Jon Rafman

Jon RAFMAN (1981, Canada) studied Philosophy and Literature at McGill University in Montreal and received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work centers around the emotional, social and existential impact of technology on contemporary life. He focuses on the  melancholy in modern social interactions and virtual realities. His videos and art utilise personal moments to reveal how pop culture and subcultures shape individual desires, and will often define those individuals in return. His artwork has gained international attention and was exhibited at, amongst others, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. His work has also been included in numerous prestigious international biennials, including the 58th Venice Biennale, 13th Lyon Biennale,  9th Berlin Biennale, and Manifesta. In 2015, the City of Montreal and the Contemporary Art Galleries Association awarded Rafman the Prix-Pierre-Ayot prize for emerging artists. He represented Quebec twice as a finalist in the competition for the 2015 and 2018 Sobey Art Award. Rafman is widely known for exhibiting found images from Google Street View in his online artwork 9-Eyes (2009-ongoing).