John Alexander was born in Beaumont, Texas, in 1945. His early works incorporate the swamps and wildlife around which he spent his childhood, displaying his deep respect for nature. After his move to New York City in 1979, Alexander started creating forbidding, threatening settings critical of certain political issues and humans’ treatment of the environment. In an interview he stated, “My work is filled with tension, dissension, hate and weirdness because that’s how I get out my frustrations about the world.” Alexander draws upon Heironymus Bosch, Balthus, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud for inspiration, and, like some of his muses, infuses subtle hints of humor into his art. He currently lives and works in New York City.

Alexander has had a major retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.  His work can be found in numerous public and private collections, including: the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Nevada Museum of Art; the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.