Clown Gown, J. Seeley (b. 1946), c.1980, serigraph on Rives paper, 22x26 in, signed & numbered 59/125, Op Art figure
A bold black-and-white serigraph titled Clown Gown by J. Seeley, edition 59/125, hand-signed in pencil. Measuring 22 x 26 inches and printed on Rives 100% rag paper, this striking Op Art–influenced composition features a silhouetted female figure draped in a dynamic checkerboard textile. Published by Art Spectrum, the work reflects Seeley’s celebrated exploration of high-contrast photography translated into graphic print form.
Artwork Description
Clown Gown presents a dramatic full-length female silhouette set against a pristine white ground, framed by a rounded rectangular border. The figure, rendered in deep matte black, is adorned in a flowing checkerboard garment that cascades from her raised arm and wraps across her torso and head. The bold optical pattern vibrates against the flat silhouette, producing a kinetic tension between figure and textile.
The composition reflects Seeley’s background in high-contrast photography and graphic abstraction. The stark interplay of positive and negative space recalls Op Art principles while maintaining a distinctly photographic sensibility. The checkerboard pattern functions not merely as clothing but as a sculptural extension of the body, transforming the figure into a living geometric form.
Printed as a serigraph on Rives 100% rag paper, the ink coverage is dense and velvety, with crisp edge definition characteristic of quality screenprinting. The sheet measures 22 x 26 inches; image size approximately 22 x 27 inches per Art Spectrum documentation. Signed J. Seeley in pencil lower right and numbered 59/125 lower left, this work comes from an edition of 125 plus artist proofs.
Created around 1980, the piece aligns with Seeley’s period of international exhibition and publication, when his photographic and graphic works were featured in major journals and museum collections worldwide. The image’s fashion-forward aesthetic and masked anonymity evoke themes of identity, performance, and visual perception.
Artist Biography
J. Seeley (born 1946) is an American photographer and graphic artist whose work bridges high-contrast photography, conceptual portraiture, and graphic abstraction. He earned a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1969 and an M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1971, where he studied with Harry Callahan. Since 1972, he has served as a University Assistant Professor of Art.
Seeley’s solo and two-person exhibitions include the University of Dundee (Scotland); University of Southern Illinois; Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University; University of Dayton Creative Photography Gallery; Prairie State College (Chicago Heights); Michigan State University Kresge Art Center; Shepard Gallery (Newport, RI); Neikrug Gallery (New York); Colorado State University; Colorado Mountain College; Paul de Paa Gallery (Antwerp, Belgium); Galerie Panselinos (Salonika, Greece); Light Impressions (Rochester, NY); Hartford Jewish Community Center; Concordia University (Montreal); Davison Art Center (Wesleyan University); The Garden Gallery (Londonderry, VT); Atlantic Monthly (Boston); and Image Gallery (New York).
His group exhibitions span major institutions and international venues including the Center for Contemporary Art, Beverly Hills; Catskill Center for Photography; Art Directors Club of New York; New England School of Photography; Jan and Kazen Bernier Gallery (Athens); Milton Rogovin Gallery (Kassel, Greece); Center for Photography (Santa Cruz, CA); Rhode Island School of Design Alumni Show; National Print Biennial (Krakow, Poland); Museum of Art, Iowa City; Andromeda National Exhibition of Photography; Eastman House (New York); and numerous university museums.
Seeley’s work is held in significant public and corporate collections including the University of New Hampshire; Bowdoin College Museum of Art; McQuade Library, Merrimack College; Jacksonville Children’s Museum; University of Utah; Ball State University; University of Iowa Museum of Art; Davison Art Center (Wesleyan University); Time/Life Incorporated; Mohawk Paper Company; University of California, Riverside; University of Colorado, Boulder; and the Cincinnati Museum of Art.
His photographs and graphics have been widely published in Graphis (Switzerland), Zoom (France), Foto (Germany), Fotografia (Italy), Fotographia (Greece), Nueva Lente Fotografia (Spain), Camera Arts Magazine (Japan), Photo-Graphic (USA), the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Technical Photography, Popular Photography, and American Photographer. He contributed a chapter titled “High Contrast Photography” to Darkroom Dynamics (Curtin & London, Inc., Boston) and received multiple grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and Wesleyan University. In 1977, he won First Prize in the National Nikon Competition (College Teachers Division).
Seeley’s career situates him within the post-1960s evolution of photographic modernism into conceptual and graphic territory. Influenced by Harry Callahan’s formal discipline, he expanded photographic contrast into near-graphic abstraction, collapsing the boundary between photograph and print. His serigraphs, including Clown Gown, demonstrate a translation of photographic high-contrast imagery into screenprinted form, emphasizing flatness, repetition, and optical intensity. As contemporary scholarship revisits cross-disciplinary artists who navigated photography, printmaking, and design, Seeley’s work stands as a compelling intersection of academic rigor, international exhibition history, and bold visual experimentation.
J. Seeley (b. 1946)
Clown Gown
Serigraph on Rives paper
22 x 26 inches
Signed lower right
Edition 59/125
Certificate of Authentication
This certifies that Clown Gown is an original limited-edition serigraph by J. Seeley (b. 1946).
Medium: Serigraph on Rives 100% rag paper
Dimensions: 22 x 26 inches
Edition: 59/125
Signature: Hand-signed in pencil
Publisher: Art Spectrum
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery; Artfind Gallery, Washington DC
Guaranteed authentic.
Condition
Excellent vintage condition. Strong ink saturation with crisp edges. Minor handling to margins consistent with age. No visible foxing in image area.
Provenance
Mitch Morse Gallery (acquired in NYC, United States and Europe)
Private Collection
Artfind Gallery, Washington DC (Current Owner)
Clown Gown, J. Seeley (b. 1946), c.1980, serigraph on Rives paper, 22x26 in, signed & numbered 59/125, Op Art figure
A bold black-and-white serigraph titled Clown Gown by J. Seeley, edition 59/125, hand-signed in pencil. Measuring 22 x 26 inches and printed on Rives 100% rag paper, this striking Op Art–influenced composition features a silhouetted female figure draped in a dynamic checkerboard textile. Published by Art Spectrum, the work reflects Seeley’s celebrated exploration of high-contrast photography translated into graphic print form.
Artwork Description
Clown Gown presents a dramatic full-length female silhouette set against a pristine white ground, framed by a rounded rectangular border. The figure, rendered in deep matte black, is adorned in a flowing checkerboard garment that cascades from her raised arm and wraps across her torso and head. The bold optical pattern vibrates against the flat silhouette, producing a kinetic tension between figure and textile.
The composition reflects Seeley’s background in high-contrast photography and graphic abstraction. The stark interplay of positive and negative space recalls Op Art principles while maintaining a distinctly photographic sensibility. The checkerboard pattern functions not merely as clothing but as a sculptural extension of the body, transforming the figure into a living geometric form.
Printed as a serigraph on Rives 100% rag paper, the ink coverage is dense and velvety, with crisp edge definition characteristic of quality screenprinting. The sheet measures 22 x 26 inches; image size approximately 22 x 27 inches per Art Spectrum documentation. Signed J. Seeley in pencil lower right and numbered 59/125 lower left, this work comes from an edition of 125 plus artist proofs.
Created around 1980, the piece aligns with Seeley’s period of international exhibition and publication, when his photographic and graphic works were featured in major journals and museum collections worldwide. The image’s fashion-forward aesthetic and masked anonymity evoke themes of identity, performance, and visual perception.
Artist Biography
J. Seeley (born 1946) is an American photographer and graphic artist whose work bridges high-contrast photography, conceptual portraiture, and graphic abstraction. He earned a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1969 and an M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1971, where he studied with Harry Callahan. Since 1972, he has served as a University Assistant Professor of Art.
Seeley’s solo and two-person exhibitions include the University of Dundee (Scotland); University of Southern Illinois; Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University; University of Dayton Creative Photography Gallery; Prairie State College (Chicago Heights); Michigan State University Kresge Art Center; Shepard Gallery (Newport, RI); Neikrug Gallery (New York); Colorado State University; Colorado Mountain College; Paul de Paa Gallery (Antwerp, Belgium); Galerie Panselinos (Salonika, Greece); Light Impressions (Rochester, NY); Hartford Jewish Community Center; Concordia University (Montreal); Davison Art Center (Wesleyan University); The Garden Gallery (Londonderry, VT); Atlantic Monthly (Boston); and Image Gallery (New York).
His group exhibitions span major institutions and international venues including the Center for Contemporary Art, Beverly Hills; Catskill Center for Photography; Art Directors Club of New York; New England School of Photography; Jan and Kazen Bernier Gallery (Athens); Milton Rogovin Gallery (Kassel, Greece); Center for Photography (Santa Cruz, CA); Rhode Island School of Design Alumni Show; National Print Biennial (Krakow, Poland); Museum of Art, Iowa City; Andromeda National Exhibition of Photography; Eastman House (New York); and numerous university museums.
Seeley’s work is held in significant public and corporate collections including the University of New Hampshire; Bowdoin College Museum of Art; McQuade Library, Merrimack College; Jacksonville Children’s Museum; University of Utah; Ball State University; University of Iowa Museum of Art; Davison Art Center (Wesleyan University); Time/Life Incorporated; Mohawk Paper Company; University of California, Riverside; University of Colorado, Boulder; and the Cincinnati Museum of Art.
His photographs and graphics have been widely published in Graphis (Switzerland), Zoom (France), Foto (Germany), Fotografia (Italy), Fotographia (Greece), Nueva Lente Fotografia (Spain), Camera Arts Magazine (Japan), Photo-Graphic (USA), the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Technical Photography, Popular Photography, and American Photographer. He contributed a chapter titled “High Contrast Photography” to Darkroom Dynamics (Curtin & London, Inc., Boston) and received multiple grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and Wesleyan University. In 1977, he won First Prize in the National Nikon Competition (College Teachers Division).
Seeley’s career situates him within the post-1960s evolution of photographic modernism into conceptual and graphic territory. Influenced by Harry Callahan’s formal discipline, he expanded photographic contrast into near-graphic abstraction, collapsing the boundary between photograph and print. His serigraphs, including Clown Gown, demonstrate a translation of photographic high-contrast imagery into screenprinted form, emphasizing flatness, repetition, and optical intensity. As contemporary scholarship revisits cross-disciplinary artists who navigated photography, printmaking, and design, Seeley’s work stands as a compelling intersection of academic rigor, international exhibition history, and bold visual experimentation.
J. Seeley (b. 1946)
Clown Gown
Serigraph on Rives paper
22 x 26 inches
Signed lower right
Edition 59/125
Certificate of Authentication
This certifies that Clown Gown is an original limited-edition serigraph by J. Seeley (b. 1946).
Medium: Serigraph on Rives 100% rag paper
Dimensions: 22 x 26 inches
Edition: 59/125
Signature: Hand-signed in pencil
Publisher: Art Spectrum
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery; Artfind Gallery, Washington DC
Guaranteed authentic.
Condition
Excellent vintage condition. Strong ink saturation with crisp edges. Minor handling to margins consistent with age. No visible foxing in image area.
Provenance
Mitch Morse Gallery (acquired in NYC, United States and Europe)
Private Collection
Artfind Gallery, Washington DC (Current Owner)
