Jonny Negron

Art Brokerage: Jonny Negron Puerto Rican Artist: Negron was born in Puerto Rico, but his family left when he was two. Largely self-taught, Negron got his start drawing comics in the early 2010s. He garnered a wide following on Tumblr and published with curator Dan Nadel’s cult publishing house PictureBox. Since then, Negron’s star has risen steadily. Despite their scale and formal resolution, his latest paintings remain close to home. Negron denies that they are autobiographical exactly, though they are all inspired by his experience. “I think I’m every character,” he says. Nightlife—both as hedonism and as social communion—is Negron’s thematic touchstone. He estimates that he parties “more than average,” and he remains unjudgmental about the scenes he portrays, such as a grotesque close-up of a grimacing man sniffing poppers in Desire Develops an Edge (2021). During the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, he says, drugs and nightlife have caused many people to want to leave the confines of their bodies, and to come together in life-affirming ways. Looking at his painting Dying on the Vine (2021), showing a shoeless man on all fours in a busy bar, Negron chuckles, “This guy’s gone feral.” In his paintings, he says, “I'm like an alien observing humans. From a distance, we’re no different to other mammals that are just running around and barking.” Listings wanted.