Chris Johanson and Deanna Templeton
dal 20/5/2010 al 14/8/2010
Segnalato da
20/5/2010
Chris Johanson and Deanna Templeton
Schunck-Glaspaleis, Heerlen
The sound of energy in space, the space of energy in life / Scratch my name on your arm
Chris Johanson
The sound of energy in space, the space of energy in life
Like a veteran of the northern Californian punk and skating scene: this is the way
in which artist Chris Johanson has been described by Aaron Rose, the man who took
the initiative for the first study of Johansons werk. As a teenager, Johanson was
already using waste wood and paper for his raw, figurative drawings. Since then, he
has diversified his oeuvre with three-dimensional conceptual works and abstract
images. In work that is simultaneously comical and sinister, Chris Johanson comments
on the predicament we face from our modern-day consumer society, where perilous
issues, such as 'self help', psychotherapy and the spiritual craze, are sweeping the
world.
Johanson's abstract work, often using geometric forms and images which resemble
starbursts, can be interpreted as a light-hearted, but urbane and refined commentary
on Modernism. Entirely in keeping with the multi-disciplinary nature of SCHUNCK*, in
The sound of energy in space, the space of energy in life, the artist presents both
three-dimensional works, as well as music and drawings. It is an exhibition with a
character that can be described as serene, reflective and perhaps even
Buddhist-like.
For years Chris Johanson has been transforming day-to-day subject matter into simple
stories in paintings that make bright, flat reference to illustration or folk art:
The New York Times called their look "a down-on-its-luck, cheerfully abject cartoon
style… reminiscent of artists like William Wegman, Raymond Pettibon and Sue
Williams."
The artist was born in suburban San Jose, California in 1968. He has no formal
training in art, learning some technique by painting skateboards and houses. He
moved to San Francisco, California's Mission District in 1989, where he became a
member of the local art community, initially drawing cartoons on lampposts and
bathroom walls. In 2004 he bought a home and moved to Portland Oregon."
Johanson achieved international fame after participating in 2002 Whitney Biennial
exhibition. The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American
art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum
of American Art in New York, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932.
The Whitney show is generally regarded as one of the leading shows in the art world,
often setting or leading trends in contemporary art.
The next year Chris Johanson was one of winners of the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art's "SFMOMA SECA Experimental Design Award.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication in the form of an LP, to be
obtained in SCHUNCK*.
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Deanna Templeton
Scratch my name on your arm
Black & white photographs
"What better way to remind yourself and simultaneously tell the world what you are
feeling than to write it on your skin?" Ed Templeton
Under the title of Scratch my name on your arm, Deanna Templeton is exhibiting a sizable collection of black & white photographs she took over the last five years during skateboard demonstrations, surfing competitions and other similar events, mostly in southern California.
The photographs bear witness to a remarkable metamorphosis. Where once the autograph of an idol would be primarily a souvenir - a scribble in a diary, on a poster or t-shirt — nowadays it’s often the receiver’s way of drawing attention to themselves and the repertoire has expanded to include corporate and lifestyle logos. The object is to have the autograph or the logo embossed on a person’s bare skin (for example, the abdomen, buttocks or forehead) or on underwear, preferably on view, so as to attract maximum attention from bystanders.
In this fashion, this “body language” has developed into body art and spectacle at the same time. Perhaps unsuspectingly and just for fun, but in whatever event, it has become a form of communication that has lent itself to artistic study. Deanna Templeton has made her contribution with this series of revealing and apposite portraits.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same name, with texts by Ed Templeton and Stijn Huijts.
Image: Chris Johanson, b-wblanket, 2010
Schunck-Glaspaleis
Bongerd 18, 6411 JM Heerlen
Opening hours exhibition:
Tue-Fri: 11:00–17:00, Thurs also 17:00–20:00, Sat-Sun: 13:00–17:00