Trained as a painter, John Grantner is a graphic designer by trade and a Fine Artist by passion. His professional career has run the gamut from mid sized ad agency design workhorse, to do-everything-himself freelancer, to illustrator to high end photo retoucher.
Early on, Grantner recognized something new and radical in emerging digital technologies vis-a-vis abstract art photography, and has spent the better part of two decades developing new syntheses. He has shown his painting and photography throughout the Chicago metro area. Some of his previous work is in corporate collections, including The Colonie in Chicago and The Exigen Group in San Francisco.
selected exhibitions
ONE PERSON SHOWS • Beverly Art Center, Chicago, IL; September, 2011 • Gallery at The Colonie, Chicago, IL; November, 2009 thru March, 2010 • The Orphanage, Chicago; November, 2007 • Gallery 702, Chicago; August, 1995 • Puszh Gallery, Chicago; December, 1993 • Miller Art Project, Miller, IN; October, 1993 • Beverly Art Center, Chicago; July, 1992
GROUP SHOWS • Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL; “O, Good Lord: A Modern Look at Spiritual Imagery” November, 2013 to January 2014 • The Art Center, Highland Park, IL; “Bending Reality”; November thru December, 2010 (curator and exhibiting artist) • Artists of Eastbank Gallery, Chicago, “Within the Body”; June, 2010 • The Art Center, Highland Park, IL; “FREEZE”; December, 2008 • The Orphanage, Chicago; “Photo Jam”; December, 2008 • 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago: 4th Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition, September. 2008 • The Art Center, Highland Park, IL; “Imaginative, Creative, Compelling” 2nd Annual Juried Photo Show; May, 2008 • Language House Gallery, Chicago; September, 1994 • Chicago State University, Chicago; Spring, 1992 • Chiaroscuro Gallery, Chicago; July 1991; June; 1990; January, 1989 • Salmagundi Club, New York; Annual Juried Exhibition; December, 1988
OCCUPATION Graphic Design; Illustration; Digital Photo Retouching and Color Correction.
