Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled

KELLEY JOHNSON PAINTING UNTITLED 1

KELLEY JOHNSON PAINTING UNTITLED 1

April 24 - June 27, 2015 Bruno David Gallery 3721 Washington Boulevard Saint Louis, Missouri 63108, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Owner/Director: Bruno L. David

Bruno David Projects 1245 South Vandeventer Avenue Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, U.S.A. info@brunodavidprojects.com www.brunodavidprojects.com Director: Keri Robertson

This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition “Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled 1” at Bruno David Projects.

Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Eileen Milford and Laine Johnson Designer Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Kelley Johnson and Bruno David Gallery Photographs by Richard Sprengeler and Bruno David Gallery Cover image: Painting Untitled 1, 2015 (Installation view-detail) At Bruno David Projects First Edition Copyright © 2015 Bruno David Gallery, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery and Bruno David Projects

CONTENTS

Q & A WITH KELLEY JOHNSON

BY CHRISTOPHER LOWRANCE Afterword

BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION BIOGRAPHY

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Q & A WITH KELLEY JOHNSON

by Christopher Lowrance

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I’ve been trying to get together a Q & A with Kelley Johnson for years. His exhibits at Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis have always been high-impact and worthy of more attention. His September 2014 show of new paintings at the Greenlease Gallery on the campus of Rockhurst University in Kansas City upped the ante aesthetically once again. So naturally I upped the pressure on Kelley to do something for this blog. And here it is finally. Kelley tells us about his new paintings, his studio life and some early experiences that inform his work.

I know that you moved to Miami with your family a few years ago to focus on painting full-time. Can you tell us a little bit about your life before the move?

I grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis. My stepfather was a developer. He built subdivisions and apartment complexes. At the age of twelve I started working during summer breaks. “40 hours a week.” Looking back that seems like a lot but I remember it as a great experience. I started off as part of the cleanup crew. It didn’t take long before I began working with the framing crews and learning about the structural elements that go into most mid-western homes. Typically the buildings we built were wood-framed structures and everything was “stick built” using 2 x 6’s or 2 x 12’s. Later I worked with the electrical crew and later with the finishing crews (trim, base boards etc).

I believe that this early experience had the most impact on how I think about constructing my work. The way I think of space and structure I am sure comes from framing.

Many of us don’t grow up with art as part of daily life, especially many of us away from the coasts and our routes into the fine arts are circuitous. Was that your experience? How and when did you say, I’m going to do this?

I was a terrible student during most of my child hood, but one thing that I could do was draw. I had a lot of trouble concentrating on anything in school, except if you gave me a pencil and some direction I could make things. I think my experience is not all that uncommon in the arts.

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The thought of being an artist was not even an option until high school and then I only took the art classes because they were easy.

After graduating I took a year off, I had no clue what I wanted to do. I worked for my family and started making paintings and drawings on the side. Then someone told me that I should apply to art school, so I sent in my portfolio and was lucky enough to be accepted. I was pretty shocked! The first day of class I knew. There was never any other thought about another direction after that.

What is a day in the studio like for you?

I typically try to keep business hours, 9 to 5, sometimes 10 to 5. I find that I work best if I keep a routine because it allows me to focus on the work. I usually work on 4 to 5 large paintings and a couple small works at the same time. This allows me to take chances in the work that I would not take if I only worked on 1 or 2. I find that the images feed off of one another and killing a painting hurts a lot less if other work is going well. Sometimes pieces just need to sit and be looked at. I have some paintings that will sit for months “almost there� and then I will finish them in one day.

When I leave the studio I try not to think about the work, although I do have a tendency to sketch out ideas at home from time to time.

One notable difference between your newest work and the paintings that came before is the absence of the hand. At one time you painted thickly with gestural marks. In these new paintings there seem to be few instances the viewer recognizes as a result of a hand holding a brush loaded with paint. Still, we get a sense that there is a real thrill for you in the approaches you use now. Can you tell us about that? Why the change? What is the thrill?

I try to go by what the painting feels like it needs and what I am capable of. Sometimes I will paint a long line by hand and it has a very different feel than a taped-off line. I like the juxtaposition of the hand-made mark next to the structured taped mark. I think a certain vibration begins to happen between the two. I do love working with a loaded brush and mushing the paint around and bending form. Sometimes this happens in the work now, but for the most part that type of mark making just is not working with the rest of the vocabulary in the paintings. I am concerned with edges, widths, planes and clear color associations that tend to be easier to produce by taping off an area and painting it in.

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I’ve been using tape a lot lately. It’s easy to move around, build up armatures and then take back apart or re-position if need be.

Typically the paintings start with a pattern or simple logic. Squares that overlap, stripes, zigzags, or a color field etc. whatever I can think of to get the painting moving. Something to react against in a way. I really just want a dialogue to start and the faster the better.

Sometimes this part of the process gets lost and other times it stays in the work.

Lately it feels like learning a new language each time a painting is started. The longer I work this way the more I believe that in the beginning of the painting I am looking for a certain beat or visual rhythm to kind of kick-start the whole process. If that happens with the use of my hand or by another means it’s okay as long as the image moves in a direction I want.

What’s the hard part about making art for you?

Sometimes I luck out and paintings come around fast but for the most part it’s an up and down battle. There are days when I’m like “Wow I can’t believe that worked out,” and others where I’m like, “What the hell was I thinking? I should just give this whole thing up, what have I done with my life? I should have been a banker or something. Really!”

What’s the fun part?

The days when I lose track of myself and am in the moment. Those are the times I paint for, when I get lost in the work. It feels like nothing can go wrong in those moments.

This text is re-printed by permission of NW Capacity and Christopher Lowrance. First published by NW Capacity on December 19, 2014.

Copyright ©2014 NW Capacity. This text is one in a series of the gallery’s exhibitions written by fellow gallery artists and friends.

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Afterword

BY BRUNO L. DAVID 6

I am pleased to present a new exhibition by Miami-based artist Kelley Johnson, marking the artist’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery.

In this new body of work, Kelley Johnson continues his interest in paintings ability to create optical space while at the same time interacting with the viewer as an object. Kelley thinks of the new work as installations that talk about the possibilities and limitations of painting along with the viewers role as participant. Using external elements such as lines or patterns that move through the picture plane onto the floors and or walls of the gallery, Kelley creates interactions between internal and external spaces that function as a kind interactive painting. Kelley Johnson received his B.F.A. from Parsons School of Design and his M.F.A. from Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts at Indiana University. Johnson has been the subject of numerous one-person exhibitions at venues including the Greenlease Gallery, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, KS (2014) and Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO (2007). He lives and works in Miami, Florida.

Support for significant works of art has been the core to the mission and programs of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Christopher Lowrance for allowing us to re-print his 2014 interview with Kelley Johnson. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Keri Robertson, Director of the Bruno David Projects, for co-curating and organizing this exhibition. I am deeply grateful to Eileen Milford and Laine Johnson, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Keri Robertson, Cleo Azariadis, Eileen Milford, Laine Johnson and Daniel Stumeier.

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CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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Untitled 7, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 93 x 130 x 105 inches (size variable)

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Untitled 8, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 85 x 61 x 85 inches (size variable)

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Untitled 4, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 120 x 96 x 132 inches (size variable)

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Untitled 6, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 120 x 96 x 132 inches (size variable)

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Untitled 9, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 130 x 88 x 96 inches (size variable)

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Untitled 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas, Wall, floor 93 x 93 x 24 inches (size variable)

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled I (installation view)

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KELLEY JOHNSON Born: 1973, Houston, Texas Lives and works in Miami, Florida

EDUCATION 2001 1999 1998

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. M.F.A. Parsons School of Design, New York, New York. B.F.A. Yale Summer School of Art, Painting Fellow, Norfolk, Connecticut

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2007

Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Painting Untitled 1, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue) Greenlease Gallery, Kelley Johnson, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: New Paintings, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue) Twin Kittens Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Recent Paintings, Atlanta, Georgia Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Works on Paper Series, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue) Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Recent Paintings, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue) Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Dreaming, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue)

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SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015

2014 2013 2012 2010

2009

2008

2007

2006 2005

2003 2002

2001 2000 1999

1998

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OVERVIEW_2015, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Summer Show, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL and/or, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO OVERVIEW_2014, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Blue-White-Red, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Live/Work, Twin Kittens Gallery, Atlanta, GA Overpaper, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO (Catalogue) Recession Rejuvenations, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Overview_09, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO NEXT, Art Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, (Bruno David Gallery) Controlled Chaos, Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO OVER_VIEW 08, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Painters from Saint Louis, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO On Paper, Bruno David gallery, St. Louis, MO Overview, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, Missouri Inaugural Exhibition, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO Once Upon A Time, Greenlease Gallery, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO Group Show, Webster University, St. Louis, MO Group Exhibition, Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS Group Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL Thesis Show, Indiana University Museum, Bloomington, IN Group Show, S.O.F.A. Gallery, Bloomington, IN Group Show, Parsons School of Design in Paris, Paris, France Group Show, S.O.F.A. Gallery, Bloomington, IN Summer Show, Yale at Norfolk, Norfolk, CT

BIBLIOGRAPHY Lowrance, Christopher“Q & A with Kelley Johnson,” Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, 2015 Lowrance, Christopher“Q & A with Kelley Johnson,” NW Capacity, December 2014 Zevitas, Steven “Must see Painting shows: February 2013 (Kelley Johnson),” The Huffington Post, 2013 Freed, Damon “Paintings by Kelley Johnson,” Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2013 Griesbach, Sarah H. “Visual Effects at Bruno David - delight for my eyes and mind,” STL Beacon, 2013 Fry, Nicole “On Kelley Johnson,” Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2013 Yen, Nicole “Kelley Johnson,” Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2013 Reese, Rachel “Twin Kittens and Kelley Johnson Prove solid in Gallery’s new location,” Burnaway Magazine, 2012 Ramsey, Meagan A. “Kelley Johnson: Works on Paper”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2011 Yood, James.

“Kelley Johnson”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2010 Lyons, Vara “Kelley Johnson: Recent Paintings”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2010 Cooper, Ivy “Johnson’s work demands attention”, St. Louis Beacon, September 13, 2010 Baran, Jessica “Recession Rejuvenations”, Riverfront Times, St. Louis, MO, August 25, 2010 Weant, Nancy K. “2007 St. Louis Painters”, Review Magazine, Kansas City, 2007 Stouffer, Lindsey.

“Kelley Johnson: Dreaming”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Catalogue, Essay, 2007 Miller, Rob. “’Over hung’ show or ‘Hung over’ critic?” Saintlouisart, November 17, 2005.

Cooper, Ivy. “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Riverfront Times, November 9, 2005.

Bonetti, David.

“Bruno David Gallery”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 9, 2005 Crone, Tomas.

“Bruno David to Open on Friday”, 52nd City, October 2005 Beall, Hugh.

“The Bruno buzz”, West End Word, October 26, 2005 Miller, Rob. “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Saintlouisart, October 25, 2005 Beall, Hugh.

“Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Illusion Junkie, October 25, 2005. Web Griffin, Bill.

“Kelley Johnson” Video Interview. http://illusionjunkie.blogspot.com. October 2005 Bonetti, David.

“Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 20, 2005 Sieloff, Alison.

“Grand Grand Center”, Riverfront Times, October 19, 2005 Bonetti, David.

“Gallery musical chairs”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 1, 2005 Murphy, Anne.

“Art News”, The Healthy Planet, September 2005

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ARTISTS Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Bunny Burson Shawn Burkard Michael Byron Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Jill Downen Yvette Drury Dubinsky Beverly Fishman Damon Freed

Douglass Freed Ellen Jantzen Michael Jantzen Kelley Johnson Howard Jones (Estate) Chris Kahler Bill Kohn (Estate) Leslie Laskey Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise Judy Pfaff

Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Shane Simmons Buzz Spector Cindy Tower Ken Worley Monika Wulfers

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