John Silvis: Curator, Writer, and Observer of Psychological Painting
John Silvis is a curator and writer based in New York, known for his close, intellectual engagement with contemporary painting and his distinct sensitivity to how images operate on both a psychological and formal level. His curatorial practice is firmly grounded in careful looking, with a particular emphasis on how the elements of composition, gesture, and atmosphere fundamentally shape the viewer’s experience over time.
Silvis has worked extensively with contemporary painters, often focusing on figurative practices that occupy the fertile space between direct observation and imagination. Rather than framing work through dense theory or spectacle, he is keenly interested in the quieter tensions within images—those subtle moments of intimacy, dislocation, or ambiguity that powerfully mirror lived human experience.
For Aleph Contemporary, Silvis curated GRIP, Michael Ajerman’s solo exhibition, which was initially presented online in November 2020, with a physical presentation planned for 12 Piccadilly Arcade that was later curtailed due to government guidelines. His curatorial approach to GRIP foregrounded Ajerman’s masterful control of both composition and paint application, highlighting the way sensuality, humour, and unease coexist within seemingly ordered scenes.
Silvis’s contribution to Aleph Contemporary reflects a shared commitment to thoughtful, painter-led exhibitions. In his view, meaning unfolds through sustained attention rather than overt explanation, and the emotional charge of an image is allowed to remain intact and potent.