John Sproul has been a professional artist for 25 years and has been actively involved in the art community. He has exhibited throughout the United States, (including New York and extensively in Los Angeles), parts of Europe and Malaysia.
Some of the venues he has exhibited in include the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art; The Painting Center, New York; The Kunstwerk Carlshutte, Germany; Galerie Metanoia, Paris, France and the Sienna Art Institute, Italy.
As an advocate for the arts he served on the UMFA’s FOCA Executive Committee from 2006-2013 and was Chair in 2013. He co-founded and directed the Art Group (2007-2015); founded and directed the Foster Art Program (2009-2011); founded and directed the Utah Contemporary Art Think Tank (2010-2011); and currently owns and operates Nox Contemporary Art Gallery (a project oriented, non-commercial gallery).
Statement
A neurologist can tell from a person’s walk how well the nervous system is working and psychologists can determine certain mental disorders from the same observation. As science progresses it is discovering more and more the significant role the body and its language plays in revealing the inner self. Every movement says something about who we are.
Our bodies and their language doesn’t just say something about each of us as individuals, but it also tells about all of us as a whole. It is what body language states about all of us that I am most interested in. As science has and is discovering, there are many tangible things that can be learned from the body, but there are also many intangible things that can be discerned. It is my endeavor to push against the lines that divide the tangible from the intangible.
Through my personal experiences coupled with my studies in eastern/western philosophy, psychology, religion, sociology and behavioral science I have come to an understanding that a lot of our communication is done through the body and that we are all connected together through its language. My work is a conversation with this language about us.
My work is divided into two points of focus –
In the first focus, I use the form of the body to talk visually about its language, to connect to others, to present questions and to have a visual dialogue of the body and the otherness that it reveals.
My second focus on the language of my body. I create this work without sight,or by relying on muscle memory, body memory or body awareness to feel through the process of creating the work. I give completely creative control to my body, much as a dancer lets go of the mind and relies on their body while performing.
