Jonathan Seliger
PROFILE
His early background in literature and lyric poetry, combined with his experience as an art critic, freelance curator, and gallery director in New York, deeply informs his practice and his ability to uncover poetic resonance and conceptual clarity within everyday objects.
Seliger draws his subjects from items embedded in contemporary urban life—from luxury brand shopping bags to milk cartons, takeout containers, and lightbulbs—objects that are constantly seen, consumed, and discarded. Working with materials such as bronze, aluminum, stainless steel, and canvas, he meticulously reconstructs these familiar forms, subtly altering their scale, color, surface, and texture to transform the ordinary into objects of renewed presence.
While initially resembling manufactured goods or postmodern simulacra, his works are in fact the result of labor-intensive craftsmanship. This paradox—the transformation of mass-produced objects through time-consuming artistic production—brings together Pop Art’s engagement with consumer culture, a sleek precision reminiscent of the West Coast Finish Fetish movement, the formal concerns of Minimalism, conceptual strategies, and the tradition of trompe-l’œil.
By cutting, folding, assembling, and painting two-dimensional materials, Seliger creates objects that embody qualities of both painting and sculpture. His works function as signs of contemporary consumerism while inviting viewers to look again and uncover the quiet poetry embedded in transient, everyday things.
BIOGRAPHY
1955 Born in Brooklyn, NY
1978 B.A., State University of New York at Binghamton
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions (Selected)：
2022 Tasende Gallery, La Jolla, California, USA
2017 “Disappearing Fabric” McClain Gallery, Houston, USA
2012 Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2010 “Spoils” Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
2010 “The Hard Way” Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
2006 “Now & Then” Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
2005 “Born to Shop” Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, USA
2005 “Jonathan Seliger” Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2004 “Politeness Counts” Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut, USA
2004 “Politeness Counts” Tang Teaching Museum, New York
2003 “Spree” McClain Gallery, Houston, USA
2002 “As Is,” Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
2001 “Personal Shopper” Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
2000 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
2000 Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
1999 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
1996 Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
Group Exhibitions (Selected)：
2025 Two-person exhibition by Kenji Misawa and Jonathan Seliger “Material and Substance” Sho+1, Tokyo
2022 “Illusion of Reality” GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS FOAM COMTEMPORARY, Tokyo
2022 “ART FAIR TOKYO 2022” Sho+1, Tokyo
2021 “ART FAIR TOKYO 2021” Sho+1, Tokyo
2020 “artTNZ” Sho+1, Tokyo
COLLECTIONS
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
OFFICIAL LINK