John A. Hiigli
John Arden Hiigli (born 1943) is an American artist, inventor and educator.
Life and work
On June 1, 1943, John A. Hiigli was born into a small farming community in Union Mills, Indiana. Living so close to nature had a huge impact on his art and still does to this day.
In his youth he traveled up and down the West Coast with his friends and lived in several places. While he drew and painted continuously he studied art and did odd jobs to make a living. He modeled for art schools, worked construction, drove a yellow cab, worked at a newspaper, a radio station, a mill and at a US Post Office. In the early 60’s he lived and worked in San Francisco and then moved to New York City where he attended the New York Studio School. He holds degrees in Art, Science, Education and Comparative Literature - Creative Writing.
One of the determining experiences of his life was learning about the theory of cognitive development of Jean Piaget the Swiss genetic epistemologist. Piaget believed that learning requires action and knowing evolves out of the interaction between nature and nurture. Piaget conducted hundreds of experimental interviews with children of all ages, including his own children. Utilizing the protocols from these "learning experiments" he defined a sequence of invariant stages of development from birth through young adulthood.
Parallel with his work as a painter Hiigli is also a pioneer in early childhood education. In 1971 he and his wife, Dominique founded the French-American preschool Le Jardin A L'Ouest and then Jardin Galerie in 2000 on the principle; "Art is an essential component of child development, communication and education." They believe that through Art, children learn to communicate - read and write - in a way that is natural and effective in a peaceful and fun environment; Art develops the "whole child" cognitively, emotionally and socially; children express their unique version of cultural heritage through Art.
Four times a year Hiigli holds exhibitions in a virtual gallery and in a physical gallery as well on Manhattan's Upper Westside. These shows feature children from local schools and arts organizations with input from children all over the world working on the same theme. The themes are of interest to children everywhere: trees, my family, my country, animals/sealife.
Another defining moment came in Hiigli’s life when he discovered Richard Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome in Wisconsin. He became interested in mathematics and in transformational geometry. Later, in 1970, he became acquainted with the famous American architect, writer and inventor. They formed a master-disciple relationship and stayed in touch until Fuller’s death in 1983. Then Hiigli set out to organize synergetic geometry into a block system for children. For many years he built block systems and created beautiful complex structures. He received two United States Patents, both of which are now in the public domain.
Over the years John painted constantly and exhibited but his audience widened when the internet gave him (and everyone else) the ability to reach a wider audience. As a result he made connections with fellow artists that are as passionate about Geometric Art as he is. In 2002, the conceptual artist John Sims introduced Hiigli to Gyuri Darvas, the founder of the International Symmetry Festival in Budapest, Hungary and Hiigli traveled there in 2003, 2006, and 2009 as a lecturer and exhibitor.
In 2006 he was invited to exhibit at the SupreMADIsm Art Festival and exhibition series held in Moscow and organized by the International Mobile MADI Museum. Through these several years of collaboration in Hungary, Hiigli formed a deep friendship with the Hungarian painter János Saxon-Szász and his wife, the curator and writer, Zsusza Dardai.
He attended The Bridges Organization Pécs 2010 World Conference (July 24–28), held in Pécs, Hungary, the European Capital of Culture. It was a collaborative effort by Bridges: “Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science” & Pécs Cultural Centre “Pécs Ars GEometrica project”. He participated in the Art Exhibition with a painting, his presentations were titled: ‘Intertransformability’ and ‘Intertransformability in the Isotropic Vector Matrix’. During the conference he won first prize in the International ScienTile design competition, held by the world-famous Zsolnay Porcelain Manufactory.
Artistic work
The first, naive artistic expressions of Hiigli are related to the motherland and to its history. Leaving childhood he turned to new themes and painted portraits, nudes and still lifes. Some of his early ink drawings are characterized by sharply distinct black and white surfaces in an abstract style. These drawings are sometimes biomorphic, are a variety of sizes and often relate to nature and to political events in American life. The largest, done with very large house painting brushes, leave jagged, fractal-like, dripping water and ink-soaked edges on a monumental scale.
His oil and acrylic paintings from the 1960s and 1970s are characterized by beautiful colors and color sensitivity and their style reflects abstract expressionist influence.
Through the 1970s and 1980s Hiigli worked on a series of twenty large geometric paintings he named the Virus Painting Series and, at the same time, he produced many large abstract drawings and paintings. In 1973-4 he drew all the major players of the Watergate Hearings.
Gradually he turned to mathematics and discovered transparent paint. He began to use thin layers of vibrant, translucent oil paint. The vague, mysterious forms of the early years were replaced by lines, planes and regular geometric forms and permutations. Hiigli calls his soft, light, translucent structures ’transparent paintings.’ This work is related to the important tendency of abstract geometry, to MADI (art movement).
His artworks are on huge canvases that makes it difficult to collect and to exhibit. The artist says that the geometric repetitions can be demonstrated only this way. In recent years he began to use computer programs such as ’Illustrator’ and ’Mathematica’, assisted by his daughter Zoe who is a graphic designer, by Stephen Weil, a system designer at IBM, and Alessandro Segalini, a typographer from Italy now teaching in Turkey. His most recent work is focused on geometric complexity, subdivision and scale change. In early childhood education he is experimenting with the utilization of symmetry studies to teach number (mathematics) and writing (art).
Solo exhibitions
Geometric Transparency Studio Exhibit, NYC – curated by Sharon Goldberg | March 18, 2009
The Light of the Heavens Studio Exhibit, NYC – curated by Sharon Goldberg | December 10, 2008
Hypercross K.A.S Gallery, Budapest, Hungary – curated by Zsuzsa Dárdai | August 15 – September 15, 2006
Transfiguration paintings V.I.A. Art, NYC | April 1996
Group Shows
Synergetics Collaborative Art Show Opening Waterman Gallery, NYC – Waterman Building at the Rhode Island School of Design | November 2009
Circles & Squares with Vandorn Hinnant Bowery Poetry Club, NYC – curated by John Sims | September 11 – October 12, 2009. The first show of the exhibition series titled Rhythm of Structure: Mathematics, Art and Poetic Reflection
Lines – The Feeling of One Dimension Gallery B55, Budapest, Hungary – curated by Zsuzsa Dárdai | July 31 – August 5, 2009. International Symmetry Festival "Science in the Arts - Arts in the Sciences" Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Gallery B55 and International Mobil MADI Museum
Quest for the Intangible Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, NYC – January 9 – February 3, 2009
Drawn From Nature Access Art, NYC – curated by Sharon Goldberg | July 16 – 30, 2008
Sales Event: 6 Artists from the New York Studio School Access Art, NYC – curated by Sharon Goldberg | June 24 – 28, 2008
Transcendent Counterpoints Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, NYC | January 4 – 29, 2008
Symmetry in Art and Science Education Europa Congress Center, Budapest, Hungary – curated by Zsuzsa Dárdai | August 12 – 18, 2006. International Symmetry Festival 2006
supreMADIsm – Homage to the masters of Russian Constructivism Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia – curated by Zsuzsa Dárdai | May 10 – June 22. 2006. International art festival and exhibition series at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art
Symmetry: The Synthesis of Constancy and Change Budapest, Hungary – curated by Zsuzsa Dárdai | August 2003. International Symmetry Festival 2003
Rhythm of Structure: Math Art in Harlem FIRE PATROL N.5 ART Building, NYC – curated by John Sims | January 4, 2003
MATH ART/ART MATH Selby Gallery Ringling School of Art And Design Sarasota, Florida | March 2002
BLUE 450 Broadway Gallery, NYC | September 1996
Education
- 1980-1983 Master of Science in Education: Bank Street College
- 1978-1983 Bachelor of Arts in Education: Empire State College
- 1965-1966 Drawing Certificate: New York Studio School
- 1961-1964 Comparative Literature-Creative Writing Major: Indiana University
