Born in 1962, in Davos, Switzerland, Conrad Jon Godly addresses the symbiotic relationship between human nature and the sublime; finding a beauty in the awe and terror of nature. Godly’s paintings are a reminder of the futility of human existence, whose blunt expression of natural forms are an exercise in capturing the intricacies of the dramatic. Godly’s Dark is Light, 2018 series, for example, exposes the purity of nature; his heavily impastoed canvases are not only a recurring motif, but work as a demonstration of the semiotic richness of one’s surrounding environment.
After graduating from Basel’s School of Art in 1986, Godly moved away from his nexus of inspiration in Switzerland, changing both his surroundings and medium. From 1988-2004, Godly’s photographic work found international success both in magazines and advertising, and, on Godly’s brief return to Europe where he settled in Vienna, Austria, Godly migrated to Japan. He currently lives and works in Switzerland.
It seems fitting that Godly’s 2017 work combines a series entitled, Dark is Light and, Godly, perhaps reaffirming the idea that the spiritual in Godly’s work is ever present. We as the viewer, are directly confronting the spiritual in a moment of quiet contemplation, exposed to the elements in this sequence of mystical experiences.
If one has never experienced the silence and dramatic tension of the mountains, Godly’s work traverses its viewer to the summit of vertiginous proportions, giving over his canvases to the all consuming elements of nature.
SEATTLE ART FAIR, JD Malat Gallery, Seattle WA, USA
2019
INK NOW, Gallery Shibunkaku Taipei, Taiwan
2019
ZONAMACO, JD Malat Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
FINE ART ASIA, Gallery Shibunkaku, Hong Kong, China
2017
ART TAIPEI, Gallery Shibunkaku, Taipei, Taiwan
2016
ART STAGE SINGAPORE, Gallery Shibunkaku, Singapore
2015
ART TAIPEI, Gallery Shibunkaku, Taipei, Taiwan
2015
KOREAN INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR, Gallery Shibunkaku, Seoul,South Korea
Publications
2019
TO SEE IS NOT TO SPEAK, Exhibition Catalogue, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2013
Conrad Jon Godly,Works + -, Künstlermonografie, (Revolver Publishing Berlin), Leinen Gebunden, 128 Seiten, ISBN 978-3-86895-334-3
2011
Alpen, Ausstellungskatalog, Sehnsuchtort & Bühne, Residenzgalerie, Salzburg ISBN 987-3-901443-36-7
Important collections
SWISS NATIONAL BANK, Switzerland
UBS BANK, Switzerland
CREDIT SUISSE (CS Bank), Switzerland
JULIUS BÄR BANK, Zurich, Switzerland
DAROS COLLECTION, Switzerland
ART COLLECTION OF GKB (Bank Canton of Grisons), Switzerland
RINGIER ART COLLECTION, Switzerland