John Casado's contemporary paintings that are anchored in the portraiture tradition, explore themes of sexuality, identity and race. The heads and faces that are depicted in the work have a mysterious dream-like quality that balances tension with openness. Using thin washes of color, the paintings take on a distinct transparence appearance that emphasizes their material nature and intimate subject matter.

Millions of people have seen the work of John Casado, American born. He made his name in advertising and design where he created the branding for NEW LINE CINEMA, ESPRIT and MACINTOSH. His work in the music industry won him cult status and received a Grammy Award for design. In 1984, John mounted a show of abstract paintings (alongside the work of Man Ray) at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco. Today his art involves photography. JOHN CASADO: AN ARTIST FOR OUR NEW CENTURY One indication that we have truly entered a new era of creativity are the photographs of John Casado. His nudes, reveal new attitudes and new visions that stamp him firmly as an artist who differs from his predecessors of the past 170 years. In the past two centuries, from the earliest days of photography, the nude has evolved slowly, but there is now a decided change. - David Leddick.

Education University of California, Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, B.A. 1966 Los Angeles, California Bachelor of Arts, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena 1966 Studied at University of California, Los Angeles Lives and works in San Francisco

Selected Solo Exhibitions City Picture Frame Gallery, San Francisco, Summer 2003 City Picture Frame Gallery, San Francisco, Summer 2002 Xibit Gallery, Los Angeles, Spring 1990 Xibit Gallery, Los Angeles, 1990

Selected Group Exhibitions Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1982

Biennale of Graphic Design International Exhibition of Advertising Art and Poster

The Ryder Gallery, Chicago Illinois

The Stephen Wirtz Gallery, 1984 (painting)

Louis Stern Gallery, Los Angeles, Spring 1995

The Xibit Gallery, Los Angeles, 1994 The Benham Gallery, Seattle, Fall 2003 The Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, Fall 2003 The Benham Gallery, Seattle, 2003

I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA, 2004 Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson Collage, New Jersey

Five Senses Projects, San Rafael, CA, Spring 2010

Museum Collections The New Orleans Museum of Art

Selected Publications and Reviews La Fotograpia Actual, No. 104, Spain August/September 2004 Black + White Magazine, No. 59, Australia, February 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle, Jesse Hamlin, May 25, 2002 Male Nudes Now, New Visions for the 21st Century, D. Leddick / Universe Press

The New Nude Issue 4, 2006 Eyemazing Magazine Issue 4, 2006 New Visions for the 21st Century, David Leddick / Universe Press Zoom International, November/December 1998 AXIS Magazine, Japan, March 1997 IDEA Magazine, Japan Graphis 269 October / November 1990 NOVUM GEBRAUCHS GRAPHIK Magazine, Germany Communication Arts Magazine, U.S.A. Graphis No. 269, 1990

Select Collections Cooper Hewitt Museum, permanent collection Museum of Modern Art, New York, permanent collection Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design, permanent collection U.S. Library of Congress, archive National Popular and Graphic Arts, permanent collection The New Orleans Museum of Art, permanent collection U.S. Library of Congress, archive

Select Recognition Grammy, Best Album Cover, 1974 Gold Medal Award in Design from Art Directors Club of Los Angeles Gold Medal Award in Design from Art Directors Club of New York Gold Medal Award in Design from Art Directors Club of San Francisco

John Casado

More by this artist