JJ Manford’s (b. 1983, Boston, MA) paintings, made using photos for inspiration and reference, are full of objects that speak to him on an aesthetic level. The artist’s works function as fantasies, satiating his desire to possess the objects depicted. Manford sometimes draws from interior design catalogs to create architectural structures for his paintings—resulting in compositions that aren’t intended to convey any particular environment, yet conjure familiar locations. You can see how he translated his style into a coloring book page in Between the Lines: An RxART Coloring Book by Contemporary Artists – Volume 9.
Manford received an MFA from Hunter College in New York City in 2013. Manford also received a BFA from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 2006, as well as a Post-Baccalaureate certificate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois in 2009. He has held solo and two-person exhibitions at Harper’s in East Hampton, New York; The Pit in Palm Springs, California; Arts and Leisure Gallery in New York City; John Davis Gallery in Hudson, New York; and Freight and Volume Gallery in New York City.
Manford is a co-founder of the artist collective Underdonk in Brooklyn, New York and is an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute.