John Bonafede
John Bonafede lives and works in NYC. He studied painting at Syracuse University, School of Visual Arts (NYC), LLOTJA (Barcelona) and Tibet House (NYC). From his painting background Bonafede incorporates formal compositional elements into his performance art practice. His work also includes a unique form of street printmaking called chemography. John co-founded, produced and performed in monthly variety shows in a Midtown Manhattan loft for eight years, bringing his performance art to the fore. He enjoys doing site specific performance installations everywhere from alternative art spaces to well established institutions such as MoMA and Alvin Ailey Theater. Bonafede’s performances range from the socio-political commentary to testing the physical limits of his body. The performances often challenge accepted notions of line, forms or painting and sculptural mediums. Video documentation is taken as an additional art medium for his performances to be viewed in. Durational and installation-oriented performances often appear in his oeuvre. His storyboards of the performances are those of a draftsman with years of experience writing/ illustrating graphic novels. His latest graphic novel trilogy can be seen at Cryptozoological Comics on social media.