John Seed, Paintings from Then and Now
January 17 – February 16, 2023
Video: Artist Talk for MSJC exhibition
Mt. San Jacinto College Art Gallery is pleased to present John Seed: Paintings from Then and Now. This is a special solo exhibition that kicks off our Spring 2023 semester! This exhibition is a collection of John Seed’s paintings spanning 40 years and serves as a retrospective of not only his practice as a painting but also a writer and art historian. Seed is an MSJC art professor emeritus. His work as a professor of painting and art history has been instrumental in the education and development of an entire generation of MSJC students and artists. Come join us in celebrating John Seed’s talents as an artist and writer!
John Seed started his career as a painter before becoming a noted writer, critic and historian. This exhibition serves as a retrospective of paintings with a large gap in time that his books and writings fill. The earliest paintings in the exhibition date from 1984 and show his commitment to large scale oil painting. As Seed’s career went on he turned from the paintbrush to the pen. We have collected dozens of books and catalogues of his writings that will be displayed as a reading library where we encourage viewers to sit and spend time reading his incredible history writing catalogue essays. Seed’s books include the coffee table sized Disrupted Realism Paintings for a Distracted World, and his paperback memoir, My Art World: Recollections and Other Writings. Signed copies of both will be available for viewing and purchase during the exhibition.
John Seed retired from a 32-year teaching career at MSJC in 2017. In retirement, living in a scenic coastal town—Cambria, California—he has returned to painting. In the past few years, Seed has created over 400 small watercolor paintings and has also been making life drawings of the human figure. His current works explore the light and color of the California Central Coast. His compositions have an inspired vibrancy that grabs the eye and places the viewer in the landscape is slightly abstracted. They also have the freshness and freedom of an artist who is returning to an old love with a new and reinvigorated vision.