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Johnny DeFeo

Biography

Johnny DeFeo - Artists - Cris Worley Fine Arts

Johnny DeFeo b. 1985 — Johnny DeFeo’s work emerges out of his own intimate relationship with nature. DeFeo has painted en plein air since he was a teenager, taking his easel and paints out into the landscape for years. His artworks reflect this idea, as his canvases act as extensions of the environment. Often, the perspective expressed in these scenes is that of the animal, shifting the subject away from a human vantage point and revealing the mysteries of the natural world. This idea is reflected in his traveling artist residency, Adventure Painting, which pulls artists directly into the landscapes they are painting.

At times, DeFeo’s work is not simply rendering a landscape, instead he creates these fantastical scenes in a loose style. In his works, nature and the home unite. The landscape becomes another wall to the family home — as he beckons us into this ideal and mystical world where canyons and mountains are always accessible. He includes animals throughout these scenes, some of which are taxidermy — creating this dichotomy between the natural world and us. DeFeo will also find his way into Cabela’s, where he will paint his living and taxidermized animals from actual taxidermy. In this way, DeFeo’s work holds multitudes, combining our desire for the outdoors with the human action against it.

Johnny DeFeo was born in Berlin, Connecticut in 1985. He received his BFA from Western State Colorado University and his MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Colorado. After receiving his MFA, DeFeo co-founded Adventure Painting, a traveling artist residency, which worked to incorporate America’s most beautiful locations into a more complete lexicon of landscape painting. DeFeo’s work was successful, as Adventure Painting was selected as an Armory Show off-site project in 2021 and featured in the New York Times. With over seventeen shows in the last five years, DeFeo’s landscapes have found their ways into revered collections such as Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Prudential Investments, Aetna Insurance Company, City of Hartford, Connecticut, the New Britain Museum of American Art, and University of Colorado Art Collection. 

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Installation Views

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light 

4.1.23 - 5.6.23

Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23 Johnny DeFeo | Standing Still in Fleeting Light , 4.1.23 - 5.6.23
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