I’m John Smalls, a visual artist, designer, and art toy creator working primarily with acrylics, gouache, and india ink. My style is expressive and instinctive, driven by movement, emotion, and lived experience.
An interest in art began in childhood and was shaped through years of creating, traveling, and engaging with diverse cultures around the world. These experiences (rather than formal structure) became my education and continue to inform my work.
Inspired by everyday life, people, and the social environments encountered along the way, each piece begins with sketching and evolves through loose, gestural brushwork. Color is often introduced last, guided by intuition rather than planning.
Through my work, I aim to evoke nostalgia, reflection, and emotional connection, inviting viewers to slow down and consider their own response to what they’re seeing.
When I’m not creating, I’m training jiu jitsu or exploring cities and galleries for inspiration. Follow my work and process on Instagram @johnxsmalls.
Group & Solo Exhibitions:
2024 – Freelancers Union Visual Artists, Freelancers Hub, Brooklyn, NY
2014 – Journey through Jiu Jitsu, Space Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2007 – Visual Slang: The Modern Urban Imagination, Abrons Arts Center, NYC
2006 – Touch and Feel: Messing with the high and low, Red Saw Gallery, Newark, NJ
2006 – Enough is Enough, Weston Hall Gallery, Newark, NJ
2005 – Expectations, The Paul Robeson Cultural Center, Rutgers, NJ
2005 – Arthouse Highland Park Arts Festival, New Brunswick, NJ
2004 – Hip Hop Political Convention Art and Resistance Show, Newark, NJ
2004 – San Antonio Cultural Arts Huevos Rancheros Gala, San Antonio, TX
2001 – First Friday Art Exhibition at the Ellis Bean Art Space, San Antonio, TX
2001 – 3rd Annual Mad Media Manifesto Exhibition, San Antonio, TX
2000 – Eye Con and Will Exhibition at the Art Asylum, San Antonio, TX
Publications:
- Jiu Jitsu Style Magazine April 2013
- Jits Magazine December 2012
- Jiu Jitsu Style Magazine May 2012
- SanAntonio Express-News Oct.12,2001
- The Austin Chronicle (Vol.20, No.52) August 2001
- Voices of Art Magazine. (Vol.9, No.1) 1998
Speaking Engagements:
2020 – Freelancers Hub – Faces of Freelance Event
2019 – Brooklyn Freelancers Union SPARK Event