•  Installation Shots From: Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
    Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
  •  Installation Shots From: Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
    Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
  •  Installation Shots From: Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
    Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
  •  Installation Shots From: Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
    Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
  •  Installation Shots From: Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
    Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union
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Jon Rafman

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SELECTED WORKS BY Jon Rafman

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Jon Rafman
Via Colombo, Mediglia, Lombardy, Italy

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
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Jon Rafman
853 Ménez Ham, Kerlouan, Finistere, France

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
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Jon Rafman
Rue des Poissonniers, Paris, France

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
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Jon Rafman
Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
*
Jon Rafman
8 Rue Valette, Pompertuzat, Midi- Pyrenees, France

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
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Jon Rafman
Rv888, Finnmark, Norway

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

146 x 233.7 cm
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Jon Rafman
Place Alexandre Laissac / Rue de l’Ancienne Poste, Montpellier, France

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
1 Chapman’s Peak Dr, Hout Bay, Western Cape, South Africa

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
4 Van Helomaweg, Wapserveen, Nederland

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
5 Rua Tocachi, São Paulo, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
9 Rua Pereira da Costa, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
22 Breevaartstraat, Rotterdam, South Holland, Nederland

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Laaksosuontie, Sipoo, Suomi (Finland)

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
69 Avenue Winston Churchill, Roquebrune- Cap-Martin, France

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
70 Via Trincea delle Frasche, Fiumicino, Lazio, Italia

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
80 Rua Giulio Eremita, São Paulo, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
125 Rua Maestro Benedito Olegário Berti, Mogi das Cruzes - São Paulo, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
139 Rua Indiaporã, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

2012

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
214 9th Ave, New York, NY, United States

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
253 Rua Lisboa, Itapecerica da Serra - São Paulo, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
262 Rua Susana, São Paulo, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
265 Morelos, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, México

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
330 R. Herois de Franca, Matosinhos, Portugal

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
337 Agustin Yadez, Gomez Palacio, Mexico

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
630 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON, Canada

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
1379 Elgin Avenue West, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
3004 North Hope Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
A858, Eilean Siar, United Kingdom

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Av. Infante Dom Henrique & Praca do Comercio, Lisbon, Portugal

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Avenida de Juan Pablo II - Calle de la Ceseria del Cerro, Granada, Espana

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
B5, Jurby West, United Kingdom

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Blackcomb Peak, British Columbia, Canada

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam, Nederland

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Calle de Levante, Peñiscola, Valencia, España

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Calle de Osona, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, España

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Cambie Rd & Brown rd, Richmond, BC, Canada

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Carretera de Urdax, Baztan, Navarre, España

2012

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
D52, Blaru, France

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
East 4th Street / South Tryon Street / West 4th Street, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Edam, North Holland, Nederland

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Eje 3 Sur Av. Baja California / Altata, Cuauhtémoc, D.f., México

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Fuji-Q Highland, 5-6-1 ShinNishihara, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Manuel Ãvila Camacho, Veracruz, Veracruz- Llave, México

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Mexico 45, Silao Guanajuato, Mexico

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Deep Bay Rd, Hong Kong

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Wujie Township, Yilan 268, Taiwan

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
R370 Jan Kempdorp, South Africa

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Rua Monte Castelo, Duque de Caxias, Brasil

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
NánRén Rd, Manjhou Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan 947

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Seaworld, San Diego, California, United States

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Strada Olanelor / Strada Steaua Rosie, Bucharest, România

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

45.7 x 60.9 cm
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Jon Rafman
Strada Provinciale 1 Bonifica del Tronto, Controguerra Teramo, Italia

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Unknown Rd, Concepción, México

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Via della Rena, Trevignano Romano, Lazio, Italia

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
R. Barra Funda / Viaduto Pacaembu, Santa Cecília, São Paulo, Brazil

2011

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
W Cornelia Ave & N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL, USA

2010

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Warwick St, Gateshead, England, United Kingdom

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm
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Jon Rafman
Tenochtitlan corner Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, Mexico City, México

2009

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper

101 x 162 cm

ARTICLES

The Most Iconic Artworks of the Last 5 Years
ARTINFO

What are the most resonant works of art from the recent past? From among the thousands of individual works that pass through galleries and museums, which have affected the conversation in some significant way? Amid all of contemporary art's chaotic installations and ephemeral gestures, which images have some staying power? These are the questions that ARTINFO set out to answer with its list of "100 Most Iconic Artworks From the Last 5 Years."

But a great number of the memorable works on our list were conceived for museum shows, biennials, or as public art works of various kinds. Street art, or works that found an audience through relatively unconventional channels, like Jon Rafman's "9 Eyes of Google Street View" (which gained notoriety as a photo essay on Art Fag City)

Read the entire article
Source:artinfo.com

Rafman's Google Good's; Screen shots of Google street view probe the passion for mapping
May 2012, by David Jager, NOW

The world is stranger than we imagine, and nothing confirms it more than Jon Rafman’s show, The Nine Eyes Of Google Street View, now at Angell.
Taking screen shots of images culled from Google’s huge digital compendium of worldwide street scenes, Rafman captures two converging phenomena: the baffling weirdness of the world colliding head on with our rapacious desire to map it.
Rafman’s practised eye frames moments of spectacular incongruity. Some images are from the periphery, what may be a rapidly receding frontier of the undocumented: a road ending at the edge of the Mojave Desert, a wildfire in the Yucatan, horses galloping past a cemetery in Jurby, on the Isle of Man.
There are equally uncanny urban scenes: a man enjoying a stretch on a Manhattan street, a woman in São Paulo setting a new standard for what it means to work a street corner.

Read the entire article
Source:nowtoronto.com

Interview: Jon Rafman, The Lack of history in the post-internet age
May 2012, by Eyecurious

Jon Rafman is a Canadian artist and filmmaker based in Montreal. He recently gave a talk about his work entitled “In Search of the Virtual Sublime†at the Gaité Lyrique, a new space devoted to digital culture in Paris. I met up with Jon in a café near the Jardin du Luxembourg to discuss Google Street View, street photography, the cyberflâneur and what the future looks like.
How did you start working in the digital space?
After I graduated I discovered a community of artists on the social bookmarking site del.icio.us. It really felt that an incredible artistic dialogue was taking place informally: a new vernacular was being formed online. There was so much energy to it. The dialogue was so exciting, mixing humour and irony, critique and celebration. Del.icio.us was the platform on which I really started working with the Internet. At this point Facebook and Tumblr have pretty much replaced it.
I had known about early net art but I was never attracted to its glitchy aesthetic. So when I discovered this community I felt like I had found what I had been searching for all through art school. Del.icio.us led me to various different collectives like Paintfx. That is the period when I started my Google Street View project.

Read the entire article
Source:eyecurious.com

Jon Rafman’s Google Street Views
March 7, 2011, by Jimmy Chen, A Thought Catalog

Jon Rafman is a lucky man for at least two reasons: (1) his priceless sensibility is a veil through which he sees a more beautiful world, a precious one that reaches such a state through the very aesthetic of non-preciousness; (2) he, through scouring the near infinite territory of Google street views, is statistically even able to consistently find universal moments of “condensed being†which would make the greatest haiku poet weep.
Under the auspices of conventional photography, these images — a dog struggling to transgress a gate whose holes are barely larger than its own skeleton; an infant crawling alone in front of a seemingly “fake†Gucci store; a derelict horse gnawing away at urban detritus for food — point to a kind of surreal alienation incurred, unconsciously, by a negligent modern world. These Lynchian moments are informed by their very verity, beyond cinematic or narrative agenda generally imposed by the invoked director, or those like him. The idea of art somewhat cheapens this enterprise.
The lazy and easy answer is that God, his canvas our flesh and the space between us, is a great artist, perhaps a stunning genius so misunderstood that half the world despises him. This is a lesson in entropy, the soft arbitrariness of life, that when finally punctured by a sudden moment, oozes meaning. And yes, our friends at Google may have something to do with this, but their voice is muted, neutral, and merely incidental. Their camera is blind, even glib, in their profit-fueled survey of the known world. And God has yet to sign the gallery consignment, so this leaves us with you, me, and dear Jon, polishing these turds of absurdities into shiny diamonds.

Read the entire article
Source:thoughtcatalog.com


Art Revealing Jon Rafman
July 08, 2010, by Lindsay Howard, Bomblog

Netartist Jon Rafman’s Kool-Aid Man avatar is one of his primary characters, taking appointments and leading tours through Second Life worlds both utopian and fetishistic, as well as starring in still images and films directed by Rafman himself, which humorously contrast the avatar’s round red body with the super-sexy alter egos more commonly seen in Second Life. He speaks with Lindsay Howard about his work. Featuring an original Kool Aid Man in Second Life video!

People make crush art about you all the time, don’t they?†That’s the first question I asked Jon Rafman one month ago after he discovered I was embarking upon an ongoing multi-media performance inspired by his work. Our conversation provided my first hint into Rafman’s process. He wanted to know what I’d done between the time I left work and the time I arrived at home, the name of the office building, where my roommate was born, the details of my relationship to certain net artists, and a host of other very specific questions which I later saw as part of his process for, and reverence toward, the construction of one’s personal narrative. The truth, though he wouldn’t admit it, is that Jon Rafman is one of the net art community’s most respected and beloved figures. This prestige, it seems to me, relates to his ability to position himself in shamanistic roles, as director, storyteller, and tour guide, as the middle man exploring essential concepts of modernity/contemporary experience, and then processing and framing them into narratives. His work is concerned with virtual worlds, self-identity, and the collapse of high/low art. He is the artist/curator behind Googlestreetviews.com and the cartoonish internet flâneur directing tours through Second Life as Koolaidmaninsecondlife.com.

Read the entire article
Source:bombsite.powweb.com


Nine Eyes by Jon Rafman
August 6th 2012

Jon Rafman, a Montreal-based artist, started 9-eyes.com in 2009 and since then he’s been adding candid snapshots of everyday life on the roads to his Google Street View collection.
Nine Eyes, a reference to the nine camera lenses mounted on Google Street View van, shows that Google has been capturing more than just street views for the past several years. Google Street View presents a universe observed by the detached gaze of an indifferent Being, in Rafman’s words.

Read the entire article
Source:livingdesign.info

The Nine Eyes of Google Street View
August 2012, by Regine

The Nine Eyes of Google Street View, is worth the trip to King's Road.
The nine eyes are the cameras mounted on the pole on top of each vehicle that Google sent around the world 5 years ago. The technology of Google Street View has sparkled moments of deep humiliation, interest from the press photography community, privacy concerns and brilliant artistic reactions.
Jon Rafman was one of the first artists who spent hours looking at the images collected by the cars and searching not just for the amusing, the ridiculous and the fortuitous but also for postcard perfect moments. And does he have an eye for stunning images...

Read the entire article
Source:we-make-money-not-art.com