Untitled, from Todd St. John’s new show at 222 Gallery in Philadelphia

Our good friend Todd St. John is debuting a brand new exhibit at 222 Gallery in Philadelphia which opens November 7 and runs through December 5. Todd’s wood sculptures and graphics have long been beautiful works of art we already know and love. His latest series of innovations is not only timely after 6 years of process, it also reflects a certain existential yet organic quality.  We recently caught up with Todd to talk shop and the ideas behind the work.

What was the inspiration for this show and how did you get involved with 222 Gallery?

I’ve known Phil for a long time, and had done another show at 222 in 2001. As far as the ideas, I’d started working on a series of dimensional drawings about 7 years ago, and started working on experimenting with those in actual space—sculpturally–shortly after that. And also assembling sign-based or abstract forms colliding in three dimensions.

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Were there any memorable collaborations with any other artists or colleagues?

For this particular show, not as much. I do collaborate with Gary Benzel a lot, and so there are elements in this show that have overlaps with things that we’ve worked on together. I also have two or three people that assist me in the studio: Jeff Shepherd, Ashley Norton, and Bailey Dwyer. They’ve been a huge help on this.

You have a particular style both sculpturally and graphically. What was your biggest challenge in preparing for this exhibit?

Probably just not getting ahead of myself. A lot of this has a strong element of restraint to it. That’s part of what it’s about. I’ve never tried to make things that will overwhelm people with anything gimmicky or detailed for detail’s sake. It’s more about focusing on one or two specific ideas, or a relationship between two things.

Todd St. John at his NYC studio, HunterGatherer

Did you employ any new techniques?

This is a collection of things going back five or six years, so there’s a range of things pulled from that time period. I’m always experimenting with variations on how I make things. Most of what is in this show are sculptural pieces made out of wood & works on paper. I’m also including a section in the back that will show some animations I’ve worked on alongside the props & characters created for those animations. I would say that in terms of techniques, that’s something I’ve gotten a lot smarter about over the last five years.

Do you have any favorite pieces or ones in particular that resonated with you?

There’s a fairly large piece in the show that is the start of some things I’ve been thinking about more. I like how that turned out.

If a young artist or advocate were acquainting themselves with your work for the first time, is there any particular theme or message you would want them to walk away with?

There’s usually ideas fighting or contradicting each other in the things I make, especially in terms of representation.

We can already predict that your show will be a smashing success. Any last words?

Thanks for chatting…