John Cleater

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Biography:

John Cleater received his master’s degree in Architecture from Columbia University in 1995. He is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed multi- media performance group, The Builders Association, and has created designs for several of their productions since 1993. Their most recent production House/ Divided is about the current housing foreclosure crisis and was presented at BAM NYC in Oct. 2012 and received a rave review in the New York Times. His interactive installation "Emergency Exit" was included in the exhibition "Digital Mapping in Architecture" at Artist Space in New York, and received critical acclaim in 1998. Cleater worked with Asymptote Architecture for many years where he was project architect for clients including NYSE, Documenta XI, Venice Biennale 2000, Eyebeam, The Guggenheim, and others. Cleater has also worked on projects with Vito Acconci, Bernard Tschumi, Daniel Libeskind, I.M. Pei, and others. He has taught multidisciplinary studios at NYU’s I.T.P., Columbia University’s EMC, and in Adelaide Australia. Since his 2007 artist residency in the Kohler Foundry, Cleater has been re-imagining his cast sculpture series, Appendages, into artist housing/studios in Texas, a media pavilion for Art OMI, a Theater complex in Rwanda, and his own Studio in Columbia County, NY. Cleater has shown his drawings, sculpture, and installations at the following venues in upstate New York: Clermont Historic Site, CR10, Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Thompson Giroux Gallery, and Incident Report.

Most recently, Cleater has been developing augmented reality (AR) installations. I Must Be Seeing THINGS, at FACT in Liverpool, UK and The Hermetic Museum at Corcoran Gallery 31 in Washington D.C. Sky Pavilions: Virtual Cloudbursts have been installed in Singapore, DUMBO, The High Line NYC, Venice Biennale, OMI, Istanbul, Los Angeles, and elsewhere and can be viewed on smart phones by using the free app LAYAR.

Cleater is on the advisory board for OMI International Arts Center's Architecture OMI program in upstate New York. At OMI Cleater curated and participated in the successful AR exhibition Peeling Layers of Space Out of Thin Air in 2011 that received mentions in the Wall St. Journal and Architect’s Newspaper. Participants for the Peeling show included Acconci Studio, Asymptote, Studio Daniel Libeskind, SHoP, SITE, Leeser Architecture, KOL/MAC, and Cleater.

Résumé:

 
EDUCATION
1995 Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, New York, NY
Master in Architecture
1989 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA / Paris, France Exchange Bachelor in Architecture
1986-7 Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA Foundation Fine Arts

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2015/16    En Masse II, Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2015    John Cleater: Rafter, Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2014/15    En Masse, Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2013    Friend of a Friend, Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2013    The Hermetic Museum: ThingOscope installation Corcoran Gallery 31, Washigton D.C.
2013    I Must Be Seeing Things Drawing Show Gallery 1930, Birmingham, AL
2013    The Fuzzy ThingOscope CR10 Project Space, Linlithgo, NY
2013    The Last Giant Squid Sperm outdoor sculpture Clermont Historic Site, NY
2012    I Must Be Seeing THINGS installation FACT Liverpool, UK
2012    Restructuring Signs and Symbols, I Must Be Seeing THINGS Drawings Thompson     Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2011/13Sky Pavilions, Augmented Reality on LAYAR DAW Singapore
 ICA Boston, MA High Line, NYC Devotion Gallery, Brooklyn, NY DUMBO Arts Festival,    Brooklyn, NY Venice Bienalle, Italy ISEA Istanbul, Turkey Terminal 5, JFK Airport, NY  OMI International Arts Center, Ghent, NY Bucknell University Gallery, PA
2010    Cleater Studio, Group exhibition Architecture for Art, Hillsdale, NY
2010    Appendages, Group exhibition Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2009    Appendages, Solo exhibition Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2008    New Now! Appendage #1 John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
2007    Invisible Cities, Video Environment, 3 Legged Dog, NYC The Builders Association, Project Director
2005    Col250, Video environment, Columbia University, NYC The Builders Association, Project Director
2003    FluxSpace 3, Documenta XI, Kassel, Germany Asymptote, Project Architect
2002    Designing the Highline, Grand Central Station, New York, NY Cleater Design, Jury Selection
2001    Detour: Queens Plaza Revitalization, Van Allen Institute, New York, NY Detour, Principle Architect
2000    FluxSpace 2, Venice Biennale, Italy Asymptote, Project Architect
2000    FluxSpace 1, CCAC Gallery, San Francisco, CA Asymptote, Project Architect
1998    EMERGENCY EXIT!, Artists Space, New York, NY Cleater Design
1997    Wax Tails fragments, New York Art Exchange, New York, NY Cleater Design
1995    Master Builder fragments, Storefront For Art and Architecture, New York, NY The Builders Association, Installation Design
 
SELECTED ACHECTECTURE PROJECTS
2012    Africa Hope, Theater Complex, Kigali, Rwanda Cleater Design, Principle
2011    Cleater Studio, Columbiaville, NY Cleater Design, Principle
2009    eco Info Pavilion proposal, OMI, NY Cleater Design, Principle
2007    LRTX Artist Residency Housing/Studios, LaReunion, TX Cleater Design, Principle
2005    Stanley Moss House Addition, Rhinebeck, NY Cleater Design, Principle
2005    Brooklyn College Gymnasium, Brooklyn, NY Cleater Design, Principle
2004    Cleater Home Restoration, Columbiaville, NY Cleater Design, Principle
2003    Carlos Miele Flagship Boutique, 410 W. 14th St., New York, NY Asymptote, Project Designer
2002    Designing the Highline, New York, NY, Cleater Design, Principle Architect, Jury Selection
2001    Detour: Queens Plaza Revitalization Proposal, Queens, NY Cleater Design, Principle Architect
1999    Guggenheim Virtual Museum, www Asymptote, Project Architect
1999    New York Stock Exchange Systems Operation Center Vitual Vortex”, New York, NY Asymptote, Project Architect

SELECTED PERFORMANCE PROJECTS
2009-14   House / Divided, Wexner Performing Arts Center, OH; BAM, NY (2012); Boston 2014     
The Builders Association, Set Designer2009-12 House / Divided, Wexner Performing Arts Center, OH, Performing Garage, NY, BAM, NY (2012)
The Builders Association, Set Designer

2001   Extravaganza, Arts at St. Annes, Brooklyn, NY, (Touring: Belgium, Germany, France.)
The Builders Association, Set Designer

1996   The Imperial Motel: Faust, Zurich, Switzerland
The Builders Association, Set Designer

1995   The White Album, New York University, Experimental Theater Wing
The Builders Association, Set Designer

1994   The Master Builder, Chelsea Market Building, Top Floor, New York, NY
The Builders Association, Set Designer

1993   Wax Tails, Museo di Pesce, New York, NY
Cleater Design, Director, Sets, Lighting
 
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2007    Kohler Arts/Industry Foundry Created 19 Appendages; Large Cast iron and Brass sculptures with enamel and chrome plated finishes
 
TEACHING EXPERENCE
2005    Brooklyn College Community Partnership, Brooklyn, NY 3D computer modeling workshop
2004    New York University, Tich School of the Arts, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NY Adjunct Assistant Professor, “Intersection - Bridging the threshold between physical and virtual space’, Interactive Art
2004    Columbia University, School of the Arts, Computer Music Center Adjunct Assistant Professor, Sound / Image Studio “Re-Inventing Edison through site specific Installation”
2004    Time, Space, Place 3, Adelaide, Australia Visiting Artist/ Facilitator, Master Class – “Bridging Physical and Virtual Space”
2000    Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Hani Rashid Studio Teaching Assistant, 3 Large Scale Installations brought to Venice Biennale 2000, American
Pavillion
 
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2012    House/Divided @ BAM New York Times
2011    Augmented Reality STATE magazine, London, UK
2011    Peeling Layers of Space Out of Thin Air (Sky Pavilions) Wall St. Journal
 Architect’s Newspaper WIRED Beyond the Beyond
2010    Appendages Sculpture Magazine
 Chronogram