John King has been working in The Center for the Arts since the inception of the Studio Art program, and from the onset his gifts astounded all who worked with him. He showed a facility with many media including acrylics, watercolors, printmaking, fabric arts, ceramics, sculptural assemblage and various media arts. Also exhibiting an eye for design, John has created the artwork for many greeting cards over the years.
In the intervening years he has produced a substantial body of work. Nothing is left untouched as John explores the studio in search of materials and inspiration for his sculptures, drawings, prints and paintings. John’s found object assemblages at first glance, as one observer has noted, look “as though the roof of a Dollar store caved in and all of the plastic merchandise and artificial plants were smashed together and melted into a great seething mass. Closer inspection reveals a hyper-condensed collection of controlled experiments and playful but deliberate juxtapositions.”
John’s paintings are quite different from this. In 2-dimensional media he is known for his renditions of happy people. Simplified body forms and big smiles form the basis of his style. No matter what they are engaged in, John’s happy people are instantly recognizable as being his. This is entirely fitting to those who know him, for there is no one on Earth who is happier than John. John's vibrant personality is reflected throughout his work, in the objects he uses, characters he creates and the resulting narratives.