Jon Rappleye’s drawings and sculptures depict fantastical worlds populated by familiar animals, exotic creatures and strange hybrid phenomena. They are homespun fairy tales, explorations of cultural folklore and his own personal mythology. Within these environments there are layered references to the human body. Biological structures and functions are reanimated, exploring ecological issues, technology and the dream world landscape.

Owls, deer, rabbits and various birds inhabit unfamiliar terrains that appear to have been barren yet are coming back to life in freakish ways. Clouds, stars and volcanic smoke curl and drift in skies that range in color from yellow to orange to blue to green to gray. What has happened naturally and man’s effect on the environment is blurred and left open to question. Using nature as a blueprint he explores the boundaries of reality versus artifice.

This is Jon Rappleye’s fist solo exhibition in New York. Recent group exhibitions include: The Zine Unbound at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco and Point of View at Vox Populi in Philadelphia. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his BFA from Utah State University. He is a 2005 recipient of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission Grant. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.