top of page

Lurie, John​

 

John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law; composed and performed music for 20 television and film works; and produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series. In 1996 his soundtrack for Get Shorty was nominated for a Grammy Award, and his album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits has been praised by critics and fellow musicians.

​

Since 2000, he has suffered from symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme disease and has focused his attention on painting. His art has been shown in galleries and museums around the world. His primitivist painting Bear Surprise became an internet meme in Russia in 2006. His new television series, Painting with John, debuted on HBO in January 2021. Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times wrote, "Painting With John represents HBO at its most worthwhile: arty and unpredictable.". Lurie's 1980s NYC memoir, The History of Bones, was published by Penguin Random House in August 2021.

​

Lurie has been painting since the 1970s. Most of his early works are in watercolor and pencil, but in the 2000s he began working in oil. In 2011, he said of his art, "My paintings are a logical development from the ones that were taped to the refrigerator 50 years ago." 

​

His work has been exhibited since July 2003, when two pieces were shown at the Nolan/Eckman Gallery in New York City. He had his first solo gallery exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery in May and June 2004 and has subsequently been exhibited at Galerie Daniel Blau in Munich, Galerie Lelong in Zürich, the Galerie Gabriel Rolt in Amsterdam, the Basel International Art Fair at Roebling Hall and the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the NEXT Art Fair in Chicago, the Mudam Luxembourg, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Gallery Brown in Los Angeles, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.[20][17][19] The Museum of Modern Art has acquired some of his work for their permanent collection.

​

Lurie has released two art books. Learn To Draw, a compilation of black and white drawings, was published by Walther Konig in June 2006. A Fine Example of Art includes over 80 reproductions of his work and was published by powerHouse Books in 2008.

​

Lurie's watercolor painting Bear Surprise was enormously popular on numerous Russian websites in an Internet meme known as Preved.

​

​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lurie

​

​

​

bottom of page