Jon Clark arrived to Philadelphia in 1973 and established a new program for glass at Tyler School of Art. During the last 34 years he has dedicated himself to the highest standards for himself, the Glass program at Tyler and to his students. His work is well known throughout the world. His work is in museums around the USA and in Japan, China, Australia and England. He is the recipient of numerous National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, Pennsylvania Arts Grants and research grants from Temple University. His students are known for their outstanding creative accomplishments, teaching and work in the field of contemporary glass. He resides in Elkins Park with his daughter Jamie, wife Patti Dougherty, a well-known artist in the area of Jewelry Design and fabrication and Glass bead making.
He has offered a piece for this exhibition (BH SKIN, 1982) that was conceived in the early eighties as a response to his research in Egypt in 1981. He was working on a thesis that focused on Kohl vessels from the Fifth century BC that were produced throughout the Mediterranean region from 800 BC through 100 BC in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia. This series of pieces was created from 1981-1984. All of the 18 objects produced are in public and private collections. This is the last one that will be offered to the public from his personal collection.
Professor Jon Clark received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls in 1970. He received his MA RCA from the Royal College of Art in London England in 1972. He introduced the Glass program at Temple University, Tyler School of Art in 1973. He has served as Chair of the Craft Department at Tyler for 20 years, and area Head Area of Glass since 1973. He has traveled throughout Europe, South America, Egypt and Japan conducting research for his teaching and his creative activities. He has given workshops, lectures, and critiques at Art Schools, Art Programs and Glass Centers in America, England and Japan. His students have gone on to teach and head Glass programs at Tulane University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Louisville, Alfred University, Cleveland Institute of Art. Many of students are leading artists in the field of Contemporary Glass. Beth Lipman who received her BFA from Tyler School of Art, is one of the featured artists in the current exhibition at The Renwick Gallery in Washington DC.
The glass sculpture of Jon Clark often explores organic life forms that are evocative of reproductive elements in plants and flowers, and dynamic life forms from obscure underwater havens.
His most recent installation concerns are extended into a combination of light, sound, and glass that transforms the gallery space into a moving sea of natural forms. The video for the installation incorporates reflected light recorded form nature in order to create what the artists state is a “cycle of time and energy evolution within a framework of erupting transparent forms.”
He has been exhibiting at Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia since 1984. Other solos exhibitions at Wilkes University, Wilkes Barre, PA (in collaboration with Angus Powers, 2006); Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE (in collaboration with Angus Posers, 2005); Philadelphia International Airport (2004); Sanske Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (1997); Leo Kaplan Modern, New York, NY, (2002); Anne O’Brien Gallery, Washington, D.C., (1986 and 1989); and Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, (1981), among dozens of other group and invitational exhibitions. Clark has received Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. His work is featured in several collections including: Corning Museum of Glass; Kunst Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany, Nijima Glass Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Tittot Museum of Glass, Taipei, Taiwan; and Museum and Gallery of Art in Western Australia, as well as a number of private collections.