Gene Johnson
Art Critic, John Yau: “These are not paintings Johnson has made, but rather paintings he has discovered in the process of making. In synthesizing geometric abstraction, process painting and typographic fragments, Johnson has developed a language that is recognizably his own. It is an abstract visual language that is fluent, flexible and emotional.”
Biography
Johnson began his painting career in New York, and has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Madrid, Havana, Sao Paulo, Mexico and Japan. His work can be found in private, corporate and museum collections in the US, Latin America and Europe.
Although Johnson employs geometry as a structural base, it would be wrong to simply describe his work as Geometric Abstraction. “His painterly use of color, texture and form allude to his respect for traditional and expressive painters alike. His intense and energetic application of paint embodies his paintings with a synthesis of emotion, intuition and sensuality.”
“Overall patterns, developed repetition, and a sense of his process, seem to give his work a biography, forcing the viewer to look for understanding within them. His work at once appears intricate, and at the same time reduced and simplified. Rich patinas suggest a density of time and history.”
Johnson alternately works in painting and collage. His collages, generally smaller in scale, gives them a sense of a tactile intimacy, while his paintings are of a larger scale, bold, and run the gamut from brilliant hues to the almost monochromatic ... grays, whites and blacks.
Drawn to Latin America, he first moved to Mexico City, and later to Sao Paulo. He currently divides his time between Mexico, Sao Paulo and New York City.
NY Art Critic, John Yau says: “These are not just paintings Johnson has made, but rather works he has discovered in the process of making. . It is an abstract visual language that is fluent, flexible and emotional. In synthesizing geometric abstraction, the process of painting and the assembling of shapes and graphic fragments, Johnson has developed a language that is recognizably his own.”
New York Times art critic, William Zimmer: “His work possesses a beguiling literalness, solid forms against impalpable ground. Johnson stages a balancing act in his work, mining the sensations of life, so that his paintings and collages actually themselves become a spiritual force.”
Born
1945 New Jersey
Education
Ringling College of Design, Sarasota, FL
School of Visual Arts, New York City, NY
The New School, New York City, NY
Selected Public & Private Collections
Hirshhorn Collection Washington, DC • High Museum of Art Collection Atlanta, GA • MARGS Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil • Barnett Bank Corporate Collection Jacksonville, FL • Ringling Museum of Art, Print Collection Sarasota, FL • Mural Installation, City of Naples, FL • Tampa Electric Corporate Collection Tampa, FL • Charles Hotel Cambridge, MA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2020 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2019 Galeria Lume, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2018 Metamorphosis: Gene Johnson Collages,
MARGS Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2017 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2016 Harmon Modern, Naples, FL.
2015 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ramses Arte, Madrid, Spain.
2013 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2011 Generator Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
2010 Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL.
Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Zoho Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
2005 Galeria de la Cuesta, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
2003 Regina Pinho Escritorio de Arte, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
1996 Seneca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico.
1994 Coyocan Centro Cultural, Mexico City, Mexico.
1989 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, FL.
Coyote Gallery, Cambridge, MA.
1988 Condeso/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY.
1987 Condeso/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY.
1985 Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples, FL.
1983 Gallerie Contemporanea, Jacksonville, FL.
Joan Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, FL.
1982 Estee Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
1945 New Jersey
Education
Ringling College of Design, Sarasota, FL
School of Visual Arts, New York City, NY
The New School, New York City, NY
Selected Public & Private Collections
Hirshhorn Collection Washington, DC • High Museum of Art Collection Atlanta, GA • MARGS Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil • Barnett Bank Corporate Collection Jacksonville, FL • Ringling Museum of Art, Print Collection Sarasota, FL • Mural Installation, City of Naples, FL • Tampa Electric Corporate Collection Tampa, FL • Charles Hotel Cambridge, MA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2020 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2019 Galeria Lume, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2018 Metamorphosis: Gene Johnson Collages,
MARGS Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2017 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2016 Harmon Modern, Naples, FL.
2015 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ramses Arte, Madrid, Spain.
2013 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2011 Generator Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
2010 Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL.
Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Galeria Monica Filgueiras, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2007 Zoho Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
2005 Galeria de la Cuesta, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
2003 Regina Pinho Escritorio de Arte, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
1996 Seneca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico.
1994 Coyocan Centro Cultural, Mexico City, Mexico.
1989 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, FL.
Coyote Gallery, Cambridge, MA.
1988 Condeso/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY.
1987 Condeso/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY.
1985 Harmon-Meek Gallery, Naples, FL.
1983 Gallerie Contemporanea, Jacksonville, FL.
Joan Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, FL.
1982 Estee Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
Johnson began his painting career in New York, and has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Madrid, Havana, Sao Paulo, Mexico and Japan. His work can be found in private, corporate and museum collections in the US, Latin America and Europe.
Although Johnson employs geometry as a structural base, it would be wrong to simply describe his work as Geometric Abstraction. “His painterly use of color, texture and form allude to his respect for traditional and expressive painters alike. His intense and energetic application of paint embodies his paintings with a synthesis of emotion, intuition and sensuality.”
“Overall patterns, developed repetition, and a sense of his process, seem to give his work a biography, forcing the viewer to look for understanding within them. His work at once appears intricate, and at the same time reduced and simplified. Rich patinas suggest a density of time and history.”
Johnson alternately works in painting and collage. His collages, generally smaller in scale, gives them a sense of a tactile intimacy, while his paintings are of a larger scale, bold, and run the gamut from brilliant hues to the almost monochromatic ... grays, whites and blacks.
Drawn to Latin America, he first moved to Mexico City, and later to Sao Paulo. He currently divides his time between Mexico, Sao Paulo and New York City.
NY Art Critic, John Yau says: “These are not just paintings Johnson has made, but rather works he has discovered in the process of making. . It is an abstract visual language that is fluent, flexible and emotional. In synthesizing geometric abstraction, the process of painting and the assembling of shapes and graphic fragments, Johnson has developed a language that is recognizably his own.”
New York Times art critic, William Zimmer: “His work possesses a beguiling literalness, solid forms against impalpable ground. Johnson stages a balancing act in his work, mining the sensations of life, so that his paintings and collages actually themselves become a spiritual force.”
Biography
Press
Art Critic, John Yau: “These are not paintings Johnson has made, but rather paintings he has discovered in the process of making. In synthesizing geometric abstraction, process painting and typographic fragments, Johnson has developed a language that is recognizably his own. It is an abstract visual language that is fluent, flexible and emotional.”
Gene Johnson
As I personally have evolved over the decades, what I was once content to put on the canvas, no longer pleased me and a conventional manner of representation no longer sufficed. I found myself moving deeper toward abstraction, toward simplifying my images. My work at the time was comprised of textured color fields that acted as a stage upon which I presented my own iconographic language. Later, the more obvious icons gave way to a purer abstraction, allowing it to communicate on its own.
Art Critic, John Yau: “These are not paintings Johnson has made, but rather paintings he has discovered in the process of making. In synthesizing geometric abstraction, process painting and typographic fragments, Johnson has developed a language that is recognizably his own. It is an abstract visual language that is fluent, flexible and emotional.”