Profile: Jon Coffelt part 1

Today, I am profiling someone very dear to my heart. I met New York artist Jon Coffelt while living in Birmingham when I went to work for Jon and his partner Shawn Boley at their gallery, Agnes.

above: Agnes Gallery logo

For me, Agnes was the beginning of many things including a life-long and important friendship with Jon and Shawn who are two of the most delightful and inspiring people in my life. 

During my time spent at Agnes, I met a and worked with some of the best fine art photographers in the country. Among them, Karen Graffeo, whose work with the Roma, I would later show as my first curatorial endeavor at Georgia College Museum, Melissa Springer, and the late Ruth Bernhard. As an assistant at Agnes, I became, like those before me and those who followed, one of the kids. This is a group to which I am proud to belong. The "Agnes kids" includes, among others, artists, educators and curators Cynthia Farnell and Clayton Colvin both of whom I have had the pleasure of working with on other projects.

from the "miniature" series

Jon's work as an artist includes a broad range of media. He draws, he paints, he sews and today-- I will leave you with my favorite, the "miniature" series. Each piece from this series is numbered and each one tells a story.

This is number 23 and it is from the collection of Gerda Carmichael, 1994.
Jon says, "One of my very first commissions [from the "miniature series] was for Gerda Carmichael and she was married in this short version of a sari in India. This garment was very worn and frayed and I was so afraid to cut into it at first. This is on of those pieces that I began to realize could effect people in such a myriad of ways. She cried upon seeing it for the first time and she told me she pictured her wedding day back in 1935. Her husband passed away in 1980.

This is # 19. It is linen and measures 15.5 x 14 cm.
Chronicallly, this is the first piece Jon did [for Shawn Boley] after Shawn wore the shirt almost completely out. 

Numbers 301 a (pajama top) and 301 b (pajama bottom) belonged to six year old Jon.
They mark a time before Disney and Warner Brother cartoon characters donned children's sleepwear.  

Number 103 is a formal blouse from the 1930's.
It marks fashion history as one of the first designs for the "New Era."
Made of a silk- cotton blend, it features over-sized Peter Pan collar.
The exaggerated silhouette would have been cinched at the waist by a large belt.

This is #90.
The Huffman fabric company registered this fabric design in 1936.
This small shirt features a large collar with cuffed sleeves and a placket front.
It is made of 100% cotton although many of Huffman's designs were applied to other fabric types. 

Stay tuned for more about Jon, his journey, his work as an artist and his many other endeavors.