Biography
John Arvanites’ childhood took place, in part, within his father’s life and work as a stage and television actor. Off-school time was spent on tv sets and in the theater while his father was working. From his front row seat he observed quietly as actors performed, for him and for the camera. As his own grownup art journey played out, from painter to video artist and a return to painting, Arvanites always brought this childhood experience as an observer of human performance to his work.
His art career began in 1972 with a move to NYC where for the better part of a decade he worked as a pioneering video artist. During that time he was included in various museum shows and two Whitney Biennials. His video work continued with his return to LA in the late 1970s, though with a noticeable shift in focus, from external observation to that of personal experience. Echo Park, The Theo Tapes and Blues for Piggy were the LA video pieces that reflected this turn inward.
John at his home, 2020
In 2007 Arvanites returned to painting, more specifically the medium of assemblage. Meticulously built surfaces are then painted, once again creating a sense of theatricality-we are at the foot of the proscenium and the painting is the performance. When standing in front of his Space-scape assemblages we bear witness to his childhood fascination with planets and his current fascination with black holes. Not incidental is the fact that he grew up in the vicinity of Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Other memories of first hand experiences are the subjects of his assemblages: his sister’s ballet performances, baseball games, Philippe Petit walking a tight rope between the World Trade Center towers in 1974, the Hillside Strangler murders in his LA neighborhood of Echo Park. Whatever subject or medium, Arvanites continues to look at the world around him with the wonder of that long ago boy who watched his father perform for the camera; that’s where it all began.
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Since receiving a BFA and MFA in Painting from the University of California, Santa Barbara, John Arvanites has gone on to acquire a long list of professional accomplishments as both a video artist and art educator. He has received several National Endowment for the Arts Video Grants, a California Distinguished Artist Award (from the National Art Education Association) and a Western States Regional Arts Fellowship among other honors. His many video productions range from the deeply personal, Blues for Piggy and The Theo Tapes, to the observational such as Alamo Navajo, In Search of Its Past and Echo Park. He has also produced and edited pieces such as Case Study House Program for MOCA Los Angeles and various media projects for Michael Douglas Productions.
Arvanites has been included in three American Film Institute Festivals, two Whitney Biennials, and exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Equally important is that he passed on his wealth of artistic and professional knowledge by teaching Video Art at Otis/Parsons School of Art and Design for twenty years.
Inside John’s studio, 2020