John Raux was born in Dakar, Senegal but has primarily lived in Kansas City. He studied illustration in Los Angeles at ArtCenter College of Design. Afterwards he returned to the Midwest to start a participatory gallery and scream in the metal band James Dean Trio while working in the construction industry. A chance encounter, and his love of new experiences, led him to hike across America on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007. Upon returning to civilization, John started making paintings in response to travel experiences and cultural exchanges. In 2010 he crossed Nepal and much of India on a mountain bike. He did the same across Europe in 2012. Each new journey was cultivated into a series of paintings with titles that often grew into poems or stories and were accompanied by his photography. In 2013 he visited the rift valley in Kenya as a creative ambassador to the Pokot people. While in KC he started the Forum (Arts, Tech, and Social components of the Middle of the Map Festival). He received the ArtsKC inspiration award in 2014. In 2015 and 16 he ran his second participatory gallery (Colaboratory). 2018 brought him to live and work in Guatemala. 2019 he created work in the Republic and Northern Ireland. He has been a resident artist at Takt in Berlin, Jaaga in Bangalore, Refuge in Antigua, BNIM, the Drugstore, and currently at Rock Cottage Glassworks in Kansas City. John continues to make fine art, write poetry and collaborate on public murals with SIKE Style while seeking new cultural exchanges and creative collaborations in the US and abroad.
Photography by Lexi Dickens at Brighton Road Photography.