Johnny Swing
Johnny Swing converts American currency into biomorphic furniture transcending their materiality. While the first part of his career was spent in New York City’s Lower East Side – where he exhibited sculptures and furniture made with salvaged industrial materials – today, Swing resides at his workshop and farm in Vermont. Earlier chapters saw him pass through a number of notable institutions, such as Skidmore College and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he obtained his Class 1 Structural Steel Welding qualification. Today, his work features in permanent collections worldwide.
Johnny Swing converts American currency into biomorphic furniture transcending their materiality. While the first part of his career was spent in New York City’s Lower East Side – where he exhibited sculptures and furniture made with salvaged industrial materials – today, Swing resides at his workshop and farm in Vermont. Earlier chapters saw him pass through a number of notable institutions, such as Skidmore College and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he obtained his Class 1 Structural Steel Welding qualification. Today, his work features in permanent collections worldwide.
Meet the Maker:
Johnny Swing
Since 1993, Johnny Swing has been making coin furniture – the first being a penny chair cast in the style of Italian-American artist Harry Bertoia. The master welder creates his sculptures by first carving the shape into styrofoam, then casting a negative mould in concrete to form the template for the coin-covered surface. Each piece is then finished through thousands of welds.
