As a painter, my preoccupation is with working through and finding ways of creating orders, free yet contained with rhythms akin to my everyday life experiences.
Each painting I begin starts with a template structure which was developed in small scale drawings and watercolors. The solutions are abstract and evolve intuitively. The process with oil paint is slow because I work in layers. The observations found in my photographs, collages and drawings add to the patina of my work.
Painting is pure and open ended, there have been so many individual visual histories whether linear, cyclical or just waves, it is all connected. How can play, elegance, the unassuming and mysterious take place in the process? Color and composition are key, then I decide how to paint a surface, to elevate a shape, to create depth in a plane, how to make a convincing background to hold things together, how to strike the balance.
Bio
Carrie Johnson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. She received a B.A. in Fine Arts from Indiana University in 1979. She was an intern in the Publications department at the Walker Art Center before embarking upon graduate studies in the Yale University MFA program. She graduated with a Design degree in 1982, the same year she received a Ford Foundation Grant and moved to New York City. She worked as an instructor at Rutgers University, teaching design and publications in Newark, New Jersey. She has worked on design projects at Degrippes Gobe, Arnell Group, as well as many freelance projects. She has designed magazines, store interiors, and exhibition graphics along with advertising and branding campaigns. Since 1982, she has also continued to produce paintings and collages.
In 2001, Johnson participated in Selections Fall 2001: 12 Views at The Drawing Center in New York. She became a member of A.I.R. Gallery in 2016, and was featured in the Summer Group Exhibition at Anita Rogers Gallery in 2016. A limited-edition collage collection, Make the World Run More Smoothly, was published in December 2018 on the occasion of NADA, Miami Beach, Florida, at the A.I.R. Gallery booth. In February 2019 she presented paintings at the A.I.R. Gallery which featured 5 large paintings titled Stratus Lift. In February 2020 she was included in Salon Zürcher: Women of Spirit. Her work is in numerous private collections and she is currently based in Lincroft, New Jersey.
CV
Education
1980-1982 Yale University MFA
1976-1979 Indiana University BA
Exhibitions
2024 Canopy Gallery, December 12 -14, Fuzzy Wheel Group Show, 508 W. 26th Street, NY NY
2024 Zürcher Gallery, September 2 - 8, 100 Women of Spirit, Part 1, 33 Bleecker Street, NY NY
2024 Lichtundfire Gallery, January 11 - February 3, Parts That Constitute A Whole, 175 Rivington Street, NY NY
2022 One River School, October 24 - November30, Artist Showcase, Middletown NJ
2020 Zürcher Gallery, March 2 - March 7, Salon Zürcher, 33 Bleecker Street, NY NY
2019 Rivaa Gallery, October 19 - November 10, Inversions: Contemporary Art Inspired by the Architecture of Louis Kahn-curated by Melinda Wang, Roosevelt Island NY
2019 A.I.R. Gallery, September 6 - October 6, Eleven x Seventeen Group Show, 155 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn NY
2019 A.I.R. Gallery, February 8 - March 10, Stratus Lift Show, 155 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn NY
2019 Lichtundfire, January 9 - February 3, Abstract Connectivity Group Show, 175 Rivington Street, NY NY
2018 Nada Miami, December 6 - 9, A.I.R. Gallery Artist Editions and Books, Miami FL
2016 Anita Rogers Gallery, July 26 - September 6, Summer Group Exhibition, 77 Mercer Street, NY NY
Membership
2024 January-November, The Canopy Program, Cohort, Matt Phillips
2016- October 2019 A.I.R. Gallery, New York Member, 155 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn NY
Design jobs
2013-2014 Furniture and Textile Design, Dana Barnes Design, NY
1995-2000 Branding and Design, Arnell Group, NY
1989-1995 Design and Art Direction, Desgrippes Gobe, NY
1984-1989 Freelance Design, Spy Magazine, Knoll Furniture, Conde Nast
1982-1984 Publications and Design Fundamentals Instructor, Rutgers University, Newark NY
1979-1980 Design Internship, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN
Contact
Instagram
carriejohnsonstudio
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Email
carriejohnson346@gmail.com