The Only One I've Got

Jon creates vibrant, neo primitive scrawls of shapes and colour. He’s pushed his monster-like characters into compositions where cartoon-like forms are crammed on top of each other until they create a screaming mass of energy. Intensely prolific, he has pushed the character obsession of the late 90s back into fashion and to another level. Working across a variety of mediums that includes drawing, painting, print, animation, large scale murals and toy design, his art retains a hand-made, hand-drawn quality. A sense of British self-deprecation, dry humour and modern-day anxiety imbues his work. He has exhibited internationally since 2001 and has work in the permanent collections of The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Science Museum in London. He lectures at Universities and presented his work at the prestigious Pictoplasma Character Design Conference (Berlin, 2006). He has received two D&AD Silver award nominations and has worked on many commercial projects for high profile organisations including: Cadbury, Pepsi, MTV, Levis and Rip Curl. In 2011, Jon relocated from Nottingham, UK to Brooklyn, NY. Founded in 2002 by Steve Cober and Kristin Weckworth, Magic Pony began as a modest venture located in Toronto's Kensington Market that focused on importing rare designer toys from Asia for a small circle of devoted collectors. A year later operations moved to a small second-floor retail space in the Queen West Art District. Magic Pony expanded in 2004 with the addition of curated gallery programming, and expanded even further in 2005, when the shop and gallery relocated to a neighboring street-front property. In December 2008, Magic Pony opened Narwhal Art Projects, an expanded gallery space dedicated exclusively to exhibitions. Today, Magic Pony and Narwhal boast an internationally-geared, ambitious schedule of art exhibitions, product launches, artist appearances and public event programming. For more information, visit Narwhal's website at www.narwhalartprojects.com. Magic Pony was at the forefront of the urban vinyl phenomenon and was initially celebrated for its carefully selected collection of designer toys. A term used to describe collectibles produced in limited edition, in a variety of materials (vinyl, plastic, plush, wood), designer toys have become the contemporary version of the artist multiple, produced by multidisciplinary artists, illustrators and designers. The collision of street art, graffiti, fashion, hip hop and youth culture, urban Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.