Jon Rafman

Rafman was born in Montreal, Canada. He holds an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from McGill University. He lives in Montreal.

File:Jon Rafman in 2012.jpg

Rafman's work focuses on technology and digital media, often using narrative to emphasize the ways in which they connect users back to society and history. Much of his work focuses on melancholy in modern social interactions, communities and virtual realities (primarily Google Earth, Google Street View and Second Life), while still bringing light to the beauty of them in a manner sometimes inspired by Romanticism. His videos and art utilize personal moments intended to reveal how pop culture ephemera and subcultures shape individual desires, and will often define those individuals in return.

Rafman's Kool-Aid Man in Second Life project consists of films and participatory tours around the virtual universe of Second Life, which is hosted by his avatar, a 3D render of the Kool-Aid Man. Rafman conducted these tours live, inviting audience members to take part in the exploration of the virtual world as he guided and contextualized the experience {{Cite web | url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/revealing-jon-rafman/ | title=Revealing Jon Rafman by Lindsay Howard - BOMB Magazine | date=8 July 2010 }} Kool-Aid Man in Second life is a quasi-ethnographic tour of the wildly varied fantasies invented and pursued by denizens of the web's murkier corners.{{Cite web|url=https://momus.ca/this-is-where-it-ends-the-denouement-of-post-internet-art-in-jon-rafmans-deep-web/|title=This is Where It Ends: The Denouement of Post-Internet Art in Jon Rafman's Deep Web|date=9 July 2015}} Rafman describes this project as an exploration of new communities that formed as the internet became a ubiquitous aspect of modern life.{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/interviews/jon-rafman-discusses-his-show-at-the-contemporary-art-museum-st-louis-47380|title=Jon Rafman discusses his show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis|date=3 July 2014 }}

In 2008, Rafman started Nine Eyes of Google Street View, a long-term archival photo project which uses screenshots of Google Street View images as its source.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/feb/20/google-street-view-nine-eyes-in-pictures | title=The street views Google wasn't expecting you to see – in pictures | newspaper=The Guardian | date=20 February 2012 }} These images from across the world are arranged in a massive database and published in books, on [http://googlestreetviews.com/ blogs] and as prints for his various exhibitions.{{Cite web|url=https://elephant.art/jon-rafman-uses-google-street-view-find-slice-humanity-digital-terrain/|title = Jon Rafman Finds a Slice of Humanity in the Digital Terrain|date = 28 July 2019}} Rafman later began to keep an ongoing Tumblr blog where he would post his Google Street View images.{{Cite web | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-street-view-photos-artist-jon-rafman-2016-9 | title=29 weird and beautiful images found on Google Street View | website=Business Insider }}

In 2016, Rafman's animated feature-length film Dream Journal premiered at the Sprüth Magers gallery in Berlin.{{cite news|last=Rafferty|first=Penny|date=October 6, 2017|title=Play // Dream Journal: An Interview with Jon Rafman|magazine=Berlin Art Link|url=https://www.berlinartlink.com/2017/10/06/play-dream-journal-an-interview-with-jon-rafman|access-date=December 11, 2020}} Inspired by Rafman's habit of recording and animating his dreams, the film through a series of dream episodes explores the effects that technology and the internet have on the human psyche. Rafman has called the process of working on the film a form of "worldbuilding" with the desire to create a Boschian-like vision of our current hellscape.{{Cite web | url=https://www.spikeartmagazine.com/articles/portrait-jon-rafman | title=Portrait: Jon Rafman | date=3 March 2020 }}{{cite news|last=Freeman|first=Nate|author2=Alexander Forbes|date=June 12, 2018|title=10 Must-See Works at Art Basel Unlimited|website=Artsy|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-must-see-works-art-basel-unlimited-06-12-18|access-date=December 11, 2020}}{{cite news|last=Bockowski|first=Piotr|date=November 1, 2019|title=Venice Biennale 2019: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal|magazine=This Is Tomorrow|url=http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/venice-biennale-2019-jon-rafman-dream-journal|access-date=December 11, 2020}}{{cite news|date=September 17, 2018|title=Fondazione Modena Arti Visive|magazine=e-flux journal|url=https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/208327/jon-rafmanthe-mental-traveller|access-date=December 11, 2020}}

In 2024, Jon Rafman introduced [https://www.cloudyheart.net/ cloudyheart], one of the first AI-driven musical artist in history. Rafman revealed this project on X (formerly Twitter).{{Cite web |last=Rafman |first=Jon |title=#freecloudy |url=https://x.com/jonrafman/status/1883225019138060748}}

Jon Rafman's oeuvre has been situated within the Post-Internet art movement.{{Cite web | url=https://rhizome.org/editorial/2018/jan/04/towards-a-post-internet-sublime/ | title=Towards a Postinternet Sublime | date=4 January 2018 }} He has risen to acclaim with his project Nine Eyes of Google Street View,{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/magazine/02fob-consumed-t.html | title=Global Entertainment | newspaper=The New York Times | date=30 December 2010 | last1=Walker | first1=Rob }}{{cite magazine| url = https://harpers.org/archive/2009/11/search-and-destroy/| title = Search and destroy, by Jon Rafman| magazine = Harper's Magazine| date = November 2009| volume = November 2009| last1 = Rafman| first1 = Jon}} which developed a distinctly post-internet approach to photography. His work has been included in numerous prestigious international biennials, including the 58th Venice Biennale,{{Cite web | url=https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2019/partecipants/jon-rafman | title=Biennale Arte 2019 | Jon Rafman | date=15 May 2019 }} 13th Lyon Biennale,{{Cite web | url=https://contemporaryand.com/exhibition/13th-biennale-de-lyon-la-vie-moderne/ | title=13th Biennale de Lyon: La vie moderne }} 9th Berlin Biennale,{{Cite web | url=http://bb9.berlinbiennale.de/participants/rafman/ | title=Berlin Biennale | Jon Rafman }} and Manifesta 11.{{Cite web | url=https://m11.manifesta.org/en/artist/rafman-jon.html | title=Rafman, Jon | date=June 2016 }}

In September 2013, Rafman collaborated with Brooklyn-based experimental musician Daniel Lopatin, better known by his stage name Oneohtrix Point Never, on a music video for "Still Life" to accompany the release of R Plus Seven on Warp Records.{{cite news|first=Ben|last=Valentine|date=June 11, 2014|title=Jon Rafman's Not-So-Still Life of a Digital Betamale|magazine=Hyperallergic|url=https://hyperallergic.com/128037/jon-rafmans-not-so-still-life-of-a-digital-betamale/|access-date=December 21, 2020}} The two later collaborated to create a two-part music video for "Sticky Drama", from Lopatin's 2015 album Garden of Delete.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/td-e4i2BL_Q Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20151106052324/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td-e4i2BL_Q Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td-e4i2BL_Q| title = Sticky Drama - Music Video | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

In 2015, the City of Montreal and the Contemporary Art Galleries Association awarded Rafman the Prix-Pierre-Ayot prize for emerging artists.[https://canadianart.ca/news/news-in-brief-jon-rafman-wins-at-montreal-awards-eastern-edges-new-director-bc-first-nations-art-awards/ News in Brief: Jon Rafman Wins at Montreal Awards, Eastern Edge’s New Director, BC First Nations’ Art Awards] canadianart.ca

{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412203110/https://canadianart.ca/news/news-in-brief-jon-rafman-wins-at-montreal-awards-eastern-edges-new-director-bc-first-nations-art-awards/ |date=2021-04-12 }} Rafman represented Quebec twice as a finalist in the competition for the 2015 and 2018 Sobey Art Award.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/2018-sobey-art-award-quebec-jon-rafman-1.4996549| title = 2018 Sobey Art Award: Quebec - Jon Rafman {{!}} CBC Radio}}{{Cite web | url=https://canadianart.ca/features/jon-rafman-sobey-finalist-slideshow | title=Jon Rafman: Sobey Finalist Slideshow }} In 2018, Parisian fashion house Balenciaga commissioned Rafman to create an immersive LED tunnel for their Spring-Summer 2019 show.{{Cite web | url=https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvddd/jon-rafman-balenciaga | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806163823/https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvddd/jon-rafman-balenciaga | url-status=dead | archive-date=August 6, 2020 | title=Who is Jon Rafman, the Artist Behind Balenciaga's Video Installation? | date=October 2018 }}{{Cite web | url=https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/balenciaga-paris-fashion-show-demna-gvasalia-and-artist-jon-rafman/ | title=Balenciaga Taps Artist Jon Rafman to Reimagine Paris Fashion Show | date=9 October 2018 }} Rafman is represented by art galleries Sprüth Magers (Berlin, Los Angeles, London) and Seventeen (London).{{Cite web | url=http://www.seventeengallery.com/artists/jon-rafman/ | title=Jon Rafman }}

Among public collections holding examples of his work are The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the MAXXI in Rome, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and others.

In July 2020, Rafman was accused by three women of alleged sexual misconduct in posts made to the Instagram account @surviving_the_artworld. These accusations were reported by the Montreal Gazette.{{Cite news |last=Bahr |first=Sarah |date=2020-07-28 |title=Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/arts/design/hirshhorn-museum-jon-rafman.html |access-date=2023-01-11 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Cascone |first=Sarah |date=2020-07-28 |title=Three Museums Have Pushed Back Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/john-rafman-shows-cancelled-1897589 |access-date=2023-01-11 |work=Artnet News |language=en-US}} Jon Rafman sued the Gazette and journalist T’cha Dunlevy for defamation. Under a settlement the stories were removed from the site, with the Gazette stating that they had not given "equal time or space to Mr. Rafman to refute the claims against which he had evidence".{{cite news |title=Kanye West Has Tapped Jon Rafman for a Dystopian Trailer Teasing His Forthcoming Album |work=Artnet News |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kanye-west-jon-rafman-vultures-trailer-2423696}} At the time, the Hirshhorn Museum suspended a planned Rafman exhibit and his Montreal gallery broke off its relationship with him.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-28|title=Three Museums Have Cancelled Planned Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of Sexual Misconduct|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/john-rafman-shows-cancelled-1897589|access-date=2020-08-26|website=artnet News|language=en-US}}{{cite news|first1=Sarah|last1=Bahr|access-date=2020-09-05|title=Hirshhorn Suspends Jon Rafman Show After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/arts/design/hirshhorn-museum-jon-rafman.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 July 2020|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news|first1=Valentina Di|last1=Liscia|access-date=2020-09-05|title=Three Museums Suspend Jon Rafman Exhibitions Following Allegations of "Predatory Behavior"|url=https://hyperallergic.com/579110/jon-rafman-exhibitions-suspended/|date=29 July 2020|website=Hyperallergic}}

In February 2022, Jon Rafman's film Punctured Sky (2021) won the KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) prize at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/2022/film/global/rotterdam-tiger-award-eami-excess-will-save-us-to-love-again-1235169752/ | title='Eami' Wins Tiger Award at Rotterdam, 'Excess Will Save Us,' 'To Love Again' Take Prizes | date=2 February 2022 }}

In January 2023, rapper Lil Yachty released his critically acclaimed album Let's Start Here with Rafman's artwork on the cover.{{Cite web |last=Fact |date=2023-02-02 |title=Fact Focus: Jon Rafman |url=https://www.factmag.com/2023/02/02/jon-rafman-fact-focus/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Fact Magazine |language=en-US}} In July 2023, Rafman contributed artwork to rapper Travis Scott's highly anticipated album, Utopia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/style/a/mike-destefano/travis-scott-utopia-visuals-creatives|title=The Creatives Behind Travis Scott's 'Utopia' Visuals|first=Mike|last=DeStefano|website=Complex|accessdate=3 February 2024}} In January 2024, Kanye West posted a trailer to Instagram with the caption "VULTURES TRAILER BY JON RAFMAN" for his collaborative album with Ty Dolla Sign, Vultures.

In January 2025, Jon Rafman created the first A.I. pop star [https://x.com/cl0udyh3art Cl0udyH3art] and with her own "memecoin" on Solana blockchain - [https://dexscreener.com/solana/4soxi47utpbzuusw27i9vq7ogkwrz8xlrj2fruunnsjg cloudy]. Her music can be found on Spotify - [https://open.spotify.com/artist/2l7R5wSZRd2PmwohL1lqJ0?si=wSkIwkHYSuudxnyNs2Wd3w Cloudy Heart Spotify]

• You Are Standing in an Open Field, Zach Feuer Gallery New York, September 2013{{Cite web|title=Jon Rafman: You Are Standing In An Open Field {{!}} Zach Feuer|url=http://www.zachfeuer.com/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|access-date=2018-01-30|website=www.zachfeuer.com|archive-date=2018-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131200715/http://www.zachfeuer.com/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|url-status=dead}}
• A Man Digging, Seventeen Gallery, London, May 2013{{cite news|title=Jon Rafman, A Man Digging - Seventeen|language=en-GB|work=Seventeen|url=http://www.seventeengallery.com/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|access-date=2018-01-30}}
• Annals of Time Lost, Future Gallery, Berlin, April 2013{{Cite web|title=FUTURE GALLERY|url=http://futuregallery.org/jon-rafman-annals-of-time-lost/|access-date=2018-01-30|website=futuregallery.org}}
• Jon Rafman, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, June 2015{{Cite web|title=Jon Rafman|url=https://macm.org/en/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|access-date=2020-09-22|website=MAC Montréal|language=en-US}}
• I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, May 2016{{Cite web|last=Grrr.nl|title=Jon Rafman: I have ten thousand compound eyes and each is named suffering|url=https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/jonrafman|access-date=2018-01-30|website=www.stedelijk.nl|language=en}}
• Jon Rafman, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden, 2016{{Cite web|title=Jon Rafman – Carl Kostyál|date=6 February 2020 |url=https://kostyal.com/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|access-date=2022-01-19|language=en-GB}}
• Il Viaggiatore Mentale, Palazzina dei Giardini, Modena, September 2018{{Cite web|title=JON RAFMAN. THE MENTAL TRAVELLER|url=http://www.fondazionefotografia.org/en/mostra/jon-rafman-il-viaggiatore-mentale/|access-date=2019-01-06|website=www.fondazionefotografia.org|language=en|archive-date=2019-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107072658/http://www.fondazionefotografia.org/en/mostra/jon-rafman-il-viaggiatore-mentale/}}
• Dream Journal, Oval Office, Bochum, September 2021 {{cite web | url=https://www.schauspielhausbochum.de/en/stuecke/8026/dream-journal-2016-2019 | title=Dream Journal 2016-2019 – Schedule – Schauspielhaus Bochum }}
• You, the World, and I, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, October 2021 {{Cite web | url=https://www.lacasaencendida.es/en/exhibitions/you-world-and-i-jon-rafman-12961 | title=You, the World and I, by Jon Rafman | access-date=2021-12-16 | archive-date=2021-12-16 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216033945/https://www.lacasaencendida.es/en/exhibitions/you-world-and-i-jon-rafman-12961 | url-status=dead }}
• Arbiter of Worlds, Ordet, Milan, February 2022 {{Cite web | url=https://www.ordet.org/projects/jonrafman | title=Ordet — ₳Ɽ฿ł₮ɆⱤ Ø₣ ₩ØⱤⱠĐ₴ }}
• Egregores and Grimoires, Schinkel Pavillion, Berlin, September 2022 {{Cite web|url=https://schinkelpavillon.de/|title=Schinkel Pavillon|website=schinkelpavillon.de|accessdate=3 February 2024}}
• Counterfit Poast, Sprueth Magers, Berlin, September 2022{{cn|date=January 2024}}
• Minor Daemon, 180 Strand, London, January 2023 {{cite web | url=https://www.180thestrand.com/minor-daemon | title=Jon Rafman: Minor Daemon Vol 1 — 180 Studios }}
• 𝐸𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒽 𝒦'𝒹𝒶𝒷𝓇𝒾, Sprueth Magers, London, January 2023{{cn|date=January 2024}}
• ¡ʎʇıuɐɯnH ǝɥʇ 'ɥO Whangārei Art Museum, Whangārei, December-March 2024-2025 {{cite web | url=https://www.whangareiartmuseum.co.nz/exhibitions/oh-the-humanity | title=Jon Rafman ¡ʎʇıuɐɯnH ǝɥʇ 'ɥO |access-date=6 January 2025|website=www.whangareiartmuseum.co.nz}}{{ cite web | url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018968146/from-google-street-view-and-second-life-to-4chan-the-profound-impact-of-the-internet-on-culture | title=From Google Street View and Second Life to 4chan: the profound impact of the internet on culture | access-date=6 January 2025|website=www.rnz.co.nz}}

• Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, 2010
• Free, New Museum, New York, 2010{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/arts/design/22free.html|title='Free,' at New Museum, Explores Internet as Public Art Scene|last=Rosenberg|first=Karen|date=2010-10-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-01-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
• New Jpegs, Johan Berggren Gallery in Malmo, Sweden, 2011{{Cite web|title=JOHAN BERGGREN GALLERY|url=http://www.johanberggren.com/past/11-07-newjpegs.html|access-date=2018-01-30|website=www.johanberggren.com}}
• The Saatchi Gallery, 2012
• Palais de Tokyo, 2012{{cite news|date=2016-05-26|title=Jon Rafman|work=Palais de Tokyo EN|url=http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/en/event/jon-rafman|access-date=2018-01-30}}
• Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, 2012{{cite news|title=Jon Rafman – MAC Montréal|language=en-US|work=MAC Montréal|url=https://macm.org/en/exhibitions/jon-rafman/|access-date=2018-01-30}}
• Speculations on Anonymous Materials, The Fridericianum, Kassel, 2013{{cite news|title=Speculations on Anonymous Materials|language=en|url=http://www.fridericianum.org/exhibitions/speculations-on-anonymous-materials|access-date=2018-01-30|archive-date=2018-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126075012/http://www.fridericianum.org/exhibitions/speculations-on-anonymous-materials}}
• Summer Show, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden, 2017{{Cite web|title=Call me – Carl Kostyál|date=5 June 2017 |url=https://kostyal.com/exhibitions/call-me/|access-date=2022-01-19|language=en-GB}}
• Stockholm Dinner Sessions, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden, 2019{{Cite web|title=Stockholm Dinner Sessions – En Tillställning at Blique – Carl Kostyál|url=https://kostyal.com/exhibitions/stockholm-sessions/|access-date=2022-01-19|language=en-GB}}
• Malmö Sessions, Carl Kostyál, Malmö, Sweden, 2019{{Cite web|title=Malmö Sessions – Carl Kostyál|date=13 May 2019 |url=https://kostyal.com/exhibitions/malmo-sessions/|access-date=2022-01-19|language=en-GB}}
• Rencontres d'Arles
• Ticket to the Future, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, 2021 {{cite web | url=https://www.kunstmuseum-bonn.de/en/ausstellungen/ticket-to-the-future/ | title=Ticket to the Future }}
• What Wonderful World, MAXXI museum, Rome, 2022 {{cite web | url=https://www.maxxi.art/en/events/what-a-wonderful-world/ | title=What a Wonderful World | MAXXI | date=3 March 2022 }}

• Communicating the Archive: Physical Migration. Regional State Archives in Gothenburg. Rafman's work was included, as was an essay by Sandra Rafman, on the archival impulses of Rafman's work.Karl-Magnus Johansson (2013), Communicating the Archive : Physical Migration, The Regional State Archives in Gothenburg. {{ISBN|978-91-979866-3-2}}

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Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian digital artists

Category:Canadian contemporary artists

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Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni

Category:McGill University alumni