Approaching Noise (in progress) by David Jon Kassan, oil painting on wood panel, 40 x 34.

Following his initial drawing studies at University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, David Jon Kassan attended Syracuse University, in New York, where he studied under Jerome Witkin and learned that successful, accomplished painters should have both a strong grasp of the picture-making process as well as a well thought out concept behind a painting.

While earning his B.F.A., he was able to take advantage of the school's exceptional art history department, and on completion of his degree, moved to Brooklyn to continue his studies at The National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York.

He has won numerous honors and awards from arts organizations and magazines and most recently was awarded The Newington-Cropsey Foundation's Travel Award, which enabled him to enrich his art history studies with classes in Italian Renaissance from the British Institute, in Florence, Italy. While there, he assembled his thoughts and sketches into a limited edition book titled Lentamente Italia.

He has lectured at universities around the nation and is currently on the faculty of The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, in New York City, where he teaches figure drawing. He has taught painting workshops to private art groups and at the National Academy of Design and the Salmagundi Club. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is in both public and private collections worldwide.

Kassan attests that his work is a way of meditation, a way of slowing down time though the careful observation of overlooked slices of his environment. It is the subtlety of emotion in his acquaintances that inhabit the aforementioned environment that intrigues him. His paintings strive for reality,  a chance to mimic life in both scale and complexity. Kassan is represented by Gallery Henoch, in New York City. For more information, visit his website.

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