American

Richard Johnson

U.S. b. 1943
Gray Light 95.0007

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Richard Johnson's abstract paintings have always been about juxtapositions, about explosions of jagged masses next to crisply masked streaks of color both above smoky, air-brushed shadows. An interest in the ancient technique of trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) painting allows Johnson to layer hyperrealist mechanical imagery (resembling welded steel pipes) and "crumpled paper" with abstract expressionist splatters. Johnson, a long time professor of painting at the University of New Orleans, studied at the American Academy in Rome to gain an understanding of the Old Masters. His debt to the tradition of illusionist painting is as evident as his interest in contemporary collage and assemblage.

 

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