About John Pearson

JOHN PEARSON is a Twin Cities native and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1975) where he studied graphic design, photography and drawing, with courses in intaglio printmaking under Tom Egerman and photography under Joe Gianetti.

Pearson’s design career led him first to northwestern Minnesota where he created a series of soft sculpture and stuffed animals for Lady Slipper Designs, a non-profit cottage industry. When he returned to Minneapolis-St. Paul he held positions as a graphic designer, typographer, art director, and digital media manager.

Pearson has explored visual arts through photography, painting, and printmaking. He joined the Highpoint Center for Printmaking's co-op in May, 2004, where he takes classes and participates in biannual member exhibits.

Since 2015 Pearson has been working in the medium of polymer photogravure, a printmaking process in which digital photos are transferred to photosensitive plates. The plates are then inked, wiped, and printed on a hand-operated intaglio press.

In 2016 Pearson was an artist-in-residence at the North Dakota Museum of Art’s McCanna House. Polymer photogravure prints of images captured during that time make up the series “Invisible Valley.” The series was presented as a solo show at Highpoint Center for Printmaking (Minneapolis) in 2017, in a two-person show at Red Wing Arts Association (Red Wing, MN) in 2018, and in an expanded solo show at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji, MN, in 2020.

In early fall 2021 Pearson was a Pine Needles artist-in-residence at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s St. Croix Watershed Research Station in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota. Prints from this residency, along with others, are included in a solo show this spring at Artistry in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Pearson says, "I seek first to beguile the eye, and then to enchant the heart and mind. I attempt that enchantment through composition, visual texture, and subject matter, and I sometimes suggest a narrative line through sequenced and paired images."

Pearson has photos and prints in business and private collections around the Twin Cities, and his photography appears at the Minnesota History Center where it is incorporated into exhibits (“Minnesota Then Now Wow”) and hangs in public spaces. He has also presented his work as a guest artist to classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Pearson presently has prints available for purchase at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis and Ripple River Gallery in Aitkin, Minnesota.

Select Shows (Group shows unless otherwise indicated)

2007: “Memento Mundi,” Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, Minnesota
2007: Swan Song Gallery, Maiden Rock, Wisconsin
2008: Winona Art Center, Winona, Minnesota
2008: Vern Carver and Beard Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2009: “Bark Bark,” (Two-person show) Swan Song Gallery, Maiden Rock, Wisconsin
2011: Minnetonka Center for the Arts juried show, Minnetonka, Minnesota
2013: Circa Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2014: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2015: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2016: Minnetonka Center for the Arts juried show, Minnetonka, Minnesota
2016: Arts in Harmony juried show, Elk River, Minnesota
2017: “Invisible Valley,” (Solo show) Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapols, Minn.
2017: “Farm to Table,” Red Wing Arts Association, Red Wing, Minnesota
2017: Minnesota State Fair Exhibit, St. Paul, Minnesota; Merit Award
2017: Bloomington Art Center juried members” show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2018: “Surface Condition,” (Two-person show) Red Wing Arts Association, Red Wing, Minnesota
2019: “Two Bird Upanishad,” Swan Vision Gallery, Maiden Rock, Wisconsin
2019: "North // East," juried show, Circa Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2019: Bloomington Art Center juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2019: "The Nature of Disappearance," juried show, Silverwood Park, St. Anthony, Minnesota
2020: "Invisible Valley" (Solo show) Watermark Art Center, Bemidji, Minnesota
2020: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota; Honorable Mention
2021: "Re-emergence!" Remarque Print Workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2021: "(Un)Natural Boundaries and Borders," juried show, Silverwood Park, St. Anthony, Minnesota
2021: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2022: "Blurring the Lines" Remarque Print Workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2022: Solo show, Ripple River Gallery, Aitkin, Minnesota
2022: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2022: "Ever-Present: Birds in Our Daily Lives," juried show, Silverwood Park, St. Anthony, Minnesota
2023: "Drift," juried show, Silverwood Park, St. Anthony, Minnesota
2024: "Upon Closer Examination" solo exhibition, Artistry's Atrium Gallery, Bloomington, Minnesota
2024: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota
2024: "Shelter" invitational exhibition, Ripple River Gallery, Aitkin, Minnesota
2024: "Upon Further Examination" solo exhibition, The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, Wisconsin
2024: Bloomington Art Center members’ juried show, Bloomington, Minnesota

ALSO: Highpoint Center for Printmaking Coop summer and winter shows.