Bio

Poet, screenwriter, pianist manqué, the last of the surrealists, Jon Glidden was born in De Kalb Illinois in 1933 to a relative known as the barb wire king Joseph F. Glidden and a night club musician father Jerrold F. Glidden who taught him and exposed him to the immortals of unforgettable music and literature. Early on Jon Glidden because an outcast and exile from his childhood community, the great indoctrination center of the upper classes, Evanston, IL.  Growing up during World War II, he was constantly exposed to the propaganda that resulted from the war at the movie theater and in daily life. Repetitive images of Hitler deeply engrained themselves in his psyche and are found throughout his paintings. Glidden grew up in junior high school as a nightclub orphan on the road at all the hot nightspots in Cafe society like the Camellia House at Drake Hotel, the Pump Room and the Buttery at the Ambassador East and West, the Congress and the Stevens Hotel. As a result, he feasted on Chopin etudes under his father's grand piano capitulating to the manic depressive arteries of Bartok's 3rd piano concerto. While it was natural for Glidden to attempt to launch a preparatory career as a piano major, art beckoned to him and completely seduced him, as it was more like composing.

As a young man, Glidden attended The Art Institute of Chicago on a four-year scholarship from 1962 to 1966. He naturally connected with surrealism, a movement deeply influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud. In 1965, his paintings were exhibited at “The Biennial Print and Drawing Show” at the Art Institute of Chicago and “The Fantastic Drawing Show” at the University of Chicago in 1966. Relocating to San Francisco in 1971, Glidden’s art drew upon the darkness of the Vietnam War the new west coast lifestyle and philosophies of the Beatniks.  That year, Glidden’s work was included in “The Surrealists” Exhibition at the Richard Feigen Gallery in Chicago and recognized by San Francisco art critic Thomas Albright in the San Francisco Chronicle featuring a new painting by Glidden in print inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s  “put on” and the poster art of that time. Glidden established himself in San Francisco with a home/studio right above the renowned Tommy’s Joint on Van Ness and Geary. There, he immersed himself in an active artist community until the fascist nature of the collective drove him to practice in isolation.

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In 1982, his paintings were exhibited “The Armory Show of Visionary and Surrealist Art” in San Francisco organized by artist Michael Bowen, icon of the American Beat Generation and founder of the late 20th century and 21st century Visionary Arts Movement. A significant trip to Hitler's Eagles Nest in Germany on a mountain peak high above Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps ignited a fury within him as he stood where Hitler’s bunker was. Following works back in his San Francisco studio drew upon the disgust and darkness that Glidden felt within the castle walls. This horror dominated his consciousness for decades to follow. Glidden embraced composer Wagner and his music as symbols for the promotion and idolization of Hilter in his paintings. Following trips to Europe with a focus on Venice and Rome staged an engagement with the power and symbolism of architecture. It was not just the walls, but what happened within them that began to govern his new paintings upon his return.  Images of Medusa and references to Caravaggio, Bernini and Dante developed in his work as he painted Hilter and Mussolini hand in hand.

After 9/11, Glidden’s work responded with fearlessness to the horror of the event and the Iraq War. With satire, direct symbolism and contextualizing the irony of relationships between Europe- in particular France, Germany and Italy- and Islam, this new and current series of paintings speak to issues our world is still contending with today.  His paintings consistently embrace the continuum of darkness in his perception of humanity from the time of Eros and Pan to the lone ranger Bush Jr. With over 250 paintings created over a lifetime, Glidden continues to paint from his home in Oakland, CA.