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Biography

John Bishop is an abstract expressionist painter based in Houston, Texas, who creates gestural mixed media work in acrylics, ink, collage, pencil and marker. His work centers on layering color and mark-making to create works that allow a different experience up close than at a distance.  His art draws one deeper into discovery and recognition.

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Though his passion for art began as a teenager, he was steered away from an artistic career by well-meaning parents. Instead, he became an English teacher and later a librarian, working in five different countries over the course of three decades. In 2015 he made the life-changing
decision to dedicate himself to art full time. 

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Drawing on his experience as a creative writer, Bishop applies similar strategies in his painting - crafting layers of meaning and emotion through form, color, and texture. His work has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to his artistic practice, Bishop is
an active member of the art community and he founded Aripa Arte, a nonprofit organization that supports Romanian artists.

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You can explore his work online at johnbishopfineart.com, or connect with him on Instagram and Facebook @johnbishopfineart. From his studio in Houston, he continues to create and engage with the local and international art scene.

Artist Statement

My work as a painter is deeply influenced by my background as a writer and librarian. In those roles, I developed a deep appreciation for language—the way it shapes meaning and communicates complex ideas. I learned how carefully chosen words can inform, persuade, and evoke emotions, and I came to understand language as both symbolic and communicative. My paintings employ a similar sensibility, but with a different vocabulary: one of color, line, and form. Just as a well-crafted poem can reveal something previously unseen, my abstract works aim to create visual compositions that are both familiar and new, offering a space for exploration and interpretation.


I use line, color, repetition, and symbolism to construct a visual language that evokes a similar emotional resonance. I often include circular shapes in my work, geometric symbols, text, and numbers.  Many of those marks will be almost hidden beneath other layers of line and color.  I tend to employ bold textures in my work.  For me, these elements create a non-verbal alphabet, where line, color, and texture work together to communicate without words or figureation.  My process is deeply rooted in revision, layering elements upon elements, often hiding them from view in the final piece - yet they remain discoverable to those who look closely.


It is through this iterative layering that the final composition emerges, and only then do I know my role in the creation is finished. From that point, the painting transcends my intentions, becoming part of the viewer’s experience. Individual histories, symbols, and beliefs infuse my work with new meanings, allowing each observer to interpret the layers in their own unique way. This dynamic exchange between the artwork and its audience is what makes the process of creation so
exhilarating for me. In this way, my abstract expressionism becomes a shared journey, inviting others to engage with their own imagination and to see something of themselves in my art.

Exhibitions, Publications, Awards

2025​​​

  • Mirror: Mirror: Spring Street Studios. March 1- June 14, 2025.  Group Show.  

  • Abstractum 2025: Gallerium/Biafarin. Dec 11 - Feb 11, 2025. Juried Group Online Show. Link Here.

  • Visual Journey: Silver Street Studios: December 5, 2024 - February 15, 2025.  Group Show. 

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2024​​​

  • Abstractum 2025: Gallerium/Biafarin. Dec 11 - Feb 11, 2025. Juried Group Online Show. Link Here.

  • Visual Journey: Silver Street Studios: December 5, 2024 - February 15, 2025.  Group Show. 

  • Magix 2024: Exhibizone/Biafarin. Nov 2 - Jan 02, 2025. Juried Group Online Show. Link Here.

  • Guest interview with Rand Mintzer on the podcast THNX: A Feelgood Podcast. Link Here.

  • Paradox.  Silver Street Studios. July 13 - Sept. 15, 2024. Juried group show.  Link Here.

  • Bureau of Queer Art. with Dama Gallery and Art Gallery Studios.  Jun1,2024 - Sept. 1, 2024. Group Online Show.

  • Dual Perspectives: Artist and Audience. Spring Street Studios. May 31 - August 10, 2024. Group Show. Link Here.

  • Salon d'Eté (Salon Summer) Silver Street Studios: May 11, 20204 - June 17, 2024. Group Show. Link Here.

  • Home: Silver Street Studios: December 9, 2023 - February 17, 2024.  Group Show.  Link Here.

 

2023​​​

  • Home: Silver Street Studios: December 9, 2023 - February 17, 2024.  Group Show.

  • Artwork Published in the Zine Fest Houston 2023 Compilation Magazine - November, 2023.

  • Feature article in The Mommies Review. November 6, 2023.  Article Link Here.

  • Earthen: Silver Street Studios: October 14, 2023 - November 25, 2024.  Solo Show.

  • Feature article in Voyage Houston Magazine: September 6, 2023.  Article Link Here.

  • Technological Reverie: Silver Street Studios. Houston. TX 7/29/2023 - 9/16/2023. Group Show.

  • Art: A Visual Language 2023. Spring Street Studios, Houston. TX 6/19/2023 - 10/15/2023.  Group Show.

  • Salon Summer 2023. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 06/03/2023 - 07/15/2023. Group Show. Curator Team.

  • Urbanesque. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 06/02/2023. Group Show.

  • Beginnings. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 02/042023 - 03/18/2023. Group Show. Curator Team.

  • Artists' in Residency - Incubator 2023. Art Gallery Studio. Mexico City, 02/10/2023 - 03/04/2023. Group Show.

  • Dreamscapes. Winter Street Studios. Houston, TX.  12/10/2022 - 2/18/2023. Juried Group Show.

  • Open Doors. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 12/3/2022-1/21/2023. Group Show. Curator Team.

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2022​​​

  • Dreamscapes. Winter Street Studios. Houston, TX.  12/10/2022 - 2/18/2023. Juried Group Show.

  • Open Doors. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 12/3/2022-1/21/2023. Group Show. Curator Team.

  • The Other Art Fair, Dallas, TX.  10/20/2022 - 10/23/2022. Art Fair. 

  • Arrival. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX.  7/2/2022 - 8/20/2022. Group Show. Curator Team.

  • Progress/Progreso. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 5/20/2022-6/19/2022. Group Show.

  • The Other Art Fair, Dallas, TX.  5/12/2022-5/15/2022. Art Fair

  • Art Celebrates the Story. Spring Street Studios. Houston, TX. 4/12/2022-5/14/2022. Group Show.

  • Salon d'Art. Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX. 4/5/2022 - 5/11/2022.  Group Show.  Curator Team.

  • 38th Juried Membership Exhibition. VAA Visual Arts Alliance. Houston, TX. 4/4/2022-4/30/2022. Group Show.

  • In Real Life (IRL) PRPG.mx Residency program.  Mexico City, México.  2/8/2022-3/12/2022. Group Show.

  • TENants: Artists Building Community. Houston, TX. Serrano Gallery.  2/1/- 2/28/2022.  Invitational Group Show.

  • Without Limits. Silver Street Studios.  Houston, TX. 12/4/2021-3/19/2022. Group Show, Curator Team.

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2021 

  • Without Limits. Silver Street Studios.  Houston, TX. 12/4/2021-3/19/2022. Group Show, Curator Team.

  • Pop-Up Show.  Silver Street Studios. Houston, TX . 11/20/2021.  Group Show.

  • Visual ArtArt Lab Project / Fall 2021. PRPG.MX. Mexico.  9/7/2021 - 11/4/2021. 

  • Visual Arts Alliance (VAA) 37th Juried Open Show.  Houston, TX 8/25/2021 - 9/26/2021. Juried Group Show.

  • The Sum of Us: Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX .  6-5-2021 - 8/21/2021.  Group Show.

  • Guest Speaker: "Books as Our Intellectual CV": Read Pakistan / July 2021.

  • Panca Marga: Legacy Series / July 2021.  Silver Street Studios.  July 1-30.  Solo Show.​

  • Guest Speaker: "The Pulse of Art: Rhythm in Creative Expression"  Elite Literature Festival 2021. 6/12/2021.

  • Art Lab Project / Spring 2021.  PRPGMX. Mexico.  ArtSY online exhibition.  4/18/2021 - 6/24/2021. Group Show.

  • Artists of Silver Street: Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX  3/26/2021 - 6/4/2021. Group Show.

  • Wabi Sabi: Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX  12/05/2020 - 03/13/2021. Group Show.

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2020

  • Wabi Sabi: Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX  12/05/2020 - 03/13/2021. Group Show.

  • Panelist: "Human Conversations: Art to the Rescue! International Institute of Humanology. 8/14/2020.

  • Residency Program: Proyectos de Residencia.  A residency program in Mexico City, Mexico.

  • New Reality: Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX  06/06/2020 - 11/30/2020. Group Show.

  • Collective Consciousness, Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX  11/22/2019 - 02/08/2020.  Group Show.

 

2019

  • Collective Consciousness, Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX.  11/22/2019 - 02/08/2020.  Group Show.

  • Art For Hope Invitational in Houston, TX.  11/01/2019 - 12/07/2019.  Fundraising Curated Group Show.

  • Bean Punk Invitational in Conroe, TX.  09/01/2019 - 09/30/2019.  Solo Show.

  • Come Together. Winter Street Studios in Houston, TX. 08/03/2019 - 10/12/2019. Group Show. 

  • Conversations on Culture.  Sabine Street Studios in Houston, TX.  06/21/2019 - 08/10/2019. Group Show

  • Gathered, Silver Street Studios in Houston, TX.  06/06/2019 - 08/17/2019.  Group Show.

  • Boundless, Sabine Street Studios in Houston, TX.   01/25/2019 - 03/23/2019.  Group Show.

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Welcome to the John Bishop Fine Arts painter portfolio. With every artwork that I create, I attempt to connect, to bind disparate elements together into new vocabularies, new stories, that are both fresh and archetypal at the same time.  I paint, photograph, and write about what I feel, not so much what I see.  Don't look to my art for history, but rather for a glimpse into my own emotion, my own symbols, my own stories.  Hopefully, you will recognize your story there too, and my art can become your art as well. ​

fine art, painter, art for sale, art sale, artist, abstract, modern art, contemporary art, Texas art, Houston art, Romania, NGO, nonprofit, Sawyer Yards, cartoonist, illustrations, drawing, publishing, author, writer, speaker, wall art, prints, posters, cards, buttons, zines, books, art studio, art consultant, gallery, studio, creator, paint, best artist, famous, international, youtuber, influencer, teacher, coach, blogger, vlogger, podcast, photographer, fine art photography, arte, venta del arte, artista, famosa, auction, buyer, designer, creativity, inspiration, inspirational, professional, art business, entrepreneur, business, marketing, public relations, press, journals, paint parties, commissions, excellence, abstract art, nonrepresentational, email, newsletter, freebie, gift, present, art collector, portfolio

Join my Collector Club for monthly news, events, and access to my new work before it is posted online.  

Thank you!

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