Spread Woman” in its permanent collection.
Tweddle uses those experiences to create consciously simplistic works laden with obsessive imagery that pokes fun at the idea of the “beautiful” art object.
Through his frenzied composition, Tweddle offers a parody of U.S. society and its beliefs in the ideals of progress and industrialization.
Tweddle’s work is a reminder that “labels like “outsider” and “insider” are relative and that many artists consider themselves a combination of both.
In Art (Truck), 1970, for example, a central black form in the shape of a flower is pollinated with lots of yellow dollar signs and a truck labeled with “Art” belches exhaust at the painting’s core.
Tweddle’s furious struggle against the commodity status of art (against capitalism) resonates with extreme clarity and graphic vividness.
Tweddle utilizes any available materials to create his art. “Anything has color and form whether it is a scrap of plastic or a bird.”
“Sometimes style rapes content,” according to Tweddle. Form, style, and content must come together.
Tweddle hesitated to define an artists statement, concerned that speaking the words may destroy the art. Here is his artist statement in poetry form.
Tweddle’s describes his early influences and path to becoming an artist. What is art? He says, “‘Art’ is a ritual attempt to become one with the infinite.”
Throughout his career, much of Tweddle’s artwork featured mixed media — any manner of objects, some found, some created. His influences? Life, God, and the hum of the universe.
Is it “work” or “play”? Read Tweddle’s perspective.
“. . . everything I created came from some deep unconscious level. I had this philosophy that the images could speak for themselves and I should not try to verbally interpret them.”
Arno Verkade: I like the odd ones out, the exceptions to the rule, mainly artists’ artists. Strange intriguing works, the artists are crazy. I like that. Maniacs, you know!
John Tweddle. Bohemian cowboy from Santa Fe. Cult figure of American painting. As befits an artist, this status can also be stolen from him. Tweddle (1938) has absolutely no message whatsoever for the so-called art scene; in the early seventies he turned his back on the world for good
Outsider Art? What kind of strange creature is that? Bad or good Painting? I don’t worry about such labels, others will have to deal with that. Must be a fun game to categorize everything. I am busy with my own humor and play to keep me busy.
“Facial recognition unrecognized seeing is not believing. Paint first ask questions later.”
“Oh oh ohhhh WOMEN . . . what beautiful creatures!” — John Tweddle
Tweddle is visually slicing life from a place where “art” has not yet fanned out and differentiated itself from billions of other possible levels of awareness. This is Quantum stuff!
Tweddle’s influences: “various restaurants, motels, parks, museums, schools, woods, homes, churches, television, at movies, ballgames, parties, galleries, studios, with friends and family — in my fantasies and dreams.”
Despite years of working within the system of the art world, Tweddle has retained a kind of innocence that is rare. Tweddle is not a primitive, since he has crossed the barriers into the currents of contemporary art and is educated and aware of the concerns of artists today. But he is a man who has retained his romantic ties to his humble beginnings.
Tweddle’s unhappy allegory is painted with good humor. But even his cartoon imagery cannot dispel the narrative’s apocalyptic import.
For all our suspicions of naivete in art, this work is utterly disarming. What holds it all together is that Mr. Tweddle really knows how to paint.
John Tweddle’s painting “Bulldozer and Man” was included in “The Arts Crunch” by George Bradshaw in… Read more: Vogue Magazine