Jonathan L. Clark

Jonathan L. Clark is a multi-faceted artist whose work encompasses photography and the creation of books using letterpress, gravure, and digital printing. Clark is the 2012 recipient of the Oscar Lewis Award for outstanding contributions to the Book Arts from the Book Club of California. He has received two USIA travel grants to Poland and Spain; a fellowship from the Arts Council Silicon Valley; the JGS Foundation Book Award; the Western Books Award of Merit; and Photo-eye’s Best Photography Book Design of the Year Award. His work is included in many permanent collections in the USA, Japan, and Europe. Solo shows of Clark’s photographs have been held in Japan, Spain, and Eastern Europe, as well as the United States. A show organized by the US Information Service traveled to museums throughout Poland. His books and prints have been included in scores of exhibitions at venues including: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco; Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago; Stanford University Library; De Saisset Museum; Center for Photographic Art, Carmel; Photo Gallery International, Tokyo; Scott Nichols Gallery, San Francisco; San Francisco Center for the Book; George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco; Gallery 291, San Francisco; and many others. He has lectured or held residencies at: The Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco; Stanford University; The Book Club of California; University of Barcelona, Spain; Institute for North American Studies, Barcelona; Center for Photographic Art, Carmel; University of West Florida, Pensacola; University of South Florida, Tampa; University of Rochester; and the US Consulate and Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, among others. His publications include: Carmine (Artichoke Editions, 2011); Ottawa, Illinois 1967 (Nazraeli Press, 2008); Prospects of Florence (a photogravure album with text); Cut-Paper (with Frederick Sommer; 2006);  as well as articles and photographs in various books and journals. He is co-editor of The Hedgehog, an international arts review published in San Francisco. Clark was born in Ottawa, Illinois in 1952, and has spent most of his life in California. He began taking photographs at the age of 14. He studied with George A. Tice at the Aspen School of Contemporary Art, and enjoyed long creative friendships with Wynn Bullock and Frederick Sommer. He received a BA in Photography from UC Santa Cruz and a MA in Humanities from CSU Dominguez Hills.